FLAG FOOTBALL: Plant vs. Martin County Class 2A State Semifinal Preview

Our coverage of the Girls Flag Football State Championships is brought to you by ScoreStream. Download the app today on your Android or Apple Smartphones and score the games you are at anytime, anywhere!

FLAG FOOTBALL CLASS 2A STATE SEMIFINALS PREVIEW

Who: Plant vs. Martin County
What: Class 2A State Semifinal
When: Friday, May 13 at 6:30 pm
Where: Jack Peters Field at Robinson High School (Tampa); Address: 6311 S. Lois Ave., Tampa, FL 33616

Tickets: $8.00 per session (all of Friday’s games count as one session)

Parking: $5.00 per car, $50.00 per bus. All proceeds go to Hillsborough County Schools.

Live Webcast: NFHS Network ($9.95 for day pass)

Records: Plant 12-1 ; Martin County, 12-0

Looking at the Rankings: Plant – Ranked No. 2 in FloridaHSFootball.com’s Class 2A Flag Football Rankings. Ranked No. 2 in Joe Pinkos’ Class 2A Power 25 Rankings; Martin County – Ranked No. 8 in FloridaHSFootball.com’s Class 2A Flag Football Rankings. Ranked No. 6 in Joe Pinkos’ Class 2A Power 25 Rankings.

ABOUT THE PLANT LADY PANTHERS

Head Coach: Bo Puckett
Years As Head Coach: 9th year overall, 2nd year in second stint

Ever since 2006, the goal for the Plant Lady Panthers Flag Football team has been to join their brethren on the tackle side of football by winning a state championship. However, in that 11 years since the team launched, the Lady Panthers haven’t been to the Final Four as a team – until now.

With the introduction of a Class 2A to Flag Football this season, things have sorted shifted around with some districts being sorted of unbalanced. On top of that add in a playoff bracket that is a district winner’s only bracket helped show that parity is important with Flag Football. All of that has lend a helping hand on top of playing a few tough teams on the schedule in giving Plant a trip to the Final Four.

So what can we expect of Plant on offense? A ton of passing and we mean a ton of it and don’t expect them to rush the ball a ton either.

What do we mean?

Take in what junior Payton Paro has done from the quarterback position. Through the regional finals she has passed for an astounding 2,651 yards from 239 pass completions on 372 passing attempts. That right there puts her passing completion percentage at just over 64% on the season. It also includes 41 passing TDs, which is outstanding with one, possibly two games left of the season. Paro is also a Division I basketball prospect who was also recently named to the first team All-Western Conference for Flag Football just recently.

Paro’s favorite targets in the passing game include sophomore Sydney Johnson (61 receptions for 646 yards, 6 TDs), junior Sam Ashby (45 receptions for 598 yards, 12 TDs) and senior Hannah Heiss (43 receptions for 561 yards).

Johnson and Heiss are also leaders on the defense with Johnson having 47 flag pulls (4 pulls for loss), 8 pass breakups and 2 INTs while Heiss has had 40 flag pulls, (2 pulls for loss) and 4 INTs. Paro has also been a contributor to the defense having 6 INTs on the season to go along with 16 flag pulls.

Coach Talks About His Team
As part of our preview, we reached out to the coaches of each Flag Football team. Here is what Coach Bo Puckett had to say:

On Sam Ashby: “Sam is as tough and gritty as they come for an athlete.”

On Sydney Johnson: Describes Johnson having plus speed and quickness and a knack for making the big play.

On Hannah Heiss: “Hannah has been a great two-way player for our team this year and is among the leaders in every major statistical category.” Puckett describers her as a quick receiver with ability to score from anywhere on the field.

On the most challenging thing the team has faced this season: “I have had the challenge of juggling the role being a head coach for flag football and a father to the #1 Blue Chip Prospect of the Class of 2033, my infant son Thibaut (pronounced Tebow) Jaxson Puckett” (Yes this is what coach told us. You can direct inquiries and offers for Thibaut over on twitter to @bopuckett).

