Plant City defense shines against Ravens

A battle of the unbeatens came down to 1 yard.

With less than two minutes remaining in the game, Plant City's defense stopped Alonso's Ish Witter after a 4-yard gain on fourth-and-5 and the Ravens' come-from-behind attempt ended 1 yard short. Plant City closed out the game by taking a knee for the 9-7 win.

"That shows the resiliency of our team. I take credit for nothing that they did on the field," Plant City head coach Wayne Ward said. "It was amazing how our defense played tonight. Everyone knows we have a good offense in Plant City, but our defense takes it personally if they get scored on."

Alonso (5-1) entered Friday's contest with its best start since 2003 while averaging 166.7 rushing yards a game. Plant City's defense clamped down and held the Ravens' leading rushers Brandon Holloway to 60 yards and Witter to 77 yards. Overall, the Raiders defense held Alonso to 166 yards.

The Ravens' lone score came near the end of third quarter when Eddie Castillo capped a scoring drive aided by three Plant City (6-0) penalties, with a 6-yard touchdown run. It was only the third touchdown Plant City's defense has given up this season.

"They drove the ball and scored on us," Plant City running back Dazmond Patterson said, "and that angered our defense."

Patterson (166 rushing yards) scored Plant City's only touchdown on a controversial play. On first-and-10 at the Ravens' 49-yard line, Patterson ran the ball up the middle and as he was brought down, he landed on top of an Alonso defender, then bounced up and ran untouched into the end zone. Alonso players stood around assuming Patterson was down.

That gave the Raiders a 9-0 lead at the half.

Plant City took advantage of Alonso's costly penalties early on. A block to the back penalty negated Holloway's 27-yard run that would have given the Ravens first-and-goal at the 9-yard line in the first quarter.

"We want to go undefeated," Patterson said. "It was a tough game and they were a great opponent. … I've got to give it to them, but there was no way we were going to lose that game."

P—FG Roberts 22
P—Patterson 49 run (kick failed)
A—Castillo 6 run (Bagli kick)