Plant                 21

Great Season Countryside!

SCORE BY QUARTER

Video from Bay News 9 (Bright House Sports Network)

For most of the game, Plant High Jr. running back James Wilder was swimming alone against the tide, hoping against hope one of his teammates would at least wave a life preserver at him.

Wilder was the focal point of the Panthers offense in Friday’s Class 5A region final, especially after quarterback Phillip Ely left in the first quarter because of back spasms.

Countryside knew it and zeroed in on Wilder, sending waves of defenders at him.

But when it mattered most, when his team was down and needed a score, Wilder came through. He scored two second-half touchdowns and finished with 163 yards rushing to lift the Panthers to a 21-13 victory.

Plant (11-2) will host Lakeland in next week’s state semifinals.

“Countryside was keying on me, and coach (Bob Weiner) wanted to use me more as a decoy,” said Wilder, who has orally committed to Florida State.

“But I wanted to help the team out. I just told them to give me the rock.”
Wilder started strong on the game’s first possession, gaining 53 yards on five carries and scoring on a 2-yard run to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead.

The Cougars (12-1) fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Plant recovered. But Countryside’s defense tightened up and forced the Panthers to settle for a field goal they missed.

The rest of the first half was a stalemate as neither team managed much offense. Countryside had minus-6 yards in the first quarter and just 6 yards after its first three possessions.

Plant couldn’t do anything either.

With Ely out of the game, the Cougars paid more attention to Wilder, holding him to 9 yards for the remainder of the first half. Midway through the second quarter, the Cougars offense came to life behind the running of Terry Johnson, who had 55 yards on six carries on a drive that ended with him scoring on a 1-yard run that tied the score.

Then the Cougars stuffed Wilder on fourth down on the Panthers’ next possession.

With less than two minutes remaining in the first half, Countryside quarterback Gray Crow hit Marrieo Taylor on a 42-yard completion, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Johnson with 47 seconds remaining. Ryan Halter’s extra point, though, was blocked by Wilder.
In the second half, the Cougars stayed conservative, hoping to use its run game to control the clock and hold the lead.

Countryside had two first downs on its opening possession of the half but did not get another until the final three minutes of the game.

The Panthers offense was running on a treadmill, too.

Then Wilder came to life.

With his team trailing 13-7 in the fourth quarter, Wilder ran off the right side on four carries for 56 yards, including an 8-yarder that proved to be the winning touchdown.

Wilder sealed the game on the next possession when he ran left, stiff-armed one tackler and tip-toed down the sideline for a 43-yard score.

“We knew Wilder was going to get the ball,” Countryside coach Jared Davis said. “That’s what Plant does when their back is against the wall. I would, too. He’s a great player. We just had too many missed tackles, and that cost us.”

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tampabay.com      hometeam

Matt Ellis with his gold medal for winning the 50 yard free during finals of FHSAA 3A state swimming and diving.

Matt Ellis’ first championship race was the usual explosion of froth and flailing. There was no conservation of energy and hardly any breathing.

The Countryside High junior’s only strategy Saturday in the 50-yard freestyle was to go out as fast as he could. Ellis got the best start. Others were close. They all reached the finish as if carried by one large wave.

Ellis, his chest still heaving from an all-out sprint, looked at the wall at the far end of the Central Florida YMCA to see the results. Then the realization hit. He won the Class 3A state title with a time of 20.58 seconds, shaving nearly half a second off his personal best. It was his first state title. Ellis, who moved to the area from Texas before the season, finished fifth in the 100 fly in his home state a year ago.

There wasn’t much time to celebrate. Ellis, still dripping, accepted his gold medal then marched to the finals of his next race, the 100 butterfly. Throwing his arms forward before moving them back into the water, Ellis seemed to skip across the pool as he moved into striking distance in the final lap. In a rush to the wall, Ellis touched first to win his second medal in 49.26 seconds, beating Fleming Island’s Kyle Casias by 0. 32 seconds.

Matt Ellis Swimming for the gold in his 100 yard butterfly.

“I was happy with how everything went in my individual races,” Ellis said. “I was hoping for a little better time in the 100 fly, but I had to really dig deep in that one to come back and win. Two state titles in individual races is a pretty big accomplishment.”

Ellis added a third gold when he swam the anchor leg to help the Cougars’ 200 free relay team win in 1:25.47. Richard Willsey, John Kelly and Jon Witkowski swam the first three legs and put Countryside in position to win. Ellis sealed it with a strong finish to overtake Winter Park, capping the best state finish by a county boy in decades.

“We couldn’t be happier with how we did,” Witkowski said. “This is something we thought we could win since the beginning of the season.”

In his fourth event of the night, Ellis was unable to add a fourth gold medal as Countryside’s 400 free relay finished second in 3:06.87. Ellis swam the first leg, followed by Willsey, Gary Lush and Kelly. They were out-touched at the wall by Hagerty, which won in 3:06.54.
Palm Harbor University’s boys, which had hopes of winning their second team title in three seasons, finished second with 184.5 points.

The Hurricanes took the lead in the team standings after the 100 free, thanks to a second-place finish by Ryan McRae (46.38) and fourth-place finish by Jason Williams (46.66).

Matt Ellis Swimming for the gold in his 100 yard butterfly.

PHU had a 16.5-point lead heading into the final event, then the Hurricanes watched it disappear because they did not have a team in the 400 free relay.

PHU’s David Morgan was third in the 100 breast (57.54) and teammate Williams third in the 50 free (21.27). The Hurricanes’ 200 free relay of McRae, Zach Perrotti, Morgan and Williams also took third in 1:26. 61.

Nick Alexiou of Clearwater was the runnerup in the 200 free in 1:37.66.
Seminole’s Matt Thompson was third in the 200 individual medley (1:50.16) and fourth in the 500 free (4:27.90).

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tbo.com    Hometeam

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