Redman Cup week is finally here and Friday night’s matchup is as intriguing as ever.
Plant City is coming off of a 44-24 loss to Armwood, its first of the 2018 season, and now finds itself in a must-win situation. Beyond taking the trophy back to 1 Raider Place, a win at Durant would largely keep the team in playoff contention after this week. The Raiders are still undefeated in district play after last week, but so are Tampa Bay Tech and Bloomingdale. The Titans and Bulls will play each other Friday night in a game that very well could decide who wins the toughest district race in Hillsborough County — unless the Raiders have something to say about that in the coming weeks.
The Raiders went into the locker room at halftime with a three-point lead over the Hawks, but
Armwood’s 29-point scoring outburst flipped the script and overwhelmed the home team despite its best efforts to contain the Hawks. It was still a solid game for the PCHS offense, though: Braxton Plunk finished with 335 passing yards and three touchdowns through the air, and senior De'Qwan Myers scored twice with 157 receiving yards on six catches. Teams have kept playmaker Mario Williams largely off the stat sheets in the last two weeks, but the emergence of Myers as a reliable target since late September has certainly helped the Raiders keep the chains moving.
Though the Cougars have a 3-3 overall record, they’re also undefeated in district play after last week’s 31-21 win against Lennard. The Longhorns’ offensive line led the way for running back Tino Hunt to score all three Lennard touchdowns and pick up 156 yards on 27 touches, but Durant played like the hungrier team and came away with the “W” as a result. Durant’s now riding a three-game win streak that includes a 10-7 overtime win over East Bay, a team that’s been giving 7A-9 opponents fits defensively.
Durant has momentum on its side and, trophy defense aside, won’t have to deal with as much pressure to win as Plant City. Though not technically eliminated from playoff contention — Durant could still get in by winning the district with its next three games and may still have a chance with three wins in four weeks — three losses for the Cougars paint a much more complicated picture than the Raiders currently have with one loss to Armwood. Plant City has the pieces to win this game, but the Cougars are absolutely not a team to sleep on this week.