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Plant cruises to 46-13 win

By KATHERINE SMITH

ksmith@tampatrib.com

Published: September 18, 2009

TAMPA - Make no mistake, this one counted.

Jefferson's game against Newsome last week might not go in the record book, but its 46-13 loss to Plant certainly counts. It's the first loss of the year for the Dragons (1-1) and Plant's first win (1-1).

"I don't know how to spell shellacking, but that's what it was," Jefferson coach Mike Fenton said. "But looking at the glass is half full, we did get better punting the football, because we did a lot of it."

The Dragons scored on the opening drive, when Quentin Williams scrambled and found Andre Davis for a 66-yard touchdown reception.

But Plant responded with 39 consecutive points and a lot of pressure. The Panthers' defense held Jefferson to 60 total yards in the first half, including minus-24 rushing.

That pressure resulted in a defensive score when linebacker Josh Varon picked off a pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown.

After that opening drive, Williams didn't have a lot of room to move. Plant's defense sacked him nine times, including four by junior defensive end/running back James Wilder Jr.

"We knew they had a good quarterback and a very tall, high-jumper receiver, so we wanted to contain the quarterback and squeeze him in," Wilder said. "I think we succeeded at that."

Wilder also contributed heavily on offense, rushing for two touchdowns to help increase the Panthers' lead. T.J. Glover led the rushing attack with 122 yards and two touchdowns.

Plant spread the ball around on offense. With starting quarterback Phillip Ely out with a stress fracture in his lower back, James Few, Deandre Queen and Nick Sanders all took snaps.

Few got the bulk of them, completing 8 of 12 for 129 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown to Allen Sampson that evened things in the first quarter.

"It was really a big win for us," Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "We needed to just get on track and get some momentum. And not only a big win, we needed to play well. We did play well in all facets of the game. It was fun, and we're at our best when football's fun."