The Raiders and Terriers are each looking to rebound from their Aug. 25 come-from-behind losses.
After last week, Plant City and Hillsborough know what it’s like to have victories snatched from behind.
Both teams were beaten late by some of Hillsborough County’s stronger programs in their 2017 season openers, with the Raiders taking a 21-14 loss to Jefferson and the Terriers losing to Plant, 9-7, on a safety. These teams want that first win to show, at the very least, that last week was a fluke.
It’s all about who’s hungriest for the “W.”
Plant City’s offense came out strong on Aug. 25, keeping the Dragons at bay for the first half of play and finishing the half with a 14-0 lead. Quarterback Braxton Plunk found De’Qwan Myers and Tyler Hood on long passes to put the Raiders ahead, and he finished the game with a healthy 234 passing yards. The Raiders relied far more on Plunk’s arm than its run game, which mostly saw Eric Wilson and Zamir’ Knighten combine for 68 yards on 18 carries.
But the passing game wasn’t perfect. Plunk threw one of his two interceptions at the Jefferson goal line just before the end of the first half, erasing a chance to lead 21-0, and the other pick was taken 60 yards to the house by Jahaud Russ to tie the game at 14-14.
Jefferson pulled ahead for good with about four minutes left in the game, with quarterback Matt Gaffney finishing a 63-yard drive with a one-yard run into the end zone.
Hillsborough faced an even tougher opponent in Plant and came out on the wrong end of that 9-7 score. The Terriers took an early lead with four minutes left in the first quarter, thanks to a 60-yard run by Dontae Hopkins, but the Panthers answered early in the second quarter with Alex Carvajal’s 10-yard rush.
The game turned into a battle between two red-hot defenses but, in the fourth quarter, it was Plant’s that made the key play. After punter Evan Passath pinned the Terriers just shy of their own goal line, Panthers linebackers Micah McFadden and O.J. Augustin forced Hillsborough quarterback Tyler Thomas to make a quick decision — which ended up being a throw into the dirt that was flagged as intentional grounding. That gave Plant the two points it needed to claw its way to the top on the scoreboard and, after an offensive series ending in a successful fake punt, leave the stadium with the win.
With the exception of Hopkins, who ran for 121 yards and the team’s only touchdown, Hillsborough’s offense did not have a good night. But because the unit had to face a top-tier opponent in Plant, it’s realistic to expect the team to perform better against Plant City. The Raiders will have to keep a watchful eye on Hopkins, especially after allowing Jefferson junior Niko Duffey to pick up 169 rushing yards and a touchdown last week.
Plant City will also face pressure from a tenacious defense. Holding a team like Plant to just nine points is no easy task and, even though the Terriers lost, the unit has to feel good knowing how well it contained one of Hillsborough County’s elite programs.The Raiders’ o-line will have to bring its A-game to help the unit work around players like McFadden and Augustin.
But it is a good sign for the Raiders that their passing game clicked. The team’s 262 total passing yards were its most since Nov. 6, 2015, when Corey King threw for 216 of the Raiders’ 219 total yards against Freedom in a 41-10 home win at the end of the regular season.
A win over Hillsborough could set the tone for Plant City’s season to come. The burden of facing stout defenses in Armwood, Durant and Tampa Bay Tech becomes easier to bear when an offense knows it can overcome the Terriers’ stop unit, and if the Raiders can find a way to consistently stop the run it will serve them well in a district featuring Cameron Myers and Treshaun Ward.
