Other Sims leads Abilene past Plant

A small, beat up but determined squad from Texas ran past a bigger, more physical team from Florida Thursday night in Abilene.

Using speed, quickness and toughness, host Abilene (Texas) defeated Plant (Tampa, Fla.) 27-17 in a nationally-televised showdown of defending state champions.

Ronnell Sims, not his more highly-recruited cousin Herschel Sims, was by far the game’s offensive star with 11 rushes for 161 yards and three touchdowns including a pair of spectacular second-half scoring runs lifting the Eagles (3-1) to victory.

The 5-foot-8, 170-pound senior quarterback, who accounted for 35 touchdowns last year, zipped around the edge on TD runs of 29 and 33 yards, the latter with 5 minutes, 54 seconds to all but clinch the win and help erase last week’s bitter 24-21 loss to another Florida squad, Cocoa.

Herschel Sims, who has committed to Oklahoma State, didn’t play against Cocoa because of a shoulder injury but had little impact against Plant. He was bottled up most of the night and finished with 37 yards rushing.

The game, which was marred with penalties, swirling winds and players cramping, took almost 3½ hours to play, which seems about the norm for national and regional televised high school football games these days.

Ronnell Sims wasn’t the only diminutive star for Abilene as Anthony Carriola, a 5-7, 190-pound linebacker, was everywhere, helping a defense that held Plant, winners of three state titles the last four years, scoreless in the second half.

Carriola had 15 tackles and a key pass deflection.

He helped hold Plant’s highly-touted offense, led by the nation’s No. 1 recruit James Wilder (Florida State commit) and quarterback Phillip Ely (Alabama) out of the end zone for the final 28 minutes.

Wilder, a bullish 6-2, 220-pound running back and linebacker, was as good as advertised with 16 carries, 110 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a spectacular diving 50-yard catch negated by penalty and had a 21-yard run in the second half that will be featured on his personal highlight reel for years to come.

It's no wonder he's so highly touted.

But penalties and the second-half deficit caused Plant into numerous passing situations and with the swirling winds and superb coverage in the Abilene secondary, Ely completed only 23 of 48 passes for 238 yards and no touchdowns.

Ely constantly tried to go deep to a talented receiver core led by Austin Roberts, but Abilene always seemed in position.

Ronnell Sims, who has interest from Baylor, Rice, Tulsa and SMU, to name a few will no doubt receive more after his sterling performance. His scramble, race around the left edge and dive into the end zone on a 29-yard play with 57 seconds left in the third quarter gave Abilene the lead for good.

The loss ended Plant’s official 17-game win streak, thought it dropped a preseason game to Manatee 48-10, an unofficial contest where both Ely (lower right leg) and Wilder Jr. (hand injury) were hurt.

Ely didn’t play last week, but Wilder Jr. did in a 20-13 win over Hillsborough, rushing for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Clearly, though, having scored just 47 points in three weeks, Plant is struggling.

Plant did pile up 295 yards in the first half while taking a 17-14 lead in this one. The wasted a golden opportunity right before the half when Ely fumbled a possible exchanged to Wilder Jr. with five seconds left from the Abilene 2.

Abilene recovered and despite having 186 less total yards and 10 less first downs, it trailed by only three points.

That opened the door for the heroics of Ronnell Sims and company the second half.

Both teams opened the season ranked among the top 25 in the country, Abilene at No. 3 among the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 and Plant No. 11. Abilene won its seventh state crown last year, but first since 1956. Plant has won Florida state crowns in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) 52, Boyd Anderson (Lauderdale Lakes, Fla.) 13: Looks like St. Thomas is up to its old tricks again.

Supposedly down after being hit by graduation, the 2008 mythical national champions steam-rolled what is supposed to be Broward County's other elite program with a surprisingly lopsided victory on the road.

According to Christy Cabrera Chironos of the Sun Sentinel, it was the third-most points Boyd Anderson has ever allowed.

Iowa-bound quarterback Jacob Rudock threw only 16 passes but completed nine for 247 yards and three touchdowns, two to Florida State-bound Rashad Greene as the Raiders raced to a 28-0 lead and were never threatened. Aquinas (2-0) also got 81-yards receiving by tailback Dami Ayoola and 74 yards rushing on 10 carries from Frederick Copper.

Miami-bound receiver Phillip Dorsett added a 92-yard kickoff return for touchdown for the winners. Boyd Anderson, 2-1, received 194 yards passing and two scores from Dane James. Marcus Robertson added a 54-yard interception return for Aquinas.