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Sampson Ready To Face Ex-Teammates

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By ADAM ADKINS | The Tampa Tribune
and KATHERINE SMITH | The Tampa Tribune
and BILL WARD | TBO.com
and NICK WILLIAMS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 12, 2008

To say Plant High WR Allen Sampson feels at home in the Panthers' offense is an understatement.

"I feel like I'm in heaven," the junior wideout said. "I love everything about it. Even not getting the ball, I love blocking for other players. It's a fun offense."

It was that desire to be play a more integral role in an offense that resulted in Sampson transferring from Gaither to Plant earlier this year. Sampson faces his former team tonight for the first time.

"It will be real strange," Sampson said. "I've got a lot of respect for them. I have a lot of friends on that team. They have a lot of great players. I'm going to play it like any other game."

In his first game for Plant, as his offense struggled against a smothering Armwood defense, Sampson led the team with six receptions for 61 yards. It was also his first game since breaking his jaw in the Nike "7 On" Football Tournament in July.

"My jaw, I don't think it will really happen again," Sampson said. "And any team that's trying to maybe hurt me, I don't think so. I've got a big army behind me helping me."

A VIEW FROM THE TOP: Leto coach Hugh Dehnert didn't need to print out the Class 4A-District 10 standings to pump up his team. The Falcons players already knew they were first in the district following their 30-6 victory against Sickles last week, and losses by Blake, Jefferson and Plant. More importantly, the players weren't high-fiving each other about it.

"Two years ago, we would have been ready to have a parade down the hallway, but now we're more focused," Dehnert said. "The kids were very humble about it. To their credit, it went from recognizing we're on top to we've got to beat Tampa Bay Tech."

That's no tall order considering one of Leto's weaknesses, its size on the offensive line, will be an area the Titans can exploit.

"They're very fast on defense and they're very physical," Dehnert said. "They come off the ball very quickly, so we've got our work cut out for us."

LEVEL-HEADED RAIDERS: It's no secret around Hillsborough County that Blake has been a struggling program the past few years. The Yellow Jackets have failed to win more than four games in a season since a 6-4 mark in 2000.

Plant City travels to Blake tonight in search of its first win, and the Raiders are aware of the Yellow Jackets' futility. But Plant City senior QB Clint Stearns insists the Raiders aren't looking past the Yellow Jackets and aren't expecting to come out with an easy win.

"We're looking at it as we're 0-1. We're hungry for a win, so we're going to do whatever it takes," Stearns said. "Blake being a good team or not, we're going to come out and give our best so we have an opportunity to win."

Besides, Plant City should know better. The Raiders had a tough fight last year at home against Blake before winning 14-7.

HYDRATION FOCUS: One unforeseen obstacle the Armwood Hawks had to deal with during their season-opening win against Plant was multiple players cramping.

Many of the players who suffered cramps were on defense, and for some it was their first experience with the effects of not hydrating properly.

"People like Petey Smith and Casey Callahan have never cramped in their entire lives, so when they were cramping for the first time they didn't know what the hell was going on with their bodies," Armwood coach Sean Callahan said. "We need to do a better job of hydrating to be ready for a situation like that again, but that was only part of the reason. We were on the field way too long."

The defense logged more than 80 plays in that 9-2 win against the Panthers, a significant increase from the unit's average of 50 per game. The Hawks defense will look to do a better job getting off the field tonight against Wharton.

In last year's 44-2 rout of Wharton, the Hawks defense was rarely on the field, with the unit allowing only one first down - on a pass interference penalty in the third quarter.

PIZZA TIME: Hillsborough defensive coordinator Dean Eychner has made a deal with the Terriers' special teams unit this season. For any kick or punt returned for a touchdown, or blocked kick or punt, the pizzas are on him. At Thursday's practice, Eychner made good on his promise when five pizzas were delivered to Hillsborough's locker room for Colby Walden's 94-yard kickoff return in the Terriers' 30-23 victory against Jefferson last week.

The cost for the pies?

"I just handed the guy $50 and I think that covered it, with tip," Eychner said. "If I can get a score or a blocked kick out of those guys, it's worth it."

Coach Earl Garcia said he didn't get a slice because of the crowd that formed around the pizza boxes.

"Are you kidding? It was a feeding frenzy in there," Garcia said of the scene. "That's the best contact we've had all week."

In other news, Garcia said RB Lindsey Lamar is ready to play tonight's game against Alonso. Lamar injured his right ankle against Jefferson but still managed to rush for 145 yards and two TDs.

OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE: Chamberlain offensive coordinator Brian Turner set high standards for his offense this season. He wants the unit to average 400 yards per game, 300 rushing and 100 passing. Last week, they outscored Gaither, 45-13.

Tonight, they face a Middleton defense that held Brandon to negative yards rushing in the season opener. The Tigers also sacked Brandon's quarterback six times.

"Their defense looks as good as anybody we've seen this year," Turner said. "Those 60- and 70-yard plays may become 30- and 40-yard plays."

Last year, Middleton beat the Chiefs, 12-7. After the loss, Turner decided to change the entire offense.

"We needed to spread the ball more," he said.

Middleton defensive coordinator Reggie Maddox said he has plenty of respect for the Chiefs' new offense.

"We recognize they are a potent offense," he said. "At any position, they can hurt you. Responsibility and accountability is everything. One missed tackle and they have a chance to take it to the house."

TAMPA CATHOLIC INJURIES: LB Colin Carter is out with a mild concussion for the Crusaders' game tonight against rival Clearwater Central Catholic, and QB Christian Green will be a "game-time decision," TC coach Bob Henriquez said Thursday.

Henriquez said it's not certain, but he and team trainers believe Carter likely suffered the concussion during Monday's practice. Green, meanwhile, went down with an ankle injury during last week's 20-10 loss to Ocala Trinity Catholic and did not play in the second half.

Still out of the lineup for TC are WR Jordan Jones, who has a separated shoulder, and lineman Chaz Green, who is still recovering from a high ankle sprain.

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