At the beginning of the season, the Alonso at Plant game looked like another notch in the win column easily marked in Plant Panthers Black & Gold. Well, for at least the time being the Alonso Ravens have their sights set on marking that win in Navy Blue and Vegas Gold. The Ravens come into tonight’s key District 6-8A tilt at (5-1, 1-0) coming off of a heartbreaking loss to Top 5 Plant City, while the Panthers are all ahead full speed at (6-0, 1-0) and apparently on a collision course for their clash with Armwood next week. First, the 6A Runners-up must take care of the business at hand at Dad’s Stadium tonight.
When Plant has the ball it’s clear that Wesley Bullock is one of the main guys both on the ground and in the air. The 5-6 Junior may look small in stature, but rest assured he’s going to get the last laugh if you’re in open space with him. As mentioned, Bullock has been a dual threat amassing 302 yards on 56 carries and 3 TD’s. He also has caught 11 passes for 245 and an additional 2TD’s. Bullocks’ mate in the backfield Antonio Crawford is averaging nearly 10yds per carry and will again be asked to be either the 1 or the 2 in a 1-2 punch for the Panthers.
The man that gets Bullock the ball via his arm or on the handoff is James Few. The Senior QB is completing 60% of his passes, and one of his favorite targets is Austin Aikens. The 6-1 Sr. has found the Endzone four times this season totaling 262 yards on 12 catches. One of the standout things regarding the Panthers this season has been their ability to continue their winning ways without the beneficiary of 4 and 5-Star players. They’ve taken exactly what teams are willing to give to them and haven’t looked back. Their signature win coming against Bergen Catholic earlier in the year.
When Alonso has the ball, they go as their talented 1-2 Running Back combination of Sophomore Ish Witter and Sr. Brandon Holloway. QB Brandon Hawkins is completing 58% of his passes for a modest 702 yards, 7 TD’s and 3 INT’s. The Ravens are a team built on speed, speed, and more speed. They have a knack for finding the ball on defense and have a pair of outstanding Linebackers in Marcus Neuman and Jake Struthers. The two have combined for 135 tackles this season. Wide Receiver Marcus Mosley and Mr. Do-It-All Eddie Castillo are averaging over 15 yards per catch when the Ravens do manage to get the passing game cranked up.
The mission for Alonso is clear. They cannot get into a shootout with Plant under any circumstances. The game will come down to can the Ravens get the Panthers Offense from grinding away while you already know they will be prepared for everything that Alonso will throw their way in terms of Witter and Holloway. Plant will look to keep Holloway from getting around the edges or the Mississippi St. Commit is capable of doing some damage. If they can stay balanced and win not all, but the majority of the battles in the trenches they can set up Witter for the tough yards inside and Holloway running wild on the outside.
Much like their matchup with Plant City last week, Alonso (on paper) looks to be in somewhat of a mismatch. This year’s team seems to embrace the “Us vs. The World” mentality and have done an outstanding job of channeling that into lights out play on the field. Their biggest worry will be how long will Brandon Hawkins have to throw? As mentioned, Alonso cannot afford to get into a shootout nor can they afford to be imbalanced on offense so it’s going to be paramount when they do get into obvious passing situations that they execute. Sounds pretty easy, but it will be the foundation for the upset if they chose to do what some are calling even more impossible than last week. A game that ended 9-7 with Alonso feeling sick to their stomach’s over ‘should’ve, could’ve, would’ve’. In the end, Plant will probably prove their pedigree and Alonso will be forced to beat Wharton for the right to go to the playoffs as District 6-8A Runners-up. Then again, Alonso looks like they feel just fine with people giving them no chance. Proceed with caution.
PREDICTION: Plant 34 Alonso 16