The Plant City Raiders haven't been winning "pretty" since their bye week, but they have been winning.
The team's latest win, on Friday, Nov. 4, was a 22-6 grinder at Freedom to close out the 2016 regular season. Plant City made the most out of its situation, playing in a flag-friendly contest, and used the second half to deflate the Patriots' chance of scoring an upset.
After a scoreless first half, kicker Adrian Olivo put the Raiders on the board first, hitting a short field goal at the 8:15 mark of the second quarter. Two minutes later, quarterback Corey King linked up with his brother, Xavier, for a 45-yard touchdown pass. But the PAT attempt was no good, setting the score at 9-0 in Plant City's favor. Freedom attempted to get something going on offense afterward, but Cody Cribbs stopped the drive with the first of his two picks, with 23 seconds left in the first half.
Both teams struggled to make things work in the third quarter, until Raiders running back Treshaun Ward scored on a 10-yard run marked by another unsuccessful PAT attempt. On the ensuing drive, Freedom set itself up to score its only touchdown of the game in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, a one-yard run on fourth down that Plant City nearly stuffed. The Patriots went for two points, but were shut down on the attempt.
Freedom was able to get the ball back, but Cribbs recorded another pick to give Plant City the ball back with a 15-6 lead at the 9:42 mark. Two minutes later, Corey King found an open Tydre Ward and connected for a 30-yard touchdown pass, which led to the only successful PAT conversion of the evening and set the score at 22-6.
The Patriots had several chances to score again, as Corey King and Peyton Cantu were both picked off before the end of the quarter, but the Plant City defense stayed solid.
In other area action, Durant rode a 41-point first half to a 48-3 win over King, and a big second half from Gaither led to Strawberry Crest taking a 32-9 defeat at home.
