Durant 49 Strawberry Crest 7
Pretty tough to get a gauge of things in just 24 minutes of clock time, and all four teams in the cluster at Plant City on Thursday night were shining examples of gauges gone wild; and not in a good way. For three of the four squads, their gauges needed to be replaced before the end of the second series. One squad appeared to be so dialed-in they would open up a 3-pt morning line favorite against Alabama in the BCS Title game. Okay, so maybe that’s a little too much hyperbole or sensationalistic, but there was one element that was every bit of sensational and this time there are no exaggerations needed. The numbers tell it like it is.
Just after two plays from scrimmage, Durant Sr. RB Jamarlon Hamilton had 60 yards on 2 rushes on his way (unofficially) to 111 yards in only 9 carries and 2TD’s in just two quarters. The Cougars racked up 231 yards of offense en route to a 49-7 victory over Strawberry Crest. All but 40 of those 231 yards came via terra firma as Durant used a platoon of QB’s (Zach Stephenson & Paxton Sims) as well as RB’s (Chris Atkins & Johnny Jones) to comprise a power rushing attack to keep things off-balance for ‘Crest all evening.
Even though the Cougars’ Randy Baker managed to pick QB Trey Vandegrift for a pick-six, the Chargers signal-caller still finished (unofficially) with 126 yards completing 14 of 20 attempts, finishing with a TD and the INT. Wide Receiver Karel Hamilton of Strawberry Crest finished the game with 5 catches for 49 yards, including a circus-style 20yd TD catch in the corner of the end zone.
If the spring is any indication, then Durant could be labeled as the leader in the clubhouse as favorite in District 7A-8 race, but it’s a long way to go until they get to Bloomingdale on August 24th for their Fall Classic; and what seems like years away until the final week of the season. They will open the season at Freedom. After the game, Hamilton (Durant’s version) looked wide eyed and wide open mentally as he stepped off the field;
“We’ve been working real hard during the spring. Our offensive line has been working real hard against the D-Line and they were ready to hit somebody else tonight. They gave me the holes, I just ran through them. Our mindset is to put up 100 against anybody.”
Other standouts for Durant (especially on defense) included Sr. LB Chris Smith, Jr. LB Demetrius Brown, and Sr. CB Rodney Lang. Head Coach John Kelly and his Strawberry Crest team will regroup for the summer and get ready for their 7v7 regimen. They will play at Freedom for their Fall Classic and then open at home against Plant City.
Armwood 7 Plant City 0 (Play suspended with 10 minutes to play in final quarter)
An absolutely brutal 12 minutes followed by another 2 minutes of mediocrity and it was mercifully over. If not for Darryl Richardson’s 25yd pass on the 1st play from scrimmage in the 2 Quarter to Alvin Bailey, this game would have ended in a tie due to its suspension almost immediately following because of inclement weather.
The Hawks started the game with a no gain, then a holding penalty negating a Caylan Holloway 40+ yd run, another incomplete, a false start, and then Richardson missed a wide-open Leon McQuay III streaking down the seam. They finished with only one less penalty (6) than points (7). Darryl Richardson completed the game with 105 total yards (4-12, 89yds and a TD) and 16 yards rushing.
Bailey’s night, although statistically a stellar one (3 catches for 73 yards, TD), was extremely docile for the most part. Plant City’s Defense was up to the task as far as the interior running game and pass rush were concerned, but they were no match for Bailey’s speed once he did get out in the open. The Raiders harassed Richardson the majority of what action was played, so there’s plenty of positivity to be taken away as far as they are concerned. Both Landon Galloway and Nick Rodriguez saw extremely limited snaps.
Armwood DL Byron Cowart (’15) 6-4, 230 was a one-man wrecking crew however. He was literally throwing whoever was in front of him either to the side on his way to whoever was under center for Plant City or just throwing them to the ground like they were sacks of potatoes. Freshman RB Caylan Holloway showed his flashes of speed as well, but his longest run was negated by a holding penalty.
Armwood will open the season vs. Brandon, while Plant City will play their Fall Classic vs. Hillsborough and then open the season at Strawberry Crest.