Robert Barnes, BCP contributor

The Final Four for Saturday’s UCF 7 on 7 Tournament in Orlando had a decidedly Hillsborough County flavor.  After a morning of pool play and an afternoon of bracket play, four teams were left standing:  Orlando Freedom, Armwood, Chamberlain and Plant.  In semi-final play Plant edged Chamberlain 13 – 8 and Armwood disposed of the Patriots 25 – 12, leading to a finals showdown between the cross-county rivals.  Led by quarterback Kyle Groh, a trio of receivers and a defense that came up with some key stops, the Panthers topped the Hawks 19 – 12 to claim the tournament championship.

Despite being without the services of several projected starters, including running back  Wesley Bullock, and QB’s Aaron Banks, Colby Brown and Kyle Ploucher, Plant made it through morning pool play with only one blemish — a close loss to the Freedom team that was marred by some controversy when Freedom was given an apparent 5th down deep in Panther territory in the waning minutes of the game.   Along the way, however, Plant managed to pull out early wins over Mt. Dora, South Tampa rival Robinson and  Orlando Edgewater.  In bracket play, the Panthers prevailed over Umatila, Southlake (coming off an upset victory over Robinson), and Cocoa Beach (featuring a last-play-of-the-game defensive stop in the corner of the end zone by Plant cornerback Bernard Rogers) before moving inside UCF’s covered practice facility for the final two games.

Several Plant players remained home in Tampa to take the SAT test, but those who made the trip, made it a memorable one.  Groh took all snaps at quarterback and spread the ball around to a host of Panther receivers, including Derrick Mann, Alex Jackson and Cam Winter.   Plant will travel to South Florida this coming weekend to defend their Heath Evans 7 on 7 Tournament Championship.