TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Plant Defense Keeps It Close

ADVERTISEMENT

By KATHERINE SMITH

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 6, 2008

TAMPA - Rivalry or not, Armwood certainly has Plant's number.

But that number is getting smaller. The Hawks won their third consecutive game in the series, but not without a fight from the Panthers.

Only this time, it was Plant's defense that kept it in the game.

The Panthers held Armwood to 119 yards of offense and shut it out after the Hawks' opening touchdown drive.

"I told you their defense was good," Armwood offensive coordinator Chris Taylor said.

In his pregame speech, Plant coach Robert Weiner fired up the team with an impassioned plea to attack its opponent.

"Keep coming back at them until they don't want anymore," Weiner said.

The defense certainly took that to heart.

In its two losses to Armwood last year, Plant was outscored 62-14 and was always playing from behind. Friday night felt different, because the Panthers were never out of it because of the defense.

Trailing by just five points coming out of halftime, the Panthers forced five consecutive three-and-outs, including an interception by senior defensive back Walter Hudnall. Linebackers Mike Mirabella and Beau Hume and safety Hunter Baldwin swarmed to the ball all night and disrupted Armwood's new-look spread offense.

But every time the Panthers defense put the ball into the offense's hands, quarterback Aaron Murray and Co. weren't able to capitalize on the opportunities.

Plant's offense failed to get anything going. The Panthers had minus-8 yards in the first half, mostly because Murray was under siege the entire night. He limped off the field several times and took a helmet to his shin in the second half, but he kept coming back for more.

Murray was sacked five times and finished the game 17 of 37 for 121 yards and one interception. Not the numbers Murray, who set a state record with 51 touchdowns last season, normally posts.

"It's definitely disappointing," said the University of Georgia commit. "We've just got to go out there and work hard, because there's nine more games in the season.

"So we've got to win those nine, win the first two playoff games, and then we'll see them again."

Taylor also predicted the teams would see each other in the postseason, like they have the past three seasons. The Hawks will have to figure out a way to not only deal with the Panthers' defense, but the homefield advantage as well.

"Their crowd noise definitely affected us," Taylor said. "The crowd was definitely loud, and we couldn't deal with it.

"We'll have to find a way to deal with it when we play them again in the playoffs."

Reporter Katherine Smith can

be reached at (813) 259-7860

or ksmith@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT