Plant City bounced back on Friday night with a 31-24 win over Plant despite the absence of five starters, led by a four-touchdown performance from running back Reggie Bush Jr.
The Raiders fielded the opening kickoff and quickly moved down the field, getting across midfield on a carry from quarterback Clint Danzey and carried the rest of the way to the end zone by Bush. Parked at the Plant 11 yard line, the senior halfback took the pitch from Danzey to the right sideline and battled his way across the goal line for an early 7-0 lead.
Both teams exchanged punts and Plant took over at midfield on their second drive. The Panthers worked their way down to the Plant City 20 yard line, but after failing to convert on third-and-nine, settled for a field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
On the ensuing drive, Plant City was stonewalled inside their own territory and lined up to punt. A low snap to punter/kicker Esteban Navarrete forced him to roll out to the right and he miraculously hit the edge and kept the drive alive as he took the carry just past the first down marker for a new set of downs. A holding penalty pushed Plant City back and after facing more than 20 yards to gain on first down, they converted another fourth down on a completion to Romello Jones. Two plays later Bush broke free up the middle for his second touchdown on the night, a 32-yard run for a 14-3 lead.
Late in the first half Plant was driving and looking to cut the Plant City lead before halftime. On third-and-10 from the Plant City 34 yard line, Raiders defensive back Jermarian Jackson hauled in his second interception of the season at the 17. The turnover gave Plant City one more chance to extend their lead, taking back over with 2:48 remaining in the second quarter.
After two negative plays the Raiders were facing a third-and-long when Bush hit his biggest play of the night, a touchdown run up the middle that went for over 80 yards to give Plant City a 21-3 halftime lead.
In the second half Plant came out punching. Their opening drive ended with a touchdown reception from quarterback Jack Lennon to Jaquez Kindell. The extra point was no good and Plant trailed 21-9. Plant City was quickly forced to punt from deep in their own territory and the Panthers wasted no time striking again. On the first play of their next drive, Kindell took a screen pass to the left, got a block and flew down the left sideline for his second touchdown in as many offensive plays. He followed up those two scores by hauling in the two point conversion and within a matter of minutes in the second half, Plant trailed just 21-17.
Plant forced yet another Plant City punt and a long catch and run from receiver Jean Luma had once again taken the Panthers down the field in an instant, set up with first-and-goal from inside the Raiders’ five yard line. After a huge halftime deficit, momentum had fully swung back in the favor of Plant, but Plant City got a break when a false start penalty, a tackle for loss and a short completion left the Panthers facing fourth-and-goal from the six.
Lennon took the snap, rolled out to his left and fired for receiver A.J. Durham but the pass was broken up by defensive back Ian Jolly and the Raiders took over on downs.
“That goal line stand was great, it gave us life,” head coach James Booth said. “Ian’s a big-time player, a smart kid, a leader on the back end for him and when you need a play, you know that you can rely on him.”
Plant City responded with three points for a 24-17 lead by way of a Navarrete field goal.
With less than seven minutes remaining and trailing by seven, Plant was sitting just shy of midfield when Lennon fired downfield and found his favorite target in Kindell again, this time for a 52-yard game-tying touchdown and third score of the night.
Plant City took back over at their own 20 with around five minutes remaining. The Raiders converted one first down, up to the 35 yard line, and that was all they would need as Bush capped his already unbelievable performance with a 65-yard touchdown, his fourth and final score of the night, to give Plant City a 31-24 lead that their defense would hold.
Bush finished the contest with 265 rushing yards and the aforementioned four touchdowns, garnering a nomination for Hillsborough County Player of the Week from Prime Time Preps.
“It’s one of the best [performances] that I’ve seen,” head coach James Booth said. “Reggie’s been patient all year and a lot of teams have kind of been loading the box and daring us to throw. So this was his opportunity to really have a lighter box and he made them pay. I thought that he did a great job, ran physical, showcased the speed that he has and I think that it’s one of the top Plant City performances that I’ve seen coaching.”
The win moves Plant City to 5-3 on the year, including 2-1 in district play. As the Raiders and Panthers entered the evening with matching 1-1 records in the district, Plant City was also able to crucially hold on to their third place in the 8A District 10 standings.
Around the rest of the district, Durant sits in second at 2-1 and Newsome will head to Plant City next Friday as the lone remaining undefeated team in the district at 2-0.
“I thought we played a great first half and really shut them down with what they want to do, then we gave up some big plays,” Booth said. “A lot of times you need these type of games to see where your team is at and I thought that our guys did a great job of staying together, not pointing fingers, believing in each other and believing that we could win the game. It was good to see them respond that way, not get down, especially when they tied it up and we had to make a play offensively. I liked hearing the defense say, ‘we got your back, let’s go get it.’ It was good to see our guys come together and it was really just a good team win.”