At Plant High School, Football, Golf, Swim and Dive, Cross Country and Volleyball occur in the fall season, most with state titles, creating a legacy for Plant’s athletic program.
Plant’s football program is a staple of the school, with 52 Division One commits since 2000 and 12 current and retired players in the NFL. Currently, there are four Plant High School alumni in the NFL: Inside Linebacker Micah McFadden, Wide Receiver Christian Watson, Tight End Andrew Beck and Offensive Lineman Will Putnam.
This season, the Plant varsity football team finished the regular season with a five-five record. They lost to Sumner, Armwood, Gaither, Berkeley and Tampa Bay Tech. There were five wins against Warton, Wiregrass Ranch, Steinbrenner, Sickles and Robinson. Quarterback Tripp Brown (12) threw for 367 yards on 31 completions with a 6/1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Townsend “TC” Evans (12) was Plant’s starter in the Running Back position, recently returning from injury. But in his first game back, Evans had 21 yards on five carries with a touchdown. The two leading receivers are Seniors Davie Rolle and Darryon Williams. Rolle had one yard on 24 receptions with two touchdowns, and Williams had 128 yards on 14 catches with three touchdowns. Defensively, Freshman Tiago McDowell led the team in sacks with four. Deron Manuel (12) led the secondary with three interceptions. In total, the defense had nine interceptions, eight fumble recoveries and 14 sacks.
“This is my senior year, and we are starting to really come together as a team,” Rolle, the Wide Receiver, said. “The leaders are stepping up and making plays when it matters. I am proud of how we have fought this season and how we have learned to finish a game.”
The Junior Varsity (JV) Football team ended their season at a five-two win-loss ratio. There were two losses to Tampa Bay Tech and Armwood. At the same time, they beat Hillsborough, Middleton, Alonso, Gaither and Robinson.
Their starting quarterback for this season was Freshman Kehber Nijher. Sophomore Austin Underwood is the receiver one, and Sophomore Blake Bryant is receiver two. Tate Logan (10) is JV’s leading defensive lineman, and Nicky Webb (10) leads the linebacker core. Cornerback Asnate Russel (10) and Freshman Safety Bryson Maples (9) lead the secondary.
“We gotta good bond together, we’re all friends on and off the field, and yeah, we work together well,” August Voss (10) said. “I think we should have won a few more games than we did, but overall we have been pretty solid.”
Both the boys and girls golf teams at Plant consist of 12 people : six boys and six girls. Each player plays their own ball in the nine-hole match, and the goal is to shoot the lowest score possible to help their team win the game. The boys’ team is seven and six. This year’s captains are Chase Mayfield (12) and Taylor Garcia (12). The girls’ team is six and five. Their captain this year is Georgi McGonnigal (12). In an interview with Sophomore Audrey Roberts about how the girls’ golf season was going, she said, “We have had a lot of new people on the team, and I think everyone has improved a lot since the start of the season.” Golf is a challenging game; most of the world’s top players have been playing since they were very young.
Cross country is an individual-focused sport, and races are typically 3 miles. It usually takes Varsity runners around 20 minutes to complete them. There are seven boys and seven girls on each team. In an interview with Sophomore Anne Wehrell about how the JV Cross Country season is going, she said, “It went really well, I have a really supportive team and awesome coaches that motivate me.” In addition, varsity Cross Country runner Fisher Spears (10), said, “I feel it’s been going pretty well, and it’s really cool to have an Olympic runner as a coach.”
Plant swim is 11-1 this season, recently completing districts and is favored to win states. The boys swim team has 12 swimmers for each meet, and the girls swim team has 28. There have been 12 meets this season for the swim team. The format for a meet is points-based on placement. First, Second and Third places get points, and the scoring ends there. There are 24 events in a meet. Sophomore Sohum Shah said, “The team is doing pretty great for the size of the boys’ team with only 12 people, and I think that is because we all mesh together very well.”
The final fall sport is volleyball. Each team has about 13 players, but six play at a time. Teams get points when they ground the ball in the opponents’ half, on blocks or on faults. Volleyball is played in a best-of-five set, with each set at 25 points. Freshman varsity outside hitter Kaia O’Malley said, “I think our season has been going very well. We all have a determination to win.” Varsity’s current record is 15-7, and they are headed to the State Semi-Finals on Nov. 6.