Wake-Up Call: Plant-Manatee matchup not surprising

The Wake-Up Call greets you each weekday with news, views and a few Tampa Bay area sports offerings to anticipate for the day and night. We encourage suggestions and contributions.

Good morning!

After last week's seismic shift in prep football, the Plant Panthers (12-1) and Manatee Hurricanes (13-1) emerged to earn spots in Friday night's Class 5A football state-championship game in Orlando.

Now that the stunning news has settled, should we really be that surprised?

The Panthers went into Lakeland's Bryant Stadium, a place where opponents rarely win, and throttled the Dreadnaughts 20-0.

The Hurricanes were just as thorough, defeating two-time defending state champion Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, the nation's No. 1-ranked team by USA Today, 28-20 in the other 5A state semifinal.

Nearly everyone was expecting Lakeland vs. St. Thomas Aquinas. Well, why not? In four of the past five seasons, that was the 5A final.

Now it's Plant vs. Manatee, the unexpected matchup.

But make no mistake.

Both teams deserve to be here.

Last week's results were not a fluke.

"With all due respect to St. Thomas Aquinas - they've been a great team for a number of years and they still are a great team - they got knocked off by a better team in Manatee,'' Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "I knew how good Manatee was (it defeated Plant 49-33 in a preseason exhibition game on Aug. 28), but everyone was talking about St. Thomas Aquinas in mythic proportions, like they would just roll to the state finals.

"We've got it on film now and it's not one of those things where you say Aquinas would've won the game nine out of 10 times and this is just that one time when Manatee won. No, Manatee outplayed them. They were the better team on that night. All teams at this level of the playoffs have heart and great character, but Manatee is so fast and physical and flies around the football. This was a well-deserved victory by Manatee.''

Now the Hurricanes might be facing an interesting psychological hurdle.

Last week, they defeated the nation's No. 1-ranked team before an emotional home crowd in a game that made national headlines.

Now there's another game ahead.

"Last week wasn't for the state championship,'' Manatee coach Joe Kinnan said. "It was the hurdle we had to clear to get the right to play for a state championship.

"Hopefully, our guys will rise to the challenge. We need to play with the intensity that we played with last week. Hopefully, our best effort was not last week. We need our best effort this week.''

Last week's victory was especially emotional for Manatee senior quarterback Brion Carnes and senior wide receiver Ace Sanders, both four-year starters, who were freshmen in 2006 when the Hurricanes lost a state semifinal at St. Thomas Aquinas 36-29 in overtime.

Manatee was leading by seven points when Carnes threw an interception near the goal line that was picked off by Major Wright, now at the University of Florida, and returned 82 yards. St. Thomas Aquinas tied the game and eventually forced overtime.

Revenge was sweet.

But also short-lived.

"That game won't mean a thing if we don't finish it off,'' Sanders said. "We had to come back to practice and work like there's no tomorrow. We can't keep celebrating the fact that we beat the nation's No. 1 team. That's over. Now it's all about Plant.''

Plant's victory against Lakeland was impressive in its own right.

It certainly got Manatee's attention.

"To shut out Lakeland, that speaks for itself,'' Sanders said. "Plant's defense plays assignment football. They don't wander around. They do what they're supposed to do. They're always in the right place at the right time. So we've got a task ahead of us.''

"I've known (Lakeland coach) Bill Castle for 30-some years and when you shut out one of his teams, that's a phenomenal performance,'' Kinnan said. "They completely swarmed over them and kept them out of the end zone. Plant's offense isn't too bad, either, you know, so we sure don't have that luxury (of savoring the victory against St. Thomas Aquinas).''

Plant vs. Manatee.

An unexpected game, perhaps.

But a great one.

Road to the No. 1 pick

Ten years ago, the Bucs met the St. Louis Rams in the NFC Championship Game, a classic matchup between a rugged defense and a high-flying offense (won by the Rams, 11-6).

Now the Bucs (1-12) and Rams (1-12) are in another battle - for the No. 1 overall draft pick. There hasn't been a pair of one-loss teams at the end of a nonstrike NFL season since 1969 (the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears each finished 1-13).

If they finish with the same record, the tiebreaker is strength of schedule - and the Rams are ahead in that category.

