Plant Wins Second State Title In Three Years

Posted Dec 20, 2008 by Katherine Smith

Updated Dec 20, 2008 at 04:02 PM

It’s all over. The Pant Panthers, led by Aaron Murray and Orson Charles, used a drive that consumed 7:07 of the clock in the fourth quarter to defeat Tallahassee Lincoln, 34-14, and capture their second 4A state championship in three years.

FOURTH QUARTER Plant 34, Lincoln 14

Nursing a 14-point lead, Plant opened the fourth quarter with what looked to be another scoring drive, but on second-and-10 from Lincoln’s 25-yard line, Aaron Murray threw his first interception of the game.

The Trojans, however, were unable to capitalize on the turnover and were forced to punt after a three-and-out. Plant’s offense has the ball again with 8:59 remaining in the game.

Plant’s ground game is helping to eat up a lot of clock. Looks a lot like Buc-ball (And former Coach Tony Dungy sitting in the stands watching his son Eric must be loving it). The Panthers ran five consecutive running plays for a combined 20 yards before Murray hit back-to-back passes to Allen Sampson and Nathan Marvel for a first down. The clock continues to dwindle and we are near the four-minute mark.

Fullback Chris Hesson is helping put the game away for Plant. The only player to have played in the 2006 championship game is picking up big chunks of yardage and eating a lot of clock.

Murray completed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Orson Charles to ice the game.

THIRD QUARTER Plant 28, Lincoln 14

Plant’s defense has forced Lincoln to punt, yet again. Now the Panthers defense has the ball on the Trojans 16-yard line. After Allen Sampson ran the ball for no gain, there was a lot of pushing and shoving and a lot of yellow flags.

There were offsettinig unsportsmanlike conduct penalities on both teams.

So much for a running clock, for now. With 5:48 remaining in the third quarter, Lincoln finally got on the scoreboard. After a series of penalties by the Panthers defense, the Trojans Javorius Allen ran in from 10 yards for the score. The extra point was no good though.

Lincoln’s making this a game, finally. The Trojans have scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to pull within 14 of Plant. The latest was a circus-like catch from Jawanza Starling, who caught the touchdown pass from Ryan White after it was tipped to him by Plant defensive back Javonte Martin. White’s two-point conversion run after the score made up for the missed extra point.

HALFTIME Plant 28, Lincoln 0

Plant looks like its in early season mode, you know the one that built big leads on its opponents in the first half and had a running clock in the second. One more unanswered touchdown and there will be a mandatory running clock in the fourth quarter.

The Panthers are making this look way too easy, unlike their previous three postseason games where they had to come from behind to win. Lincoln’s defense doesn’t have an answer for the Plant offense. And the Panthers defense is smothering the Trojans, allowing very little wiggle room. So far in the first half, the Plant defense has five sacks and two interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.

SECOND QUARTER Plant 28, Lincoln 0

Plant scored two touchdowns in 20 seconds to open this quarter.

If you picked Plant and the over, you look good right now. On their first play of the second quarter, Aaron Murray hit Orson Charles on an out route. Charles turned it into a 72-yard touchdown.

Beau Hume is quickly establishing himself as an early MVP candidate. Hume picked off Lincoln quarterback Ryan White on the Trojans first play after Plant went up 14-0 and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown. Plant might be on the way to a running clock in the second half just like the Lakeland-St. Thomas Aquinas game yesterday.

Plant fans got a brief glimpse of Phillip Ely, who spelled Murray for one play near the end of the quarter. Murray came back and completed a shuttle pass to DeAndre Queen for an 18-yard pickup. The game has been delayed with 1:53 while Plant trainers and doctors tend to starting guard Andre Mondor. Mondor was helped off the field with a sprained right ankle and his return is questionable.

