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Buccaneers Honor Kelly

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By DAREK SHARP, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2007

PLANT CITY - It's not quite an emergency state, but the injuries seeping into the Plant City High School Raiders football squad had their head coach considering some drastic measures.

'At some point I thought I was going to have to start searching the concession stands for a running back, just in case,' Coach Kevin Kelley said.

He was kidding, of course, which a coach can do more easily after his team gets out to a 2-0 start. But when starting running back Sirchauncey Holloway went out with a shoulder injury on the first play against Blake, there was some concern.

The 14-7 win against Blake at Raider Stadium was Plant City's seventh straight regular-season victory. That was the major reason Kelley has been honored by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the first high school Coach of the Week for the 2007 season.

On Thursday, Kelley was scheduled to attend Buccaneer practice and meet head coach Jon Gruden. Ironically, Gruden saw his starting running back, Cadillac Williams, go out last week as well.

Plant City hopes to have Holloway back, if not at full strength, for next week's opener of District 5A-7 play at Bloomingdale.

Making matters worse is the ankle injury to Keith Dawson, the Raiders' other top running back. He missed the Blake game.

Backup Cortez Hargrett came through against the Yellow Jackets, running for nearly 100 yards and a pair of big fourth-quarter touchdowns. Though Hargrett showed he can handle the running back position, he had to be switched from wide receiver.

Another receiver, Adrian Sykes, could line up in the backfield but 'at that point we're down to our fourth and fifth receivers,' Kelley said. Sykes ran the ball four times against Blake and added three catches for 80 yards.

Kelley has had to consider calling up someone from the junior varsity, or perhaps moving a defensive player to the backfield.

But the funny thing is, it's not like there are not talented running backs on the Raiders sideline. Assistant coach Wayne Ward is in charge of that unit.

'Hey, Coach Ward has 10-12 plays left in him I think,' Kelley said. Ward is Plant City High's all-time leading rusher.

Jason Brown, a former quarterback, has returned to the program as an assistant. He was among Hillsborough County's leading rushers his senior season despite not being a running back.

'I know Jason could give us 20 carries a game. Hey, he kind of has the same build as Dawson, maybe we can slip that jersey over him,' Kelley joked.

Linebacker Chase Thompson is also hurting. The Raiders were set to play Riverview on Friday night.

Because Kelley was named Coach of the Week, the Plant City High football program gets a boost: the Buccaneers and the NFL will donate $1,000 to the program.

Reporter Darek Sharp can be reached at dsharp@tampatrib .com.

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