A scary moment at the end of the Strawberry Crest-Plant City game Saturday overshadowed what may be the biggest win in the history of the Chargers’ program.
On what would be the final play of the game, senior linebacker Andrew Zuluaga was injured on a hit and laid unconscious for several minutes. Paramedics on the scene tended to Zuluaga and he was eventually carried off on a stretcher and rushed to the hospital.
Update on Zuluaga: According to SCHS head coach John Kelly, Zuluaga was released from the hospital Sunday morning and walked out on his own power. He suffered a broken nose and a concussion. A CT scan revealed no swelling or bleeding. He will be following up with his primary care physician Tuesday and will be back with the team as soon as he is cleared, according to Kelly.
The injury occurred with seven seconds to play and Plant City driving, trailing 21-7. The coaches decided to call the game after the injury.
While emotions were running high from Zuluaga’s teammates after the injury, the scoreboard reflected a win for the Chargers, matching their on-field win total from 2011. Strawberry Crest went 2-8 last season with their other victory coming after Armwood had to forfeit all of their games for playing ineligible players.
The 21-7 win over Plant City Saturday comes after losing 69-6 to the Raiders in Plant City last year.
“I told the team at the beginning of the year to forget everything that happened last season,” said new head coach John Kelly. “When we came in here, we wanted to create excitement and give these kids hope and create stability. We’ve still got a long way to go, but we’re headed in the right direction.”
The Chargers are coming off a 29-0 shutout win over Freedom last week in the preseason classic.
After just recording one catch in that preseason game, Karel Hamilton put on a show against Plant City, catching three balls for 86 yards. Two of those came in the first half on 20-yard and 41-yard touchdown receptions.
“He’s the best receiver in Hillsborough County without a Division I offer,” Kelly said.
Hamilton also had two runs in the second half and was an essential part in the return game.
“He makes a quarterback look great,” said sophomore QB Tristan Hyde after the game.
In his debut as the Strawberry Crest starter, Hyde passed for more than 150 yards, with 100 in the first half to go along with the two touchdown strikes to Hamilton. The sophomore completed 10 of 19 passes in the game.
Junior running back Chris Perez was a workhorse for the Chargers, grinding out runs all night. He finished with just under 100 total yards on 16 rushes and two receptions.
Plant City High quarterback Nick Rodriguez was sat down after a first half that saw the Raiders struggle to get anything going. Rayquan Johnson came in as the backup and also struggled, failing to connect on his first seven passes. The junior finished 1-of-8 for 21 yards, but did have six rushes for 46 yards.
Freshman Ervin Micheal provided most of the offense for the Raiders. Micheal ran for 186 yards and gave the Raiders their only score of the night on a 13-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Strawberry Crest led 21-0 at the half. They got on the board first when Alex Carswell scooped up a fumble and returned it 47 yards. That came after the Chargers drove down into Plant City territory before failing to connect on a 22-yard field goal try.
“That was a huge play for us and really put the momentum in our favor,” Kelly said of Carswell’s fumble return.
Strawberry Crest will visit Bloomingdale next week, while Plant City will host Freedom.