It was a brutal defeat. Brutal because it appeared a victory was so safe, satisfying and secure.
Instead the
Sickles (Tampa) High School football team came away with a bitter 24-20 loss to perennial state and national power Plant.
Gone was the chance of a perfect season. Gone was the chance to hand Plant a rare regular season loss. A huge second-and-23 conversion in the final three minutes keyed the win for Plant.
Rather than fold up or feel sorry for themselves, the Gryphons have toughened up and responded with three straight wins by a combined score of 118-21, including a 35-8 win over Tampa Bay Tech on Friday.
For their near perfection and superb response to adversity, Sickles is the MaxPreps Florida Team of the Week, presented by the Florida National Guard.
"After the (Plant) game the kids were angry," said head coach Brian Turner. "They felt like they let the win slip away from them and they didn't want to lose again the rest of the season or feel that way again.
"It wasn't necessarily a bad thing because they felt what it was like to lose and it made them want to work harder. After that game, we came together more as a team and got stronger."
In the win over Tampa Bay Tech, junior
Ray Ray McCloud III rushed 30 times for 249 yards and four touchdowns. That gave him 1,685 yards for the season, which ranks fourth in the state, and 19 touchdowns.
Junior quarterback
Issac Holder was an efficient 8-for-9 for 112 yards and a touchdown in Friday's win and
Jaaron Barrett caught a touchdown.
On the season Holder has completed 87 of 160 for 1,324 yards and 15 touchdowns with just two interceptions. That leads to a nifty QB rating of 108.
Barrett has 28 catches on the season for 549 yards and six touchdowns while senior
Chett Levay leads the squad with 39 catches for 579 yards and six touchdowns.
Defensively, the Gryphons got huge games Friday from senior
Wes Harris (13 tackles) and sophomore
Jake Hampton (12 tackles).
Mike Smith had nine tackles and
Anthony Janezic,
Deven Santana and
Joey Breheny added eight tackles.
Sickles put constant pressure on two Tampa Bay Tech quarterbacks while recording nine sacks, three by Santana and two each from
Josh Black,
Logan Braswell and Janezic. Hampton added an interception.
"Our coaches watch a lot of game film and our players watch film the week of the game, so when they get on the field they are prepared and have already seen what the other team is going to do," said Turner. "Our kids are doing what they are told to do and are doing their assignments. We have a hard-working group of kids."
Turner has helped revitalize and stabilize the program. Since taking over in 2010, the Gryphons have won 31 games and lost 11. This is the third straight year Sickles has won eight games, but with a home game against Alonso and the playoffs to follow, the team should break that barrier.
"(Winning a state title) has been our main goal all year," said Turner. "Every year we want to be playing in the last game of the year. Sickles has never won a playoff game, so we want to do that and then get to state."
MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.