Plenty of things can change (including the draft order, not to mention the results of NFL combine workouts). But ESPN.com's Todd McShay projects the Rams taking Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, a Heisman Trophy finalist, at No. 1 overall, followed by the Bucs going with Tennessee safety Eric Berry at No. 2.

Here are the remaining games for the Bucs and Rams:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-12)

Dec. 20 - at Seattle Seahawks (5-8).

Dec. 27 - at New Orleans Saints (13-0).

Jan. 3 - Atlanta Falcons (6-7).

St. Louis Rams (1-12)

Dec. 20 - Houston Texans (6-7).

Dec. 27 - at Arizona Cardinals (8-5).

Jan. 3 - San Francisco 49ers (6-7).

Ranking the bowls

Dave Curtis of The Sporting News Today ranks the 34 college football bowls from No. 1 to No. 34, from "must see'' to "pass the egg nog.''

No. 1 is the Sun Bowl (Stanford-Oklahoma) because of Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, going against Oklahoma's front four.

No. 11 is the Outback Bowl (Auburn-Northwestern), which Curtis calls "a clash of programs on the rise (looking) for a win and needed momentum for 2010.''

No. 32 is the International Bowl (South Florida-Northern Illinois). Curtis: "Most dramatic part of this game might be following both teams' quests to secure passports for their players.''

No. 33 is the St. Petersburg Bowl (Rutgers-Central Florida). Citing the initial attitude of Rutgers coach Greg Schiano toward his team's bowl destination - "It is, quite frankly, very disappointing'' - Curtis says UCF should drop football if it doesn't win this one.

D.C. Jefferson comes home

Rutgers redshirt sophomore tight end D.C. Jefferson (Winter Haven) told the Newark Star-Ledger that 21 friends and family members will attend Saturday's bowl game at Tropicana Field.

They will see a changed man.

Jefferson (6-foot-6, 240 pounds) is a converted quarterback. He started eight games and had five receptions for 105 yards.

"It took a long time to seep into my head, 'Hey, D.C., you're a tight end, tight end, tight end,' '' Jefferson told the Star-Ledger. "Initially, there's going to be some regrets. Quarterback is something I did my whole life. To go to tight end is not something I would have ever imagined - despite the fact I was 6-6, 240 in high school.

"Right now, I'm focused on what we're doing, but it comes into my head a lot that when the offseason comes I can focus on being a tight end instead of a quarterback for the first time.''

Winter Haven's All-American

Mississippi College senior tight end Renard Ellis (Winter Haven) was selected as a first-teamer on the American Football Coaches Association Division III All-America Team. Ellis had 58 receptions for 748 yards and eight touchdowns.

Serving it up

Penn State, Hawaii, Texas and Minnesota will hold open practices - today at the St. Pete Times Forum from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. - in preparation for the NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Four, which begins Thursday night.

Meanwhile, outside the arena, another special volleyball event will take place this afternoon.

Local members of the U.S. Air Force and Marines will compete in a match on the Forum's West Plaza at 4 p.m. Both military branches will have the services of celebrity coaches - members of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

The winning team will receive a check in its name from AT&T - with proceeds going to Toys for Tots. With each block made in the game, AT&T will also donate $25 (minimum donation of $250, maximum of $500) and those funds also will go to Toys for Tots.

Birthday wishes

Happy birthday to former Lakewood High School swimmer and University of Florida All-American Nicole Haislett Bacher, who won three gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics (200-meter freestyle, 4x100-meter freestyle and 4x100-meter medley). Today, she turns 37.

The Answer Man

Here's the answer to Tuesday's trivia question:

When the Manatee Hurricanes won the school's first state football championship, they opened the 1983 playoffs with a 27-20 victory at Chamberlain. That night, Chamberlain's starting quarterback was Brian Bell.

Wednesday trivia

Here's our daily sports trivia question, featuring a Tampa Bay/Florida spin. Try your luck by commenting below.

Which former Manatee High School quarterback was the position coach this season for one of the Heisman Trophy finalists? (Note: The Heisman finalists were Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, Alabama running back Mark Ingram, Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and Florida quarterback Tim Tebow).

Check for the answer in Thursday's Wake-Up Call.