So much for the good matchup between Lincoln’s talented defensive backs and Plant’s receivers. After Plant defensive back Javonte Martin intercepted Ryan White for the second time of the game, the Panthers captialized with a 72-yard touchdown. Murray found Nathan Marvel around midfield and the senior wideout wrestled himself away from the Lincoln defender and sprinted into the end zone.
FIRST QUARTER Plant 7, Lincoln 0
Plant’s first possession of the game started on the 20-yard line after a touchback on the kickoff. Quarterback Aaron Murray connected with Justin Rudolph for a 22-yard gain, but two-straight incomplete passes have forced the Panthers to punt.

Plant’s defense asserted itself during Lincoln opening series. Middle linebacker Mike Mirabella stopped tailback Javorius Allen for a 1-yard loss on the first play and linebacker Beau Hume completed the three-and-out with a sack of quarterback Ryan White.

Plant’s second possession ended in disaster. A bad snap following a three-and-out was recovered by Lincoln, setting up first-and-goal at Plant’s 10-yard line. But the Panthers defense came up with a key stop, including Hume’s second sack of the day and M.J. Jackson blocked Lincoln’s 34-yard field goal attempt to keep the game scoreless.

Plant appeared to be heading for another punt on the ensuing possesion, but a scrambling Murray connected with Justin Ruldolph for a 33-yard gain. Murray found Orson Charles for a 17-yard gain to set up first-and-goal at the three-yard line. DeAndre Queen capped off the scoring drive with a 1-yard run. Kicker Tyler Rhodes’ extra point made it 7-0 Plant.

KICKOFF - In his pregame speech to the team, Plant coach Robert Weiner told his players “You will not allow Plant to lose under any circumstances.” We’re about to find out if they follow through with that directive.

Lincoln won the coin toss and has elected to defer to the second half. Plant will receive the kickoff.

12:55 PM - The Plant team has just been introduced and Lincoln is up next. There are about 4,000 Plant fans in the stands and they are clearly more vocal than the Lincoln crowd.

12:35 PM - Getting ready to kickoff soon, but there are some pregame ceremonies going on. Plant’s Bryant Jones was honored with the Marine Corps Honor, Courage and Commitment Award. The starting defensive lineman was recognized for his sportsmanship.

Also honored was senior Jim O’Connell. The wideout won the Junior Orange Bowl Scholarship award for having the highest GPA on the team (6.32). O’Connell is deciding between Harvard, Princeton and Yale.

11:45 AM - Both teams are stretching on the field. Tallahassee Lincoln, the home team, is wearing their green uniforms with gold helmets. They look a lot like Chamberlain.

The Panthers are in all white, which is what they wore in 2006 when they won it all.

10:00 AM - The Plant team has arrived at the Citrus Bowl and they gained a new fan along the way. Some random guy outside a convenience store waved and gave a thumbs up as each bus passed him on the way to the stadium parking lot. Of course, he was doing this for every car that passed by so he might not be a Plant fan.

Some of the players are walking around the field as assistant coaches get their equipment set up on the sideline. Next up is the team photo. The field looks good, but anyone watching the Lakeland-St. Thomas Aquinas game last night saw a number of players slipping in certain spots on the field.

8:30 AM -The Panther Prowl. Parents, cheerleaders and band members lined the parking lot at Plant to officially send off the team.

Coaches and players walked through the tunnel of fans on the way to their buses. Before boarding and hitting the road, the team watched a 14-minute video of season highlights.

Buses are now navigating I-4 which is clouded with serious fog this morning.

7:00 AM - Breakfast of champions? Perhaps.

The Road to Orlando began at the South Tampa Village Inn at 7 a.m. Plant players filled up on pancakes, eggs and bacon in preparation for today’s 1 p.m. kickoff against Tallahassee Lincoln.

The restaurant has a special meaning for Plant. It’s owned by special teams coach Matt Walker’s family and is the destination for Plant coaches after every Wednesday night’s practice.

And for those certain people leaving comments who have been asking for it - Aaron Murray ate a stack of pancakes, eggs and two strips of bacon. There you go!

We’ll be following the team over to Orlando, so check back for updates. There will also be an live blog during the game with play-by-play.

Plant High players have an early morning
pre-championship breakfast at Village Inn.