PLANT CITY — It didn’t rain on Durant’s parade. Barely.
Durant overcame a steady downpour, then almost proved to be its worst enemy in the final minute before defeating Plant City 9-7 Friday night in a Class 7A, District 8 opener for both teams.
The Cougars nearly let a 9-0 lead slip away. Plant City’s GeShawn Parker scored on a 12-yard run with 54.5 seconds left, and Durant’s Aaron Zofnas recovered Jorge Navarrete’s onside kick near midfield on the ensuing play.
Two plays later, Plant City recovered a fumble when Durant running back Crispian Atkins (121 yards rushing on 35 carries) was hammered behind the line of scrimmage. The Raiders moved to the Cougar 15 with eight seconds remaining to set up a potential 32-yard field goal.
Plant City coach Wayne Ward sent Chase Lott out to attempt the kick. But after coach Mike Gottman called two timeouts to “freeze the kicker,” Ward switched kickers and sent Navarrete onto the field instead. His kick was on line, but short.
“We found almost every way to lose that football game,” Gottman said. “Thank goodness, (Plant City) missed that field goal. That was very unfortunate what happened down the stretch.”
“We didn’t think we were going to have enough time (to run out the clock),” he said. “Plant City had two timeouts left and it was my fault, We should have kneed it down (with Davis) and took our chances with the clock.”
Ward said he believed Navarrete was more suited for the final kick.
“Where the ball was on the field, we just felt like (Navarrete) was better for that particular distance,” Ward said. “Football is a four-quarter game and our kids never gave up until the end.”
Durant (3-1) held Plant City (1-1) to 101 yards and forced two turnovers. The only score of the first half was set up by Tanner Jurnigan, who stole the ball from a Plant City ball carrier to set up a Derek Wells 30-yard field g