Justin Kline has some thoughts about last week’s Strawberry Crest football game and the district playoff picture.
For three quarters, the Chargers were having what I’d call one of their best games yet on Friday, Sept. 30.
I know, the offense wasn’t able to put up any points. It almost did, but the referees saw a hold somewhere and threw a flag on the team’s lone venture into the Lennard end zone – a fake punt that, otherwise, couldn’t have worked any better. These are the breaks.
But the defense was largely able to contain Lennard’s offense, by which I really mean, “running back Jahryn Bailey.” I noticed that the Longhorns’ quarterback wasn’t making reads or scanning the field for open wideouts, instead just throwing the ball to whichever wideout he saw first, and the Chargers were able to grab two interceptions that way.
And, since Lennard’s defense forced five turnovers, more credit goes to Crest’s defense for keeping the score at 9-0 for much of the game.
It’s just that the Longhorns’ defense was too overwhelming for Crest’s offense. Lennard was frequently able to rattle quarterback Braxton Plunk, flushing him out of the pocket or tipping low passes to teammates. The final Crest turnover of the game was a tipped-pass pick six, which led to the final score of 23-0.
The Chargers were visibly (and audibly) frustrated with the officiating, and I do think that Lennard got away with some favorable calls and non-calls. But, had the refs called the game perfectly down the middle, I don’t know that it would have impacted the final outcome of Lennard winning on five forced turnovers.
With the number of believably winnable games dwindling down – I have the Friday, Oct. 28, home game against Bloomingdale as the first one in mind – the kids are getting increasingly anxious to, if nothing else, snatch a win.
Determined as this group may be, much of the roster is as green as the grass in Ireland, and that’s not something that you can change in one season. You can teach fundamentals and playbooks, but you can’t teach game experience. As I have in the past, I urge all Crest fans to be patient with the team’s latest rebuilding phase. This isn’t a quick fix but, even in such a brutal district, it can be done in time.
Last week also gave us a clearer idea of what’s going on with the district playoff picture, thanks to the Plant City-Tampa Bay Tech game.
Tech beat up Plant City more badly than most probably thought it could, and that outcome left little doubt as to who will likely walk away with the 7A-9 championship. I’m not trying to slight Durant here – it’s just that this Tech team looks like it’s reached that elite tier with Armwood and Plant, and there’s even a real chance that the Titans could win at Armwood this week. This is not a football team to trifle with.
In my opinion, the battle for second place and the last playoff spot is now the hottest topic of our crazy district. If you ask me, it’ll be decided in next week’s Redman Cup game between the Cougars and the Raiders and, even though Plant City will have home-field advantage, you would be unwise to sleep on this Durant team.
Should Plant City win, Durant could force some confusion with a home upset over Tech the following week. Should Durant win, it would likely lock the Cougars and Titans in for the playoffs, with the final order depending on what happens at 4748 Cougar Path on Friday, Oct. 21.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
