Plant Panthers Vent Frustration on Opponents

Rewind to December 17, 2010.

The Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

The Plant Panthers walk off the field after failing in their bid to win their third consecutive state championship.

Things just were not right.

“We came up with the silver last year and we don’t like the taste of that, not one bit,” said wide receivers coach TJ Lane.

Making it to the championship game in your class is no small feat. For Plant football, it’s customary. Since 2006, the Panthers have been in four of the five state title games in their class, winning three of them.

"Plant is a great school. We have great teachers and administrators and that allows for our athletic success," said head coach Robert Weiner.

The Panthers expect to win, well, everything. That’s a confidence earned by three state titles in four years.

However, if last season’s end of year loss to St. Thomas Aquinas, an early-season loss to Abilene (Texas), and a shutout at the hands of Armwood proved anything…it’s that you have to do it all over again every year. There’s no carry-over from last season, no matter how well you did.

Add to the mix that Plant graduated more that thirty players off last year’s roster, including Division I college recruits James Wilder Jr., Phillip Ely, and Tony Posada, and the real question on everyone’s mind is, “Can they do it again?”

Well, if the 7-on-7 competitions are any indication, the answer is a resounding yes.

Plant has been competing in the 7-on-7 competitions since the spring. Now that summer is here, the Plant Panthers have turned up the heat.

Last week, Plant traveled to West Palm Beach to take on the best 7-on-7 squads the Miami area had to offer in the Heath Evans Annual Tournament.

They won all three of their pool games, including one against 6A defending state champion Miami Central. In the elimination rounds, the Panthers got a small morsel of revenge against St. Thomas Aquinas, knocking them out. They went on to beat Chaminade-Maradonna and scored a come-from-behind win against Booker T Washington to claim the title.

Head coach Robert Weiner turned the skill players loose with wide receivers and defensive backs coaches TJ Lane and Bo Puckett at the reins for the BCP 9 Route 7-on-7 Tournament.

They came out Friday morning in Lithia and faced a stingy Gaither squad that was one of the top four teams in the NFL High School Player Development Tournament the week before. The Cowboys played them tight, but Plant got through 19-14. In their second pool game, Plant ran over Blake 32-6. In the third pool game, they dismantled a Tampa Bay Tech squad to the tune of 52-19. In their fourth pool game they ran into a physical King team but made adjustments and cruised to a 33-19 victory – giving them a 4-0 record in pool play and the #1 seed going into Saturday.

On Saturday, the coaches went deep into the roster using second and third string players, but still beat Tampa Catholic in the first game of the day 14-6. They lit up Strawberry Crest in their second game 41-18.

In their third game of the day, they ran into a determined Gaither team that they beat yesterday. Gaither put up a furious effort against Plant's first stringers, but Plant prevailed again on the back of junior Wesley Bullock, who got both touchdowns for the Panthers to give them a 14-13 edge over the Cowboys.

In the semifinals, Plant was on a collision course with red-hot Wharton. They were the last two undefeated teams in the tournament and the game reflected both teams' intensity. Junior Austin Aikens of Plant struck first with a touchdown grab, but Wharton came right back with a touchdown catch of their own. Aaron Aikens was finding room, and he and quarterback Aaron Banks looked crisp. Banks threw another touchdown, and Wharton came right back with one of their own. The back and forth continued until junior Paris Bostick sealed it up with a pick-six from just in front of his own goal-line. Bostick made an incredible play that same series when he closed on a wide open Wharton receiver and broke up the pass.

Plant punched their ticket to the finals on Sunday. 

Meanwhile, the one-loss Wharton would have to duke it out for the right to take on the Panthers (again) in the final.