While Durant had claimed the annual Redman Cup rivalry matchup against Plant City the past two years, the Raiders moved to 3-1 on Thursday night as they came away with a 17-14 win over the Cougars.
As Plant City hauled in the opening kick off, Maurian Hugee brought the return out to the 37-yard line for the Raiders’ first drive. With a gain of eight on first down from running back Tony Marshall, the Raiders moved across midfield as quarterback Chris Denson found receiver Josh Gueh on a quick pass over the middle up to the Durant 43. Another first down carry from Marshall moved the ball up to the 31, anther completion to Gueh gave Plant City a first down at the 27 and Denson moved Plant City into the red zone on a nine-yard carry down to the 18. But on the ensuing first down play, as Denson dropped back to pass and was quickly pressured by the Durant pass rush, the Cougars ended the opening Plant City drive with a forced fumble recovered by linebacker Hale Sollmann at the 28-yard line.
A pair of carries from running back Emmanuel Lee quickly left the Cougars facing a third-and-six from the 32, but quarterback Michael Ryan was able to find receiver Damari Styles for a first down to the 45. An incompletion on first down set up a second-and-10 but Ryan moved the chains as he escaped the collapsing pocket and scrambled up to the Plant City 39-yard line for a 16-yard gain. Lee kept the drive running with a first down carry to the 24 and after being stood up for no gain on a tackle from Plant City defensive end Donta Jenkins on the next play, Ryan rolled out of the pocket on second down and found Styles open downfield for the first score of the game. Ryan subsequently punched in the two-point conversion himself and the Cougars quickly found themselves ahead 8-0 with 4:18 remaining in the first quarter.
As Durant kicked off it was Hugee on the return for Plant City again, this time turning his opportunity into a huge return as he darted up the sideline and across midfield to start the Raiders’ drive at the Cougars’ 46-yard line. On second-and-four after a six-yard gain to open the drive from Marshall, Denson found Gueh on a deep go route where he was forced out at the seven-yard line. On first-and-goal from inside the 10, Marshall looked to have possibly gotten the Raiders on the board with a tough run up the middle, but the ball was marked inside the one to set up second-and-goal just inches from pay dirt. The second down carry from Marshall was stopped for no gain by Durant linebackers Hunter Smith and Brant Bovee before the duo met in the backfield again on third-and-goal, splitting a sack back at the seven-yard line as the Raiders were forced to settle for a 24-yard field goal from kicker Bach Tran.
Clinging to an 8-3 lead late in the first, the Cougars opened their next drive at the 18, moving up to the 33 on a quarterback draw from Ryan and appearing to fly across midfield on a huge completion that was hauled in by a diving Treon Williams around the Plant City 40-yard line, but an ineligible receiver penalty negated the big gain and pushed Durant back instead. The setback ultimately proved too much for the Cougars offense to overcome and they were forced to punt from deep inside their own territory, giving Plant City possession back at their own 35.
The Cougars’ pressure thwarted the ensuing Raiders drive as they punted the ball back to Durant a few plays later, and a phenomenal special teams play from Plant City’s Travont Panier downed the Cougars at the one-yard line. A carry for no gain on first and an incompletion left Durant with a precarious third-and-10 from the shadow of their own goalpost, but another quarterback draw from Ryan gave life back to the Cougars’ offense as he took the carry all the way out to the 28-yard line. A pair of completions to receivers Jaylin Torres and Jayden Cornelius moved the chains but the Cougars were left facing a fourth-and-two just across midfield at the Plant City 49. Rolling the dice on fourth, Ryan rolled out to his left and scanned the field for an open receiver or a running lane to pick up the first, but a mix of pressure from the Raiders’ front seven and solid coverage in their defensive backfield forced Ryan to heave up a desperation pass that was intercepted by cornerback Khai Ponder at the Plant City 40.
Strong carries from Denson and Marshall, aided by a completion to receiver Zykee Joyce, moved the Raiders all the way down to the one-yard line where linebacker Michael Bell was able to punch in the one-yard touchdown with less than one minute remaining in the half. The extra point attempt was wide left after a false start backed the kick up, but the Raiders scoring drive would give them a 9-8 lead heading into halftime.
With Durant receiving to open the second half, both teams would exchange punts on their first two drives of the third quarter before the Cougars were left with great field position on their next drive as they took the field with the ball spotted right at the 50. In just two plays a pair of completions had Durant set up at the Plant City 38 and a quarterback draw from Ryan moved them inside the red zone to the 19. A first-down carry from Lee moved the Cougars down to the seven and a touchdown carry from Lee two plays later put Durant back on top at 14-9.
