The Jefferson Dragons will be playing at home against the Plant City Raiders at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The timing isn't great for Jefferson: they have been struggling with eight straight losses at home dating back to last season, while Plant City has snatched up three consecutive wins on the road.
Last Friday, Jefferson was beaten by Tampa Catholic 42-7. While losing is never fun, Jefferson can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 414th, while Tampa Catholic is ranked 197th).
Meanwhile, after only nine points in their last game, Plant City made sure to put some points up on the board against Strawberry Crest on Friday. Plant City breezed by Strawberry Crest at home to the tune of 57-20. 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. Another player making a difference was Josh Gueh, who picked up 56 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Jefferson's loss dropped their record down to 1-8. As for Plant City, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
Jefferson came up short against Plant City when the teams last played back in November of 2022, falling 20-8. Will Jefferson have more luck at home instead of on the road?