Plant City has enjoyed the comforts of home their last three games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will take on The Jefferson Dragons at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Hopefully Plant City is not getting complacent, as they presents a significant challenge as they come into the match much higher ranked than Jefferson in Florida (Plant City is ranked 175th, while Jefferson is ranked 414th).
After only nine points in their last matchup, Plant City made sure to put some points up on the board against Strawberry Crest on Friday. Plant City took their matchup at home with ease, bagging a 57-20 win over Strawberry Crest. Plant City pushed the score to 43-20 by the end of the third, a deficit Strawberry Crest had little chance of recovering from.
Plant City's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Tony Marshall, who rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries, and Chris Denson, who threw for 216 yards and five touchdowns while completing 83.3% of his passes. Plant City also got help from Tj Knighten who showed off his sure hands for 81 receiving yards.
Meanwhile, Jefferson's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Friday after their seventh straight loss. They took a serious blow against Tampa Catholic, falling 42-7.
Plant City now has a winning record of 5-4. As for Jefferson, their loss was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their overall record down to 1-8.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's match: Plant City has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 178 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Jefferson, though, as they've been averaging only 84.9 per game. How will Jefferson fare against such a dominant running game?
Plant City beat Jefferson 20-8 when the teams last played back in November of 2022. The rematch might be a little tougher for Plant City since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
