TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Top 8 Of '08 Sports Stories

ADVERTISEMENT

By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: January 7, 2009

PLANT CITY - Once again it was a bountiful year for the athletic teams from Plant City and Durant high schools.

Here's the Plant City Courier & Tribune's Top Eight of '08 for sports stories on the two schools.

There was plenty to pick from as 2008 was particularly strong for teams advancing far in the state playoffs. One individual went all the way to the top, in a surprising track result. The feats are listed chronologically, with the exception of the first item.

•Plenty of big signings. Capped by Plant City all-county football player Duran Lowe verbally committing to Division I Wake Forest, there were students from nearly every sport securing their future athletic endeavors. Durant has several softball players headed to college after this season, with Kelsey Horton going to the University of Florida. Kara Cecil, a new member of the Cougars tennis team, will play for Ohio State. And the year started with Raiders offensive lineman Mark Popek getting signed by the University of South Florida.

•Return to glory for Raider hoops. Not only had Plant City not been to the basketball playoffs - boys or girls - since 1993, the Raiders never had so much as a chance to play in a district title game in that time. Led by new head coach Dale Chambers and a trio of senior standouts, Channing Woodall, Rod Henderson and Steve Hardnett, the Raiders broke through first by taking the district runner-up spot. Edging Sarasota in a game played at Riverview High put Plant City into the postseason, and once there, the Raiders flourished with road wins at Sickles and Lakeland.

The latter was a dramatic, impressive showing in mid-February against an opponent that had beaten Plant City three times previously. Though the Raiders lost in the region finals to Orlando Evans, coming up one win shy of a trip to the state semis, it brought the community together in remarkable fashion and served as a re-emergence of Raider hoops.

•Raiders reach state final. After a narrow escape against rival Durant to make the flag football playoffs for the first time, Plant City in a simply amazing second-round match beat fellow undefeated team Freedom 27-26 in triple overtime at Raider Stadium. That earned Plant City an early May trip to West Boca Raton High, where the final eight teams gathered to decide the state title.

With quarterback Qwet Shaw and a stout defense playing extremely well, Plant City first beat Dunedin 24-19, then took a dramatic 26-19 win over Jupiter to land in the finals. There the Raiders ran into powerhouse Tallahassee Leon, losing 41-16, but a 14-1 season was plenty to be proud of.

•State title for John Mitchell. Track was supposed to be the "hobby" sport for Mitchell, who also played basketball and ran cross country for Durant. But what happened May 3 caused the now-senior to change his approach. Mitchell, who didn't even win the mile run at the regional level, shocked the field in Gainesville with a last-lap kick to win the 4A state championship. It was the lone state title for Durant or Plant City in the calendar year.

Mitchell, who ran the mile in 4:21, has dropped basketball to focus on running.

•Home team makes softball semis. About a week later, the Durant softball squad was able to enjoy the home-field advantage on the biggest stage and nearly earned a trip to the state finals. Plant City Stadium hosts the state softball semis, and Durant was able to get there thanks to wins over Gaither, Countryside (in nine innings) and West Orange.

In a classic that stretched nearly four hours, Durant fell 5-4 in 10 innings to Palm Beach Gardens. After giving up four runs in the top of the 10th, Durant almost shocked the Gators, whose pitcher had not allowed more than one earned run in a game all year. Brittany Harwell's double up the middle cleared the bases with nobody out, and Durant had the tying run on third base but could not score. The finals went even longer, with Palm Beach Gardens falling to Miami Palmetto in 12 innings.

•Field not-so-much of dreams. Plant City's new football coach Jason Strunk brought plenty of enthusiasm and changes, including a renovation of the team's locker room that went smoothly. Not so according to plan was Strunk's desire to improve the Raider Stadium playing surface. Eventually the job of re-sodding the field was done, but not until the last week of the regular season.

Plant City had to play its first three scheduled home games at the would-be visitors' home turf but then got some help from rival Durant to hold the East Bay game at the Cougars' field. Ironically, that turned out to be Plant City's best win of the year. The Raiders did indeed host Freedom in the final week of the regular season.

•Cougars end up fourth at state golf. With talented freshman Madison Opfer added to an already-strong squad, Durant was on its way to a district and regional championship. Durant capped off its outstanding year in girls golf with a best-ever finish of fourth place in the state at the 2A meet, held Oct. 28-29 in Davenport.

Senior Amy West signed a scholarship to Seminole Community College near the end of the season. She will be missed but with Opfer, who shot a 70 at the district tournament and had Durant's best score at the state tourney, coming back along with Erika Wardzinski, the Cougars should again be a force in 2009.

•Durant makes football playoffs. The Cougars quickly went from winless in district play to the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Needing a win over Riverview and a little help from Sarasota Riverview, the Cougars got into a three-way tiebreaker that was held at Durant. The Cougars prevailed there to earn a first-round trip to Orlando and a matchup with Dr. Phillips High.

It was a pretty tough draw as Dr. Phillips had recently given former No. 1 Boone its first loss of the season, and Durant played tough before losing 14-7.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT