I’m pleased to say that, two weeks into the regular season, I’m batting 1.000 in terms of picking the right matchup for Game of the Week.
That’s not to slight Durant’s win at Spoto, which was the only blowout bigger than that of the city’s transformer. I’m always hoping for something with drama that carries on to the fourth quarter, if not a complete upset, when I choose which game I want to cover every week, and a 34-13 road win is neither of those things. Plant City’s 23-14 win over Jefferson, which is only a nine-point deficit because of a game-ending pick six, was the one that brought the drama.
Plant City pride was in full effect at 1 Raider Place, and the atmosphere was one of the better ones that I’ve seen at PCHS over the past few seasons. It was fitting, given the nature of the game, but still good to see. That kind of environment always helps boost the players’ confidence, and the Raiders needed all the help they could get in that area — Jefferson was considered a very dangerous team going into this one.
Sure, they lost junior quarterback Cade Weldon for the season with perhaps the worst kind of knee injury imaginable for most football players. But the Dragons experimented with sophomore Tyrese Spain under center for much of the game and, while that didn’t really do much for the passing game, the adjustment kept Plant City’s run defense on its toes at all times.
For a little perspective: I watched ex-Gator Jeff Demps annihilate my alma mater while he was at South Lake High, and he’s still the fastest high school athlete I’ve ever seen in person, but some of these Jefferson kids are really close. Maybe they’re not quite as agile as Demps was, but Spain and running back Mondreas Lofton have the killer straight-line speed to shred any defenders they catch napping.
Markese Hargrove made up for a pedestrian stat line against Armwood in Week 1, showing off the quicks and vision that will undoubtedly have colleges calling about him this season. He made it look easy by scoring twice and saving the Raiders’ offense on several occasions. But I have to give a lot of credit to the offensive line — those guys did a great job sustaining their blocks and creating gaps for Hargrove to work.
Speaking of colleges, I had heard that Clemson sent a few scouts our way for this game. I’m sure they were keeping tabs on T.J. Chase, who will play there next season. I hope they also saw some other players to take into consideration. There’s certainly D-1 talent in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, and the more athletes our schools send off to big programs, the better.
In my podcast, I predicted that the Plant City defensive backs would be ready to feast on some interceptions. Jefferson threw four picks: two apiece to Peyton Collins and Tammarion Faison. In fact, it was Faison who had that Dragon-slaying pick six at the end of the game. I think I got that call right.
Perhaps the biggest thing was that the Raiders were able to keep their penchant for drawing a ton of penalties in check. They didn’t draw their first until later in the first half and, while they still made a few more mistakes than fans and coaches would like, kept their cool throughout the game.
The only area I think the team should improve upon going forward (besides doing whatever they can to keep the penalty flag numbers down) is in the passing game. There were several areas I felt could have been better for several reasons, whether you want to go with quickness, instincts or effort. Never all three at once, though. These are all things that can be fixed in practice and things that I’m sure Plant City has spent all week trying to fix.
I’d say watching this game reinforced my belief that, dating back to when I wrote the Football Guide, Plant City can win the district title this year. We have one more week until district play starts. If the Raiders can fend off Brandon Friday, Sept. 11, they’ll be primed to get off to a good start in 7A-9 action.