Sports Editor Justin Kline breaks down last week’s Armwood-Plant City game.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers once told antsy Green Bay Packers fans to “R-E-L-A-X.”
I’m taking his one word of advice and giving it to Raider Nation: relax.
There’s no need to get upset or concerned about (almost) anything from the Friday, Aug. 26, 36-16 loss to Armwood, which was a far better outcome than 2015’s. I said something like this to Strawberry Crest fans last week, and I’m saying it again now.
I’ll just go ahead and start with the bad stuff, to get it out of the way, before I come through with the good news.
Both Armwood and Plant City need to — like, all-caps, screaming, NEED to — give their punt teams as many extra reps in practice as they can handle. Bad snaps killed Armwood’s chances against Bradenton-Manatee in the preseason, and they might have contributed to a loss or a closer score here if the Raiders didn’t have the same problems.
In the second half, Armwood got to start almost all of its drives in Plant City territory because of bad snaps and ensuing problems. That’s not going to doom the Raiders against lesser teams, but when you face top competition in the playoffs, it’ll hurt.
Fortunately, it’s something that can be fixed between now and November. I’m certain it will be.
If this game identified any other weaknesses in Plant City at the moment, it’s the Raiders’ ability to limit mobile quarterbacks. Armwood’s Devin Black, who transferred from district foe Lennard, shredded Plant City with his legs. Armwood didn’t have the same amount of trouble defending Corey King, who plays a similar game, though that may be because that entire team seems loaded with NCAA Power 5 talent.
Fortunately, it’s not a problem that will bother the Raiders too often: with Black out of the district, Plant City may not have to face many adept scramblers in its road to the playoffs.
Now, I’m not saying that this definitely contributed to the Raiders’ downfall Aug. 26 but, as a longtime sports fan, I’m a fairly superstitious guy. I’m almost as superstitious as baseball players. And one of my beliefs is that the “I believe that we will win” chant is cursed and always leads to the chanters’ team losing that particular game. I can’t remember a time where I’ve ever heard it and it worked, so hearing it from the home side seats at the 6:49 mark of the first quarter was, for me, foreboding.
For the record, I also strongly believe in the curse of the Billy goat, the BasedGod curse and the Buffalo sports curse.
Let’s move on to the things Plant City did well.
That first half of football was among the best I’ve watched at the high school level, at least in terms of emotion. Although there’s “no cheering in the press box” among journalists, halves like that make it hard to not get emotionally invested in one side or the other. Nothing makes you want to stand up, beat your chest and yell, “Let’s go,” as loud and long as you can like seeing an underdog triumph in real time.
Many Raiders played well, but there are two efforts I have to single out.
First, there’s Cody Cribbs having what must have been the game of his life: three touchdowns prevented, two on end-zone interceptions. Coming against a team of Armwood’s caliber, that kind of performance speaks volumes about Cribbs as a player and will likely make college scouts’ ears perk up.
Second, Treshaun Ward ran the ball better than most sophomores probably would have against a nationally-relevant defense. He scored twice, both times in the second quarter, and showed that the Hawks’ defense probably took the Raiders too lightly until the end of the first half.
So, Raider fans, don’t take the bad parts of that Armwood game too seriously. It’s a new week and a new opponent, and those same Raiders players will walk onto Jefferson’s field Friday, Sept. 2, with focus.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
