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It's Home Sweet Home, Finally, For Raiders

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By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: October 22, 2008

PLANT CITY - The Plant City Raiders are finally, really, at home this week.

And it's a pretty good time for them to be there.

Raider Stadium has been deemed fit for football action, and that is what Plant City and Newsome will be providing Friday in what could turn out to be the game of the season for the hosts. Plant City, thanks to a thrilling Oct. 10 victory over East Bay, is back in control of its playoff destiny - but must defeat Newsome to keep it that way.

"You always want to play at home," Raider head coach Jason Strunk said. "It hurts not having the familiar elements of a home game. The good thing is we have a great new surface for our players to play on. That is the most important thing. It has been a long process, but it is now finally done."

Strunk especially thanked school administrators Trent Hobbs, Traci Durrance and Philip Balliet along with assistant coach Gardner Box for their efforts.

Hillsborough County's Athletic Department has been overseeing the progress of the new Raider Stadium turf, which was installed before the regular season but took longer than expected to form into a strong, safe surface. Last week, county Athletic Director Lanness Robinson and other officials gave the nod of approval.

"There were a couple of spots we weren't sure about, so we had some Raider players put on their cleats and actually run around on it," Robinson said.

Plant City's first three home games, as well as its preseason contest, were played at the site of the team that was supposed to be the visitor. The exception was the East Bay game, which was held at Durant. It was believed Durant also may have to host this week's action.

Against East Bay, Plant City scored with mere seconds remaining to win 27-23. Linebacker and running back standout Duran Lowe scored the winning touchdown on a six-yard run, and the Raider offense had by far its best performance of the season. East Bay was considered the favorite to win the district.

Quarterback Clint Stearns ran for two touchdowns but just as importantly saw the passing game get on track, tossing for more than 150 yards.

Strunk said his team enjoyed the atmosphere for its "home game" at Durant.

"I want to thank Durant for helping us out and letting us play there. Our two schools are rivals, but Durant put aside that rivalry and helped out in a tremendous way. I am very appreciative of that," he added.

Though the Raiders are at their true home this week, the going should be tough against Newsome, which has been led almost completely by its defense. Newsome's first District 5A-7 game turned into a battle of the defenses, with the Wolves outlasting Brandon 3-0. It was Newsome's second shutout of the year, and in a third victory, the Wolves limited Durant to six points.

How important was the East Bay win for Plant City? That last-second score turned the Raiders from a near-elimination scenario into one where they completely control their playoff fate. If Plant City wins its last two district games, the Raiders will at worst finish in a three-way tie for first place.

As good as that sounds, Friday still is a near do-or-die situation for the Raiders. A second 5A-7 defeat would force the Raiders to hope for a handful of other results to fall their way and that would be just to hope for second place.

"I am happy for the seniors," Strunk said. "They get a chance to play two meaningful games at home. You could not ask for anything else."
Newsome and Bloomingdale currently lead 5A-7 both with 1-0 records. Both teams have had their bye weeks already, meaning both have three more district games remaining. Plant City and East Bay are both 1-1 while Brandon, idle this week, is 0-2.

If Plant City wins Friday, the Raiders can still be district champions, and if East Bay happens to defeat Bloomingdale, there would be a four-way tie for first place.

Kickoff at Raider Stadium is at 7:30 p.m.

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