With the Plant City area’s football season wrapped up and the NCAA’s early signing period inching closer on the horizon, I wanted to take one more look back at the season by noting the top individual performances that I was able to see in person from Durant, Plant City and Strawberry Crest.
Note: Given the nature of high school football scheduling, I was only able to attend one game each week throughout the season. For that reason, several notable performances where I wasn’t in attendance did not qualify for this list.
Nov. 4: Plant City RB Reggie Bush Jr. vs. Plant
In what was maybe the best single-game showing that I saw from any player in the area this year, running back Reggie Bush Jr. provided all of Plant City’s firepower in a crucial late-season district matchup against Plant.
Entering the night with a 4-3 record and jostling with Plant for district placement, the Raiders were missing five starters and looked to Bush for a breakout game, a task that he happily took and ran with — no pun intended. Bush finished the night with 265 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries.
Bush opened the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, added another score with a 32-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, broke off his biggest run of the night with an 80-yard touchdown run just before halftime and secured the Plant City victory with a 65-yard go-ahead touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to break the tie and give the Raiders a 31-24 lead that they would hold until the final whistle.
“It’s one of the best [performances] that I’ve seen,” head coach James Booth said after the game. “Reggie’s been patient all year and a lot of teams have kind of been loading the box and daring us to throw. So this was his opportunity to really have a lighter box and he made them pay. I thought that he did a great job, ran physical, showcased the speed that he has and I think that it’s one of the top Plant City performances that I’ve seen coaching.”
Sep. 3: Durant QB Marcus Miguele vs. Lennard
After attempting just five passes in Durant’s season-opening win over Sumner, quarterback Marcus Miguele showed out with 241 total yards of offense and three scores in a 49-12 win over Lennard the following week.
Through the air, Miguele completed six of nine passes for two touchdowns and 130 passing yards, his third-highest passing total on the season. And on the ground, he took 11 carries for an 111 rushing yards and an additional touchdown, his second-highest rushing total on the season.
It was hard to highlight just one single performance from this game however, as Durant’s offense caught fire as a whole against the Longhorns. Garnering mention alongside Miguele, receiver Jeremiah Gines hauled in three receptions for 92 yards and two touchdowns while running back Calub Connell notched 124 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries, also adding one reception for 22 yards.
Oct. 8: Strawberry Crest QB Coby Burger vs. Brandon
Strawberry Crest entered the season with an emphasis on being as variable as possible on offense, using a rotation not just at running back but at quarterback as well. While quarterback Coby Burger wasn’t slated as the starter under center heading into the 2021 season, he took over as the primary signal-caller midseason and it allowed the Chargers to embrace a consistent rushing attack from the quarterback position.
Perhaps no game better encapsulated that methodology better than Strawberry Crest’s 27-0 win over Brandon. Burger paced an explosive backfield that night with nine carries for 82 rushing yards and a touchdown, his second-highest mark on the season, while adding two completions on four attempts for 12 yards. Miles Jones followed suit with 64 rushing yards and a touchdown, then Ryan Weems with 46 rushing yards and two touchdowns and then Devin Blunt with 42 rushing yards.
After stepping in as the starting quarterback, Burger led Strawberry Crest with 358 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Oct. 15: Durant RB Calub Connell/CB Jayden Cornelius vs. Plant City
In the 2021 Redman Cup between Plant City and Durant, the Plant City area’s biggest annual rivalry game, Connell was a force. A preseason injury to projected starter Alex Daley pushed Connell to the top of the running back depth chart heading into Week 1 and he took advantage with a team-high 730 yards and 13 touchdowns, with one of his best performances coming in one of Durant’s biggest matchups.
Connell was instrumental in helping Durant take the Redman Cup back from Plant City by way of a 29-6 victory, seeing the Cougars lift the trophy for the first time since 2017. Connell totaled 131 rushing yards and a touchdown on 23 carries, also notching one reception for 20 yards and his lone receiving touchdown on the season. The junior running back’s 151 yards of total offense against Plant City proved his second-highest single-game mark of the season, falling just shy of his 155-yard performance in Durant’s first game of the year against Sumner.
Connell hauled in a 20-yard touchdown reception from Miguele to give Durant a 16-0 lead in the second quarter, then battled his way into the end zone on a tough 16-yard carry later in the quarter to extend the Cougars’ lead to 22-0 before halftime.
On the other side of the ball, freshman defensive back Jayden Cornelius shut down the game late by taking advantage of Durant’s pressure up front and coming up with a pair of interceptions in the second half. Cornelius was the only freshman to ride with the Cougars’ varsity team in 2021 and had his coming out party early, notching two interceptions in Durant’s preseason game, one in each of his first two regular season games, one in a big win over Sickles and two against Plant City for a team-high five interceptions on the year.2021 Football Season: Top Performances