Times’ super 7
1. Plant (3-0-1): Yeah, we were just as surprised as you were. But Plant hangs on to No. 1 by mere decimal points.
2. Armwood (4-0): If there was any doubt about who has the best defense in the county, the Hawks erased it with Monday’s 37-2 win vs. Hillsborough and Friday’s 27-0 shut out of Robinson.
3. Jefferson (3-0): The Dragons took the week off. Hopefully for their sake, they spent it trying to decipher the Hawks’ defense.
4. Sickles (4-0): Looks like the Gryphons will go into the Oct. 11 game with Plant undefeated.
5. Tampa Catholic (3-1): The Crusaders just look a little more impressive with each passing week.
6. Newsome (3-1): A critical and thrilling 38-26 district win over Alonso places the Wolves firmly in the postseason hunt.
7. Plant City (3-0): Raiders got a tough and much-needed test from arch-rival Durant.
In the conversation: Berkeley Prep (2-1), East Bay (2-1), Tampa Bay Tech (2-1).
Audibles
“He’s an athlete that wants to make a play. He has to understand that he can’t score on every single play, take what the defense gives you. He forced some things (Friday), but when we needed a first down, he got it for us.” Plant City coach Wayne Ward on first-year quarterback Landon Galloway’s performance in the Raiders’ 14-13 rivalry win.
“If Calvary beats us by 11 at our place I will walk in your building in my boxer shorts and deliver you guys sandwiches. No way.” Carrollwood Day coach Lane McLaughlin via text after someone (cough, cough) predicted Calvary Christian would beat his Patriots by 11. McLaughlin said not only were we wrong, but that his team would win by 21. And guess what? They won by 21. Now, if anyone else wants to bring us food on Monday to replace those sandwiches, hit us up on Twitter.
Top five statements of the night
1. Bloomingdale:“Scoring 40 on Plant kind of means our 2-0 start was legit, ya think?”
2. Chamberlain: “King? How about checkmate?”
3. Tampa Catholic: “Fort Meade, welcome to Fort Awesome!”
4. Armwood:“Hey, Jefferson, you know that team that scored 22 points on you last week? Didn’t even score on us. See ya Friday!”
5. Newsome:“Yeah, that loss to Sickles? Let’s just forget about that one, shall we?”
Blindside
Some things we didn’t see coming
1. Bloomingdale led Plant 14-0. And while you let that sink in, here’s this: The Bulls put up 40 points on the Panthers. That’s more than Sandy Creek, Tallahassee Godby, John C. Curtis, St. Thomas Aquinas, Bradenton Manatee and Armwood scored on Plant the past three years. Yeah, yeah, we know, ridiculous comparison; just sounds so good though.
2. Plant City’s Hassan Bailey, after missing two weeks with a high ankle sprain, finished with 157 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown, in the Raiders’ 14-13 win against Durant. How’s that for a return?
3. A Chamberlain shut out. Before its 14-0 loss to the Chiefs, King had scored 87 points in its first three wins. The Lions ran just 31 plays to Chamberlain’s 61 on Friday.
Five stars of the night
1. He plays quarterback for a school that has spawned some pretty good quarterbacks the past decade, but Friday night Colby Brown outdid them all. The Plant senior threw for a record 519 yards.
2. Not only did Newsome running backs Ramsey Bennett and Chris Bryant both score two touchdowns, go over 100 yards and average more than 10 yards a carry, they both busted off 50-plus yard scoring runs in the fourth quarter in response to Alonso touchdowns, crushing the Ravens’ spirit.
3. Second straight game with six touchdowns (three rushing, three passing) for Cambridge Christian quarterback Garrett Young. Are you kidding us?
4. Strawberry Crest lost starting quarterback Tristan Hyde to a torn ACL last week, but Austin Carswell stepped right in and ran Air Kelly flawlessly. After stepping in off the bench with two touchdown passes last week, Carswell started Friday’s 46-0 win against Brandon and added four more touchdown passes.
5. King came into the game undefeated and with four guys over 100 yards on the year, but Chamberlain’s Dakarai Smith scored the game’s only touchdowns to lead a devastating Chiefs’ ground attack in a 14-0 win.
By the numbers
4 Touchdown passes by Alonso sophomore QB Chris Oladokun.
5 Touchdowns by Bloomingdale’s Isaiah McIntyre. The sophomore QB threw for three scores and ran for two others against the Panthers.
6 TDs combined by Issac Holder (three passing) and Ray Ray McCloud III (three rushing). The two have now had a hand in all 18 Gryphon touchdowns this year.
9 Straight games with a rushing TD for McCloud.
55 Carries by Newsome and Chamberlain on Friday, power rushing to victory.
100 Total points scored by Blake in victories the past two weeks.
905 Combined yards of offense by Alonso and Newsome in the Wolves’ 38-26 win.
1,078 Combined yards of offense by Plant and Bloomingdale in the Panthers’ 50-40 win.
Final five words
Bring on Armwood at Jefferson!
Compiled by Times staff writers John C. Cotey and Kelly Parsons.