The first of three consecutive crosstown rivalry matchups brings the Plant City Raiders to Strawberry Crest on a night where both teams will look for a much-needed break. Both the Raiders and Chargers are coming off of shutout losses from their Oct. 4 games: Plant City hosted Armwood and took a 35-0 loss while Crest went to Wharton and lost, 48-0.
Armwood held Plant City to exactly 100 yards of total offense and picked off Makenzie Kennedy twice, with Jalil Core returning one of those 35 yards for a defensive touchdown. The Hawks also blocked a field goal attempt and scooped up a fumble for a 31-yard return. The Raiders defense did have its moments in the game, such as Latarus Wanser’s interception of a Cam’ron Ransom pass and Tanner Gibbs forcing his second fumble in three games, but it ultimately couldn’t stop Armwood from scoring 28 points between the second and third quarters to build a much more comfortable lead than the 7-0 score after the first quarter.
At Wharton, the Wildcats scored 41 of their 48 points in the first half and went run-heavy the entire game. Pete Stuart completed four of seven pass attempts against the Chargers, but three of those catches were for touchdowns. On the ground, the Wildcats had three different players score touchdowns and two (Stuart and Ben Williams) each rushed for 70 or more yards. The Wharton defense forced and recovered three fumbles, but Crest’s offensive line only gave up one sack on the evening. Crest did not post any of its stats from the Wharton game to MaxPreps.com.
With the way Lakeland and Bloomingdale are playing this season, plus its own five losses, a return to the playoffs is looking less likely for Plant City. The good news for the Raiders, in a manner of speaking, is that their remaining three opponents have five combined wins this season. The gauntlet of the first seven weeks is over and, whether or not a playoff spot materializes, there’s at least the Battle for the Redman Cup later this month for them to look forward to.
Crest, meanwhile, hopes to maybe get some of its early-season groove back with a game against familiar faces. Perhaps no face on the PCHS roster is more familiar to many of the Chargers than Kennedy, who started at quarterback for Crest last season.
Plant City and Crest now each have five losses on their overall records and no district wins yet, though that will obviously change for one of these teams on Friday night. The win will likely put either team in a tie with Durant for third place in the district standings, unless the Cougars manage to pull off an upset win over Lakeland at home.
OTHER AREA ACTION
DURANT
vs. Lakeland, 7:30 p.m.
Last week, Durant and Lennard duked it out to a 15-0 final at Cougar Path that went the Longhorns’ way. The game was much closer than the score suggests — Durant trailed 7-0 until the fourth quarter and executed several big plays in crucial situations — but the Cougars’ third and fourth-down aggressiveness didn’t pay off in the end and they couldn’t be the one area team to avoid a shutout loss that evening.
This week will only get more difficult for Durant with the undefeated Lakeland Dreadnaughts coming to town. Lakeland is coming off of a 42-6 win over Centennial that, like almost all of their wins in 2019, they quickly took control of and never eased off the gas pedal. It’s by far the toughest matchup on Durant’s schedule.
Also, the game will include a special 50th anniversary celebration of Pinecrest High School’s Class C state championship win, featuring many of the “Alafia Wonders” and their coaches.