Hearts were broken throughout the Sickles High School visitors’ section Friday night, thanks to Plant City’s 17-10 loss to the Gryphons.
The Raiders (8-3) faced a 10-0 deficit going into halftime, after an early field goal and quarterback Isaac Holder’s six-yard keeper. Countless tacklers bounced off of running back Ray Ray McCloud III in a way that would make older fans recall Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl.
But, in the second half, they almost looked like a new team. The Sickles (10-1) run defense kept things in check on most plays, but Hassan Bailey squirted through the line in the third quarter and ran 80 yards like his life depended on it. The PAT was successful, and Christian Hoyle’s field goal early in the fourth quarter tied the game at 10 apiece.
Then, the Gryphons decided to make the most out of their run game and eat as much clock as possible. Thanks to McCloud III’s prowess, and a number of defensive penalties, they were able to score from the goal line with 7:03 to go.
Tavares Chase came up with a few spectacular catches to keep the Raiders alive, but the team just couldn’t get anything going near the red zone. Or in it, as Sickles successfully pulled off a goal-line stand by stuffing Bailey and Landon Galloway in succession. After running the clock down to single digits, Plant City got the ball around the Sickles 30 and had a chance.
But, Landon Galloway was brought down before he could get rid of the ball, right as time expired. Sickles snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and the Raiders took their longest bus ride home in quite a while.