Abilene coach thinks Plant means big business

Posted Sep 14, 2010 by Katherine Smith

Updated Sep 14, 2010 at 03:39 PM

ABILENE They do everything big in Texas, but Abilene coach Steve Warren thinks the Plant Panthers may have cornered the market on big – specifically starting right tackle Tony Posada.

“I told some people if it appears it’s shady out there Thursday night, it’s because of this lineman,” said Warren of the 6-foot, 5-inch, 295-pound Michigan commit. “He’s the biggest person I’ve ever seen. Why doesn’t he just go onto the NFL instead of Michigan? He’s huge.”

Of course, Plant’s other two Division I commits, Phillip Ely and James Wilder, stood out while Warren and his staff were breaking down the Panthers game film.

“They’re a well-coached team,” Warren said. “They’ve got tremendous athletes. The quarterback’s going to Alabama. The running back, linebacker, whatever he wants to do is going to Florida State.
“I’m hoping Coach Weiner will leave his quarterback out one more week to get healthy.”

Not a chance. Ely, who missed last week’s game against Hillsborough with a lower leg strain, has been practicing this week and is expected to start against Abilene.

Abilene’s getting back one of their injured players, in fact, their best player this week. Starting tailback and Oklahoma State commit Herschel Sims has been nursing a grade 1 shoulder separation, but is expected to return to the starting lineup against Plant, though how effective he can be remains to be seen.

On paper, Warren said this looks like a good matchup.

“I think it’s two good teams,” Warren said. “I see a lot of likenesses in places. There may be some places where maybe we have a little more speed and they have a little more size. But I think it’s a great matchup.”