On the easiest thing the team has faced this season: “Finding the core of this team that led us to our first Final Four trip! We have tremendous leaders on this team and I’m proud that this group led us this far. They worked so hard to get here.”

Would he change anything he has done that has gotten the team to this point?: “Nothing. We’re still a developing program with much to learn about our overall planning for appearing in the State Finals. I’m lucky to coach around a GREAT group of Hillsborough County head coaches who’ve been a GREAT resource to our program and I will never forget that in the future. I consider all of them as part of a Fraternity of people that helped pioneer this sport to where it is and we have much work left to do together.”

What he knows about opponent Martin County: “Our opponent is relatively new to the State Finals as we are. They’re tall, fast, and creative on offense and defense. At this point in the season, everybody is really good. It will come down to which team can find the big plays to make that will catapult their season into the state finals. But ultimately we’re happy to see a program like this help add to the value and experience of the sport of flag football.”

ABOUT THE MARTIN COUNTY LADY TIGERS

Head Coach: Jeff Padgett
Years As Head Coach: 5th year

Another newcomer to the Flag Football State Championships, Martin County has shown some grit this season by pushing through a regular season schedule that was mainly localized due to scheduling in the area.

But what has been more impressive is the fact with Martin County is when it has come to the playoffs. The first upset came during the Regional Semifinals where the Lady Tigers knocked off No. 7 Dr. Phillips 13-8 and then hosted No. 3 Fleming Island in the Regional Finals, knocking them off 13-7. Although both were low scoring games, the defense has been one of the biggest keys for the Lady Tigers get to get to this particular point.

The defense that has been key for Martin County includes the likes of senior Carolyna Puentes who leads the team 47 flag pulls with 23 sacks and junior Haleigh Powers who has 46 flag pulls, 13 pass deflections and 8 INTs, while junior Chloe Cooksey is not far behind with 41 flag pulls with 13 sacks, 4 pass deflections and 1 INT.

Now, we shouldn’t forget about the offense which has also earned its own respect this season which has racked up over 3,000 yards alone through the regional finals. The offense is led by freshman quarterback Elise Liggett who has thrown for 1,105 yards on 76 of 112 pass completions and has thrown 26 touchdowns. Favorite targets for Liggett include sophomore Elizabeth Moberg (46 receptions, 678 yards, 17 TDs), and junior Keke Smith (26 receptions, 373 yards, 11 TDs). Junior Khania Rozier is the leading rusher with 451 yards on 47 carries and 3 TDs, but the ball is spread around to other players including junior Jessica Levy (29 carries, 335 yards, 1 TD) and Mobert (33 carries, 267 yards, 2 TDs).

Coach Talks About His Team

As part of our preview, we reached out to the coaches of each Flag Football team. Here is what Coach Jeff Padgett had to say:

On Elizabeth Moberg: “She is a leader on and off the field. She can play any position needed and is a matchup problem anywhere on the field.”

On Elise Liggett: “She is a very talented freshman.” Padgett told us she has sat out most of the season with an injury.

On Haleigh Powers: “She has been the backbone of our defense.” Team leader on defense according to stats provided.

On the most challenging thing the team has faced this season: “Motivating the girl’s to practice. Especially at the end of the year. There are so many distractions between prom, graduation, work, etc.. Everybody is extremely busy this time of year.”

On the easiest thing the team has faced this season: “Team Chemistry!”

Would he change anything he has done that has gotten the team to this point?: “Not at all.”

What he knows on opponent Plant: “I know very little. I know they have one loss on the year and that they rarely make mistakes.”

OUR TAKE ON TOMORROW

Given this a game of two first time teams to have reached the State Semifinals anything could happen here. Both Plant and Martin County have seen their fair share of close games against tough opponents this season and this is going to be another one of those games for both teams. Who has the advantage? It is hard to tell, but if I had to say who might have it, and it is Plant for a couple of reason. First reason is the fact it is practically a home game for the Lady Panthers. Second reason is the fact they have had a ton of support from other teams in Hillsborough County. But these two things don’t count out Martin County in any way possible and it is possible that the strategy that the Lady Tigers have used this season will stretch their season to one more game.