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Plant is pretty bad......


LakelandGator

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Short answer:  Armwood's good, but not quite as good as the score indicates, and Plant's not as good as they have been, but they're not as bad as that score indicates. 

Plant got the ball first.  Second play from scrimmage, RB tries to do too much and coughs up the ball.  Armwood scoops and scores.  Next series leads to a Plant punt.  Armwood offense goes backwards, leaving the Hawks with a 3rd down and half an acre.  QB (Ransom) scrambles and heaves the ball downfield about 50-60 yards.  Plant DB actually has good position and should have intercepted the ball.  Instead, the ball bounces off him and right into the hands of Armwood's receiver who walks it in for a TD.  14-0 Hawks just that fast, and the score stays that way through the end of the first quarter.

Second quarter was even worse for the Panthers.  Armwood killed Plant with their speed and ability to get play-makers into open space, including a couple of big plays from Bloomingdale transfer, Charles Montgomery (#10).  Ransom picked up a short running TD, but Wiregrass transfer QB (Helton) got some playing time in the first half as well (but didn't impress that much).    

Armwood's defense was what it usually is . . . fast in the backfield and on the edges and stout inside, led by a couple of 300-pound DLs (Watson #21 and Pinder #99).  And these guys aren't those "listed at 300 pounds in the roster, but really more like 270;" they're every bit of 300 pounds).   Not all that fleet of foot (what 300 pounds are?), but very difficult to move out of the way. 

Offensively, it wouldn't surprise me if Armwood's negative plays exceeded their positive plays, especially if you include penalties.  But when they hit big plays, they tend to be a really big plays.    Ransom's a big dude with a strong arm, but throws up a lot of 50-50 balls that work out well for him because Armwood's receivers are so athletic.  In back-to-back weeks, Plant's defense may very well have played against the two best receivers in the state (Armwood's Agiye Hall and Venice's Wideman).  And Plant just doesn't have the DB's they've had in the past. 

So, shifting focus, this could be a tough year for Plant.  They're got a lot of work in front of them and they don't seem to have some of the athletes or depth they've had over the past decade, which is a shame, because they've got a stud QB (Gleason, GA Tech commit).  I jokingly told a couple of the Plant coaches that when they were playing in 7 on 7 tournaments over the summer, they should ask the refs to only give Plant's QB three seconds, instead of the customary four, so he'd get used to getting rid of the ball quickly.   I should have suggested two seconds. 

Plant started out with two tough games (Venice and Armwood), but it really doesn't get much easier over the next month or so.  Plant plays at a tough Gaither team this week, home against Tampa Bay Tech and Bloomingdale, an OOS road trip to D.C. to face the number 18 team in the country (Gonzaga), before returning home to play a much improved Steinbrenner team.   Plant has historically been somewhat of a slow starter, but they're always been able to improve over the course of the season and make a playoff run.  Only time will tell whether they'll be able to stay true to form this year. 

As for Armwood, I'm going to withhold judgment right now.  Their next game is at North Gwinnett, who lost to Colquitt 17-6 Friday night.  (Is there anyone on this board that knows anything about Colquitt?   B)).   I'll be interested to see how Armwood does.  Their Hillsborough County-mandated schedule doesn't pose too many obstacles, which is par for the course for the Hawks, or, as some are now calling them, the East Hillsborough County All-Star Team.  Whether they'll have enough talent to upend the Polk County All-Star Team in the playoffs remains to be seen.  I know Friday was the first regular season game of the season, but Armwood lacked discipline.  Part of the problem for Armwood is that they really won't be tested much over the course of the season (again, I don't know about next week), so the lack of discipline won't keep them from winning all their games . . . but it could very well keep them from winning a big game in November or December.  

Hope this helps.    

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 9/14/2019 at 12:01 PM, LakelandGator said:

Pretty bad was an understatement.

Pinkos had them a 24pt dog last night and the south Tampa folk laughed at that prediction.

 

The South Tampa folks that I talked to weren't laughing, as they knew this was going to be a tough game for Plant.  TBT always gives Plant a hard time, but historically Plant finds a way to pull out the win.  I could be wrong, but I think TBT is the only team not named Armwood to beat Plant in a regular season game at Dad's Stadium in the last decade (TBT winning 32-30 in 2009).   

Clearly, TBT is a better team right now and certainly was the better team Friday night.  But, if it's possible to make this claim, the game was a little closer than the final score would indicate.  Plant turned the ball over deep in their own territory just before halftime, and TBT was able to convert the mistake into a TD.  In the second half, Plant receiver "caught" the ball at the TBT 2 yard line (or so the officials ruled) and then the ball came out and rolled through the end zone for a touchback.  That's 14 points (7 that TBT was able to get and 7 that Plant didn't get).  I'd say TBT is 2 TD's better than Plant right now, notwithstanding the score Friday night. 

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Plant is bad. I've been to all of the games except Armwood, including Venice pre-season. Their D is beyond lousy this year. It's talent, not coaching. They are in a DOWN cycle. They'll get better because the schedule was seriously front loaded. If they win over B-dale tomorrow (and they aren't the favorite), they MIGHT end up 6-4. However, if they lose, they won't have a winning regular season because the next game is against 8th rated (nationally) Gonzaga. Plant hasn't played OOS in a few years. This is the worst team I've seen at Plant since 2002, so this was a very bad year to schedule such a game. 

 

Pulling for the P. Go Plant!

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On 9/15/2019 at 4:15 PM, Perspective said:

The South Tampa folks that I talked to weren't laughing, as they knew this was going to be a tough game for Plant.  TBT always gives Plant a hard time, but historically Plant finds a way to pull out the win.  I could be wrong, but I think TBT is the only team not named Armwood to beat Plant in a regular season game at Dad's Stadium in the last decade (TBT winning 32-30 in 2009).   

Clearly, TBT is a better team right now and certainly was the better team Friday night.  But, if it's possible to make this claim, the game was a little closer than the final score would indicate.  Plant turned the ball over deep in their own territory just before halftime, and TBT was able to convert the mistake into a TD.  In the second half, Plant receiver "caught" the ball at the TBT 2 yard line (or so the officials ruled) and then the ball came out and rolled through the end zone for a touchback.  That's 14 points (7 that TBT was able to get and 7 that Plant didn't get).  I'd say TBT is 2 TD's better than Plant right now, notwithstanding the score Friday night. 

This game showed how far away this team is from a normal Plant team.

1. Can't move the chains. Too many drops.

2. Crucial turnovers you mentioned above. Twice. 

3. Defense can't get off of the field.

4. Special teams impact non-existent. Tech did muff a punt and gave Plant a very short field and they scored, but this wasn't a forced fumble, it was simply a drop. 

5. Team lacks fire, outside of the 3 or 4 guys (Gleason, Carvajal, Reid, and a few others); There is ZERO sense of urgency when they play. This is the sign of a bad, bad team.

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