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Plant Used To Adversity This Year

Tribune photo by JASON BEHNKEN

Plant coach Robert Weiner and quarterback Aaron Murray celebrate Plant's win over Dwyer.

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By KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 20, 2008

Updated: 12/20/2008 12:13 am

TAMPA - It's a good thing Plant High coach Robert Weiner loves roller coasters, since he has been on one heck of a ride this season.

It is one that began with a nationally televised loss and could end with the school's second state football championship. Plant's season opened with a loss to Armwood, and it culminates in today's 1 p.m. Class 4A championship game against Tallahassee Lincoln at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

In between, a lot has happened, including losing starting quarterback Aaron Murray for a good portion of the season, but the Panthers somehow find themselves at this point.

"Our team handles adversity with such character, and almost ease sometimes, that those adversities have never seemed to be anything that could blow up in our faces," Weiner said. "This team seems to know how to handle whatever it is that's thrown at them. And seems to be totally prepared for anything that might be thrown at them, even though it's something completely unpredictable."

Murray, who missed seven games with a broken leg, believes the adversity made an already close team closer.

"We were a tight-knit group to begin the season," Murray said. "We had a great offseason of really working to build a team. I think the year before, coming off a state championship, we weren't as focused. I think this year we got refocused and knew if we wanted to win a state championship, we had to really come together as a team."

After dropping its first game, 9-2, to Armwood, Plant reeled off four consecutive victories before the next dip in the ride occurred. In the Oct. 16 homecoming game against Hillsborough, Murray broke his left leg and dislocated his ankle in the second quarter.

Two weeks after Murray went down, one of their biggest fans had what proved to be a fatal heart attack in the stands at Dad's Stadium. Play was halted for nearly 30 minutes Oct. 31 against Chamberlain while paramedics tended to offensive lineman Mark Brannan's grandfather.

"We always put into perspective the place for football," Weiner said. "You have these T-shirts that say 'Football Is Life,' but it's not. We're constantly reminded of so many things that are much more important than that."

Weiner himself added to the drama this season when he was ejected for arguing with an official during the Nov. 7 game against Jefferson, and he was later suspended for the next game against Robinson.

The bumpy road continued into the postseason. In each of Plant's last three games, the Panthers had to come from behind to win.

"You've got to go through some bad to get to the good," said wide receiver Orson Charles, whose stellar performance this season was the one constant. "We went through a hilly road, and we had to get through it, and now we're playing for a state title."

Because people wrote this team off so often this season, the team took on the role on the underdog. It is a role that served the Panthers well when they won it all in 2006.

"We've gone through a lot, but everybody stepped up," Murray said. "With every bad situation that's happened, we've had guys who stepped up and put the team on their backs. We've had a lot of heroes who've made this possible to be in a state championship."

Reporter Katherine Smith can be reached at (813) 259-7860.

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