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Sophomores spark Raiders

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By DAREK SHARP

dsharp@tampatrib.com

Published: November 11, 2009

PLANT CITY - It's hard to believe how many sophomores have contributed, and done so with great impact, to the Plant City High football team this year.

This year's Raiders success is thanks in large part to an astonishing group of 10th-graders. Plant City has a 6-3 record, and five-game win streak heading into Friday's trip to Blake, with 15 sophomores in the current starting lineup.

Regardless of the outcome, Plant City has earned a spot in the playoffs. The Raiders will face defending state champs Plant on Nov. 20.

Head coach Jason Strunk is certainly pleased with their development - but he doesn't want a small group of seniors to be forgotten, either.

"Lost in all this is the leadership that the few remaining seniors have provided," Strunk said. "Cortez Hargrett, Mike Harris, Durrell Lowe and Gordon Bertrand have been great."

Hargrett has been the team's big-play receiver, racking up 30 catches including six in the Raiders' most recent game, the big 27-24 win at Durant in which Hargrett also scored on a 48-yard run.

Harris has 21 receptions, and Lowe and Bertrand have been outstanding on the offensive line.

The sophomore contingent includes one of the top quarterback/running back duos in the county, Bennie Coney and Dazmond Patterson, as well as the entire defensive unit. Such a strong group of youngsters did not just develop by happy coincidence, either.

"We started this process last year by playing the young guys," Strunk said of the approach during his first season as Raider coach, one where the team struggled to a 3-7 record. "It's what I felt we needed to do to build a solid foundation. This was a process we knew would take time and we knew we would encounter some bumps in the road."

Strunk said the potential for great improvement showed in offseason camps, which featured the Raiders taking several out-of-state trips, putting them up against top-notch competition.

In Strunk's mind turnovers - particularly in losses to East Bay and Brandon as the Raiders began 1-3 - kept the improvement from being revealed early this season. But once the Raiders cleared up that issue, they have been tough to stop.

Plant City will be 7-3 if it can defeat a 1-8 Blake team this week.

Durant was eliminated from the playoffs due to a 35-31 loss to Newsome on Nov. 6.

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