Plant City High quarterback optimistic about new season

Plant City junior quarterback Bennie Coney knows people are expecting big things from him this season, and he understands why.

Being a returning starter, especially at a key position like quarterback, it comes with the territory. Add in the fact that same player has evolved into a top-flight college football prospect, and expectations are only heightened.

Coney, however, is also ready to answer the call.

A rigorous offseason, with a good chunk of time spent traveling across the nation to various quarterback camps, has paved the way for the Raiders' rising star to make the kind of leaps on the field that not only outsiders expect, but also ones Coney expects from himself.

"The way I see it things are going pretty good. I've got a great team, a lot of rising juniors, almost the same team as last year. I think everything is going to be better," Coney said. "I learned a lot, so a lot of the mistakes that I made last year won't be this year. So I think I'm going to do a lot better."

Last season was Coney's first full season as the Raiders starting quarterback, and there were plenty of bright spots. He completed 62 percent of his passes and threw for 1,613 yards and 14 touchdowns. He added 289 rushing yards and seven more scores. And he did so all while leading Plant City to the playoffs.

Coney, though, believed there was plenty of room to get better, and he was shocked to find out just how much.

At virtually every stop along his offseason trek Coney found a new area on which to improve, from honing his skills on the field to how he carried himself with his teammates. The most beneficial stops in his journey, he said, occurred with the Steve Clarkson Dreammaker Tour, which essentially served as a summers-long quarterback competition that began in Orlando and ended in Maui with a trip to Santa Barbara, Calif., sandwiched in between.

"I've become a way better player," Coney said. "I actually learned how to take a leadership role better. They taught me a lot of stuff in the classroom, how to read coverages better. I learned a lot of stuff about life. My footwork has gotten better, my arm has gotten stronger. Just so many things."

Now, Coney is ready to show the fruits of his labor out on the gridiron.

Plant City has tons of experience returning from last season's Class 5A-District 6 runner-up squad, and the Raiders, ranked No. 5 in the Tribune's Hillsborough County preseason football poll, are expected to contend with Newsome for the district title this season. Returning to the postseason not only is a distinct possibility, Coney said, but so is a whole lot more.

"This team is capable of a state championship," he said. "That's how I feel."