It felt great to go back to football last week, even if it was just a preseason game. I went to Plant City High to watch the Raiders take on the Riverview Sharks, and things certainly went well for the home team.
The scoreless second half may not have been as exciting as the first, but there were still a few good takeaways from Plant City’s 19-7 win. Let’s get started with the first Friday Night Notes of the 2015-16 school year and break it all down.
Plant City, showing what it can do both by land and by air, scored 13 of its points in the first quarter of the Friday, Aug. 21, game. Early in the game, quarterback Corey King connected with a wide-open Antoine Thompson to put the Raiders up, 7-0, and running back Markese Hargrove followed up later by doing what he does best. Hargrove, in particular, made it look easy out there: the Sharks had a difficult time getting a hold of him, let alone anticipating his cuts, so it was a great look at the King-to-Hargrove handoffs we’re likely going to see quite often.
Thompson is also an intriguing prospect, in my opinion. The kid’s clearly got potential, but the nature of Plant City’s offense didn’t give us the best look at what he’s truly capable of. Playing opposite T.J. Chase this season should open things up for Thompson this season, something that King has to be looking forward to.
Speaking of King: the Raiders’ coaching staff has told me that they’re pleased with the way the junior progressed throughout the offseason, and you could see why on Friday. Maybe it’s because he no longer has to compete for playing time, or maybe it’s because he now has several real weapons, but King looks more confident now than he did in any game I remember from last season. That bodes well for the Raiders, whose 2015 success will largely correlate with King’s ability to be consistently good.
Tydre Ward’s punt return was my favorite moment of the game. Who doesn’t love a good special teams highlight, besides the team that blew its assignments? You can read more about that play in our Athlete of the Week section.
Really, the only thing bringing Plant City down in the game were penalties. I have to cut a little slack for them there, because it was the preseason, and I think the boys were just stoked to be playing in a real football game again. But there were some drive-killers that no coach would be happy to see in a meaningful game. The Raiders need to tighten up and stay focused if they want to reach their full potential; our partners at the Tampa Bay Times HomeTeam section didn’t rank Plant City as a top-20 team for no reason.
Plant City plays at Armwood Friday, Aug. 28, so you’d better believe the Raiders have been focusing on mental stability in this week’s practices.