Responding quickly, Plant City opened their drive at the 31 with an incompletion on first, followed by a six-yard carry from Marshall and a 13-yard run from Denson up to midfield. Dropping back to pass on first, Denson escaped the pressure from Durant once again, finding green grass up the middle before working his way outside the number and up to the 23. Smith and defensive lineman Caleb Waters got into the backfield for a big tackle for loss on the next play to force a second-and-13, to which Durant’s defense followed up with a sack as Bovee, Waters and Lucas Bowlin got to Denson back at the 31. Facing third-and-18, Denson was pressured once again, rolling out of the pocket and firing incomplete to bring up a fourth-and-long, but a personal foul called on Durant downfield gave the Raiders a much more realistic conversion opportunity at fourth-and-three from the 16. Rolling out to his left, Denson fired complete to Joyce right at the sticks as he cut back to the middle of the field, broke one tackle and found the end zone for the go-ahead score with 11:33 left in the contest. The Raiders then extended their lead to 17-14 on a perfect fade to the back of the end zone from Denson, hauled in by Gueh.
“Chris Denson is amazing, I call him a unicorn,” Plant City head coach Terrence Hicks said. “He’s a guy where, you can’t just go to any program and find a guy like him. You have to search high and low to find a guy like Chris Denson so I freaking love that kid. He kept his composure when we were down. We weren’t winning the entire game so I grabbed him on the sideline and said hey, this is what you come here for, you live for moments like this and he came up clutch.”
The Cougars marched down into Plant City territory on the ensuing drive, but a forced fumble shut the series down. And while the Plant City offense continued to chew away at the fourth quarter clock, the Raiders’ defense stood strong for the remainder of the contest and allowed Plant City to escape with their first Redman Cup victory since 2020.
“This win means a lot,” Hicks said. “These are all Plant City people, the only two high schools in Plant City. We’ve lost this game the last two years, you hear all of the yapping and chirping on social media and it just feels good to get out here and shut that part of it up. Talking doesn’t win any games, you have to win it between the lines and I’m proud of the Plant City community.”
Offensively for the Raiders, Denson completed seven of his 13 pass attempts for 96 yards and one touchdown while adding a team-high 96 rushing yards on 14 carries. Behind Denson on the ground, Marshall finished the contest with 90 rushing yards on 18 carries while Bell took his lone carry for a one-yard touchdown.
“Tony Marshall started out a little slow in the beginning of the season, little things, a cut here or reading the blocks there, but he’s coachable,” Hicks said. “He listens to us every day. He may come out and say that we need to hit more in practice because he’s got to get better and get his reps, things like that, and he’s continue to get better every game. Physically, he’s one of the best backs in the county. Strength, size, speed, he’s got everything you want in a running back but he just had to get better at reading blocks and he’s done that.”
Out wide, receiver Zykee Joyce totaled 63 receiving yards and one touchdown on three receptions while Josh Gueh totaled 33 yards on four receptions.
Defensively, Bell paced the unit with 10 total tackles while Jenkins racked up a team-high three tackles for loss, followed by two from Temarce Miller and one each from Bell, Davin Stone-Grant and Dacoby McDonald.
On the heels of a 3-7 record in 2022, The Raiders have now matched their win total from last season in just four games under Hicks.
“It’s just believing and buying into to the process,” Hicks said. “I told them over the summer, we’re going to build our team through the weight room and mental toughness. I feel like that’s an element that we missed last year, pushing them past their limit to break them so that they can build themselves back up. We did that from November when I got the job all the way up until the first game. We pushed ourselves all summer, every day, working hard and they believed. They bought into the fact that I’m really trying to change things for the better around here. I’ve got a great coaching staff, a great support staff and everyone just bought in — from me to the coaches to the players to the community — and I just feel like it’s so much more than just our play on the field, but everything else that you don’t just see on Fridays.”
For the Cougars, Ryan completed 11 of his 20 pass attempts for 108 yards, one touchdown and one interception while adding 61 rushing yards on 15 carries. In the backfield, Lee racked up 80 rushing yards and one touchdown on 16 carries while Kendrick Jean tacked on one carry for four yards. At receiver, Styles totaled 57 receiving yards and one touchdown on five receptions, followed by Ajani Peavy with 21 yards on two receptions, Cornelius with 20 yards on two receptions and Torres with 10 yards on two receptions.
Defensively, Smith and Sollmann both notched double-digit tackles with 13 and 10 respectively while Smith also racked up a team-high four tackles for loss and two sacks, followed by Bovee with three tackles for loss and one sack.
Across town, Strawberry Crest moved to 3-1 with a 40-0 win over Leto.
Offensively for the Chargers, freshman quarterback Joe Borchard completed his lone pass attempt for eight yards. In the backfield, senior running back Devin Blunt hauled in the only complete pass of the night for eight receiving yards and totaled 132 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries, followed by freshman Roosevelt Miller with 88 yards and one touchdown on 11 carries, Arnulfo Castillo with 21 yards on four carries and Stevie Parkmond with 11 yards and one touchdown on two carries.
Defensively, Abe Craig lead the team with five total tackles while Malachi Johnson paced the unit with three tackles for loss and two sacks, followed by Troy Eskew and Quintin Walker with one sack each. And in addition to his productive night on offense, Blunt came up with an interception on defense.