Although the Plant City Raiders’ game against Armwood ended in a 36-16 loss, it could have been worse. Luckily, defensive back Cody Cribbs had one solid performance: two end-zone interceptions and three touchdowns prevented. Cribbs, a junior, is in his second year with the varsity team.
How were you feeling before the game?
Before the game, everybody was feeling good about our assignments and everything. We just had to go out there, do our thing and make sure all of our assignments were down pat. We felt pretty good before the game.
What was going through your head before you went onto the field?
I was just focusing on doing what I had to do, not trying to get caught up in the whole big play — just focusing in on my guy and making sure that I had to do what I had to do to help out the team.
I’ve talked to some Raider fans who were a little worried after this loss, even though last year’s run happened after a loss. What would you say to someone who’s starting to freak out about Plant City now?
Just don’t worry about it. You’ve got to have faith in us. Nobody expects us to win, but we’ll be there.
What else are you looking forward to this season?
I think just learning from our mistakes and making sure we can get all of our mistakes fixed, so we can come out and play like we did in the first half but on every down.
What’s been the most fun part of being a Raider?
Getting to know everybody and becoming a family, really, with everybody on the team.
What was the moment when everything kind of fell into place, and you started to feel like it was a brotherhood and not just a bunch of kids from school?
Whenever we came back in the locker room, everybody was going crazy. That’s when I felt like we were starting to get there.
The Armwood game?
Yeah.
What’s a position you’ve never played but always wanted to?
Running back.
What about a sport?
Hockey. Definitely hockey.
What’s your favorite football team?
The Miami Dolphins.
What’s your dream college?
FSU.
A little kid comes to you for football advice. What do you tell him?
I’d tell him just to keep working hard, and don’t ever quit. Even if you feel like you’re about to die, you just have to keep going that extra mile, keep putting one foot in front of the other.
You get $1 billion. What do you buy?
I’d probably give my brother some money for college.
Who’s the best Madden player in the locker room?
I don’t play Madden, but I hear Corey St. John talking a lot of smack about Madden. They try to talk back to him, but they just settle it with the game.
When I was in the press box, the guys doing the radio broadcast were giving you nicknames. I heard a couple of them. Let me run these by you and get your opinion, starting with “Cody ‘Not in My’ Cribbs.”
I think that’s pretty funny.
The other one was “Cody ‘MTV’ Cribbs.”
I’ve heard people call me that at school, but I didn’t really know what they meant, at first.