Plant Shuts Out Lakeland in Class 5A Semifinal

Published: Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 12:41 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 12:45 a.m.

By Brandt Merritt
The Ledger

Having an NFL team in the neighborhood paid off for Tampa Plant on Friday night in a 20-0 victory over Lakeland that sent the Panthers to the Class 5A state championship game.

James Wilder, Jr., son of the Bucs' all-time leading rusher, ran for 91 yards and a touchdown and safety Eric Dungy, son of former Bucs coach Tony Dungy, ended the Dreanaughts' last threat with a fourth-quarter interception.

Plant (12-1) will play Bradenton Manatee in the championship game at Orlando's Citrus Bowl next Friday night. Manatee stunned top-ranked Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, 28-20, in the other Class 5A semifinal.

Lakeland (13-1) ran only 11 offensive plays in the first half and gained a total of 144 yards before a chilled crowd of about 9,500 at Bryant Stadium.

It marked the first time the Dreadnaughts have been shut out in a playoff game and the first time they have been shut out in any game since a 2-0 loss at Haines City on Sept. 28, 2001.

"I can't say enough about our defense," said Plant coach Robert Weiner. "Against one of the best teams in the history of the state of Florida, to not give up a big play and to put a zero on the board, that's amazing."

Lakeland's best play was Thomas Dieter's quick kick that went for 69 yards after the Dreadnaughts were backed up to their 5-yard line early in the second half. They never got within 24 yards of the end zone.

The Panthers opened the game with a 14-play touchdown drive that consumed nearly eight minutes. Wilder, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior, ran the final 15 yards on a fourth-down play.

The drive set the tone for the game.

"After the drive, we couldn't go back and match it," said Lakeland coach Bill Castle. "We went three-and-out, and we didn't come up with one play to get any momentum going."

Defense kept Lakeland in the game until Allen Sampson broke loose on a 52-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The Dreadnaughts were down only 13-0 late in the third quarter when Jarred Haggins overthrew an open Demarcus Stanton on what could have been a 31-yard touchdown pass.

"I never thought we were out of it until the last minute," said Haggins, who completed 5-of-14 passes, none for more than 11 yards. "You win some, you lose some. Tonight they were better than us."