For the second week in a row, Plant ruined a district foe’s homecoming. Friday night, the Plant Panthers toppled the Alonso Ravens 56-27.
Having secured the district 8A-6 championship last week, Plant could have taken the week off — but they’ll wait until next week to do that, as the Panthers will have a bye before hosting a first round playoff game against Orlando Boone. Instead, the Panthers used a balanced running and passing attack and a special teams score to stay in synch and beat the Ravens.
From the start, it appeared that the Plant offense might at least get the night off. Alonso took the opening kickoff and, aided by a couple of encroachment penalties and a fourth down illegal substitution penalty against the Panthers, the Ravens took almost six minutes off the clock. What Plant didn’t give them, the Ravens took, driving the ball into Plant territory before a series of miscues put them back on their own side of the field and forcing them to punt. Plant could muster only one first down on its opening drive, that coming in the form of a 15-yard pass from senior Colby Brown to classmate Cam Winter, before returning the favor and punting the ball back to Alonso. This time, the Ravens went three-and-out.
Plant began its second drive of the night from its own 38 yard line and a 15 yard burst from junior Patrick Brooks. A couple of more runs from Brooks and consecutive completions from Brown to junior Jordan Reed put Plant in business at the Alonso 15 yard line as the first quarter came to a close. A scoreless opening quarter quickly yielded to a pair of touchdowns in the opening seconds of the second quarter. Brown finished off the drive for Plant, working the read-option in a way that would have made Tim Tebow proud — running it in from 15 yards out. Clarke Miller’s extra point gave the Panthers an early 7-0 lead.
Alonso began its next drive from its own 35 yard line – a drive that consisted of but one play. Raven sophomore QB Chris Oladokun hit senior Marcus Mosley with a quick slant and Mosley did the rest, breaking to open field and outrunning the Plant defenders for a 65 yard touchdown pass. Sophomore Jack Bryzenski added the point after to knot the score at 7-7.
In the ensuing possession, Brown found teammate Fletcher Barnes in the right flats and Barnes raced 70 yards down the sideline before being forced out at the Raven 5-yard line. But, a holding penalty on the run pushed the ball back into Panther territory. From there, Brooks ran the ball three times, the last carry resulting in a 2 yard touchdown run. Miller’s PAT was good and Plant again led by seven, 14-7.
The Plant defense began to find its groove, as Oladokun misfired on three straight passes to force a punt situation. Plant senior Bernard Rogers came up with the special teams play of the game, blocking the Raven punt and then tracking the ball down and recovering it in the Alonso end zone for a Plant touchdown. Brown ran it in for a 2-point conversion and a 22-7 Plant advantage.
On the next Raven possession, Oladokun broke containment, scrambling for 35 yards down to the Plant 26 yard line. On 4th down from the Plant 21, Oladokun hit senior Derius Davis for a touchdown. Rogers then went back to work for Plant, blocking Bryzenski’s extra point attempt. Nevertheless, the Ravens had narrowed the gap, trailing 22-13.
Nine yards’ worth of completions to Barnes was one yard too few and Plant was forced to punt. Alonso was unable to move the ball either and punted the ball back to the Panthers. The Plant possession came to a quick end when Brown’s pass was picked off by Raven defensive back Roosevelt Lawrence. The Panthers dodged a bullet a couple of plays later when Oladokun overthrew a wide open receiver streaking down the far sideline. Plant got the ball back at its own 35 yard line with 1:19 remaining in the half. Not content to run out the clock, Brown marched the Panthers down the field. Brown completed passes to Reed and Barnes, while Brooks picked up valuable yardage on the ground. With less than 20 seconds to go in the half, Brown hit Barnes with a 4-yard scoring strike and Plant went into the locker room with a 28-13 lead.
In the second half, the Panthers struck before the Alonso Homecoming Queen candidates could even make it back to their respective convertibles. Brooks did most of the heavy lifting for the Panthers to begin the second half, with most of the damage coming on a 70 yard catch and run. Brooks finished off the drive with a 3 yard run for a touchdown. Miller’s point after was good and Plant was up 35-13.
Alonso’s Lawrence broke several tackles in returning the ensuing kickoff down to the Plant 30 yard line. The Panther defense rose to the task and Alonso turned the ball over on downs. A Plant fumble gave the Ravens another opportunity from within Plant territory, but once again, the Ravens were unable to convert on 4th down. Plant moved the ball into Raven territory before fumbling for the second time in as many possessions. Witter ignited the following Alonso series with a 20-yard run on the opening play of the drive. Once in Plant territory, the drive stalled and Oledokun’s 4th down pass was picked off by Scoop Bradshaw.
Plant took to the ground on its next possession, picking up large chunks of real estate from Jake Buxton and Tre Gilbert. The key play to the drive came when Brown hit junior Luke McFadden with a 30 yard pass on 3rd down and 17 down to the Raven 7 yard line. From there, Brown connected with a wide open Miller in the end zone. John Houston added the extra point and Plant led 42-13.
The Panthers were unable to take advantage of an Alonso turnover deep in its own territory, turning the ball over on downs as the 4th quarter began. Plant’s defense stiffened again, forcing a Raven punt that Plant co-captain Ronald Young returned all the way back to the Alonso 22 yard line. A few plays later, back-up quarterback Rex Culpepper hit senior John Rutledge III with a 10-yard TD pass. Houston’s point after put Plant up 49-13.
Ish Witter quickly showed why he is attracting attention from several college scouts, as he exploded for a 61 yard TD run on Alonso’s next possession. Witter also ran in the 2-point conversion to cut the Plant lead to 49-21. An unsuccessful onside kick provided the Panthers with a short field and QB Will Ayers led Plant into Raven territory. From 20 yards out, senior running back Justin Valdes sprinted into the end zone for Plant’s final points. The Ravens responded with a final touchdown of their own, with Witter busting in from 2 yards out on the final play of the game.
Unofficially, Witter ended the night with 135 yards and a pair of touchdowns for Alonso. Oladukon, who came into the game completing more than half his passes, finished with about 140 yards through the air, but completed only 7 passes in 30 attempts (although two did result in Raven TD’s). Plant’s QB/RB tandem of Brown and Brooks each produced a pair of TD’s. Brooks picked up almost 80 yards on the ground to complement an similar amount of receiving yards, while Brown completed 16 of 30 for just shy of 250 yards.
Witter will have an opportunity to go head-to-head with Ray Ray McCloud next week when Alonso closes out its season against Sickles. The Panthers, meanwhile enjoy an unusual bye in the final week of the high school regular season before hosting a first-round playoff game.
– Robert Barnes