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Charles Gets His Trophy Time

Tribune photo by JAY CONNER

Orson Charles, at left, celebrates his touchdown with QB Aaron Murray in the 2nd quarter.

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By KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 21, 2008

ORLANDO - Soon after receiving their gold medals, Plant players and coaches crowded together on the celebration riser at midfield. Coach Robert Weiner held up the championship trophy, while Orson Charles stared at it.

"I want to hold the trophy," Charles said, which was met with a resounding "no" by teammates and coaches. Charles accidentally broke Florida's crystal championship trophy from 1996 earlier this year.

Charles finally got his hands on the trophy, which prompted co-defensive coordinator John Few to yell at him.

"Put the trophy down and walk away from it," Few implored.

TEMPER, TEMPER: Starting center Frank Nicholas missed most of the second half after he was ejected near the beginning of the third quarter for his involvement in a fight on the field. Nicholas got caught up in the bottom of a pile and wrestled with a Lincoln player before he got tossed.

Backup Rip Chambers finished the game at center.

"I didn't want to get thrown out of my last game, but I just got caught up in the bottom of the pile," Nicholas said.

Weiner made light of the incident during the team's celebration at Dad's Stadium after the game.

"Frank and I are tied for number of games we've been thrown out of," said Weiner, referring to a game earlier in the season when he was ejected for arguing with an official.

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