Tallahassee Godby rolled into town and announced to the high school football world that they have absolutely no intention of relinquishing the 5A state title that they won last year. The Godby Cougars defeated the Plant Panthers 35 -16 in pre-season action in a game played at Raymond James Stadium. The visitors put five touchdowns on the board before Plant closed out the scoring with two late touchdowns of their own.
Godby took advantage of excellent field position in the early goings, taking an early 7 – 0 lead halfway through the first quarter on a short run. Plant seemed poised to respond; but a 25 yard run ended with a turnover when the Godby defender stripped the ball out of the hands of one of the young Plant running backs filling in for an injured Patrick Brooks. However, the Cougars were unable to capitalize on the turnover. Another Plant turnover (this time, an interception) once again gave Godby excellent field position. Once again, the Plant defense was up to the task and kept the Cougars from scoring. The first quarter ended with Godby leading 7 – 0.
The two teams traded a couple of punts before Godby quarterback JT Bradwell hit Tavis James with a 36-yard scoring strike. Bradwell connected again towards the end of the half when he hit Ladasian Smiley with a long TD pass. Plant was able to move the ball down the field, but ran out of time before they were able to punch the ball into the end zone and Godby was able to take a 21 – 0 lead into the locker room.
The second half picked up where the first half ended: Plant ending positive drives with turnovers and Godby making an opportunistic big scoring play. This time, it was Cougar running backs Kenny Young and Jaylin Hayward finding pay dirt from 31 and 23 yards out, respectively.
The Panthers got on the scoreboard early in the 4th quarter when Colby Brown hit senior receiver Cam Winter with a 15-yard pass. Brown then ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion. A successful on-side kick led to a second Brown-to-Winter touchdown pass, this one from 23 yards out. Once again, Plant was successful on a two-point conversion and the lead now stood at 35 – 16. The Panthers threatened once again, but ran of of time.
Plant’s defense showed signs of brilliance at times, shutting down both the running game and the passing game of the Cougars. However, Godby made them pay with four big plays. Plant’s offense struggled early, but started to click late in the game. The Panthers will look to hit the ground running from the beginning and limit big plays from their opponent when they travel to Sandy Creek, Georgia to open regular season play this Thursday night.
– Robert Barnes