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Season Ends; Big Loss Comes At Graduation

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2007

PLANT CITY - Who knows what would have happened if the Plant City High Raiders tackled Bubba Brown right before halftime? That question is likely one every Raider fan who made the trip to Kissimmee Nov. 16 was asking themselves.

However, the team's head coach, Kevin Kelley, won't be spending much time in what-could-have-been mode.

Plant City lost to No. 1-ranked Kissimmee Osceola 34-17 in the first round of the Class 5A football playoffs. The Raiders were hanging in, but a play late in the first half pretty much killed their chances.

Kissimmee Osceola led 14-0, but the Raiders went on a 17-play drive that started midway through the second quarter and ended with Johnathan Dupree's 43-yard field goal. Plant City trailed 14-3 with only 17 seconds left in the half.

"Momentum was going our way," Kelley said.

That was until Brown, Osceola's running back, broke a 60-yard run. It was 21-3 at the half, and that "mo" Plant City had spent so much time building was destroyed.

The Raiders showed plenty of fight after the game was out of reach. Plant City got a pair of long touchdowns in the fourth quarter, with Cortez Hargrett running 50 yards from the quarterback position and Clint Stearns connecting with Adrian Sykes for a 79-yard touchdown pass.

Stearns had his best game throwing the ball, going for 230 yards through the air. Plant City has been a run-dominated team for more than a decade, but Stearns' performance had Kelley considering a change.

"We finally, in the last few weeks, got the guys all healthy together," he said. "We were able to open up our playbook for the first time. Our offense came around. Kissimmee Osceola was awesome on offense, so credit to them. But credit to our kids and coaches. We fought to the last minute."

Brown ran for 181 yards and scored three touchdowns for Osceola, which was scheduled to host Lakeland in the region semifinal, a rematch of the game Nov. 2 won by the Kowboys.

Plant City will lose a number of players to graduation.

Nick Pezzulick, who showed promise as a receiver and Zack Jones, who had a good 20-yard gain on a 3rd-and-18 play, are both seniors.

The toughest losses for Plant City will be felt on defense.

"You go right down the line. Brent Butler, Jake Upthegrove, Semi Durant, Chase Thompson, those guys are just hard-working kids, guys you build a program around," Kelley said. "You get attached to those kids."

Senior Willie Haynes was named a First Team defensive back when the All-Western Conference squads were released recently. A pair of key seniors on offense, running back Keith Dawson and tackle Mark Popek, and junior defensive end Denzel Drone were also voted onto the Federal Division's First Team.

Plant City, Durant, Newsome, Riverview, East Bay, Brandon, Bloomingdale and Spoto make up the Federal Division. The schools' coaches vote on the makeup of the all-star squads.

Duran Lowe was left off the First Team, but the Raider junior has another year to garner notice. Lowe was joined on the Second Team by teammates Eddie Rosenbaum, Sirchauncey Holloway and Semi Durant.

From Durant High, guard Cole Gilliam and linebacker Eric Council were First Team selections. Grant Sizemore, Ryan Rice, Jeremy Fussell, Evan Kelly and John Hicks made the Second Team.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampa trib.com.

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