Plant Finds Redemption in Riverside
What a difference a week makes. Seven days and seven nights after a humbling loss to Tampa Bay Tech, in which they were held to a lone touchdown, the Plant Panthers and quarterback Colby Brown found redemption in Riverview. In just a half a game of action, Brown threw six touchdown passes to four different receivers and Plant went on to defeat the Riverview Sharks 47-7 in a district match-up.
Brown’s first scoring strike was set up by a Riverview fumble deep in their own territory. Two plays later, Brown connected with fellow senior Cam Winter from 9 yards out to give the Panthers an early 6-0 (the extra point was blocked by Shark Javon Brown). A second fumble put Brown & Co. back in business again in Shark territory. Brown connected with Winter twice before finding junior Jordan Reed in the end zone from 6 yards out. The two point conversion attempt was snuffed and Plant led 12-0.
The Panther defense forced a three-and-out and Plant took over close to midfield. Brown recovered from a sack to hit senior John Rutledge for one first down and Reed for a second. Brown then hit junior Luke McFadden with a 26-yard scoring strike. Hunter Anderson’s PAT gave the Panthers a 19-0 advantage with just under 3 minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
The Panthers wasted no time is getting on the board in the second quarter. Brown hit Reed on a short screen pass and Reed did the heavy lifting, racing in from 34 yards out to put Plant up 26-0. One possession later, Brown threw his fifth touchdown pass of the night – a 37 yard strike to senior John Rutledge. Anderson’s PAT was successful and the lead was extended to 33-0.
Riverview struggled all night to find running room against a swarming Plant defense, led this night by senior linebackers Brendan Bomar and Maurice Jackson. The Shark’s end-of-season highlight film got at least one addition, however, with just over 5 minutes remaining in the half. Junior QB Keisean Young broke containment and raced 76 yards for a Riverview touchdown. Panther Bernard Rogers immediately quieted the crowd, returning the ensuing kickoff about 70 yards to the Shark 23 yard line. On the next play, Brown connected with Reed again — Brown’s sixth TD pass and Reed’s third TD reception of the half. John Houston connected on the extra point to put Plant up 40-7.
With time running down in the first half, Plant running back Patrick Brooks, retuning to meaningful action for the first time this year, ran for 17 yards. Brown then connected with Clarke Miller for six more yards to set up a 23-yard touchdown run by senior Jake Buxton to close out the scoring in the first half (but only because Brooks’ 50-plus yard run on the last play of the half fell a half yard short of the goal line). Plant led 47-7 at the break.
Unofficially, Brown finished up the half 15-17 (an impressive 88% completion percentage) for over 230 yards and 6 TD’s. Reed was on the receiving end of half of the scores through the air.
By comparison, the second half was rather sloppy. The two teams exchanged punts and turnovers as they played a scoreless second half, shortened by a running clock in the 4th quarter. The Panthers emptied their bench and Coach Robert Weiner gave snaps to a trio of back-up quarterbacks (Will Ayers, Rex Culpepper and freshman Dane Frantzen). But the night, and redemption, belonged to Brown.
Plant improved to 4-1-1 on the season (2-0 in district play), while the host Sharks fell to 3-3 (0-2 in the district). The Sharks travel to Strawberry Crest while the Panthers return home to face Sickles and highly-touted running back Ray Ray McCloud.
– Robert Barnes
