Plant fifth in national tourney

By Bryan Burns
Published July 20, 2007

TAMPA - Plant coach Robert Weiner was, admittedly, a bit disappointed after watching his team place fifth with a 3-2 overall record at the adidas 7-on-7 football national championship tournament in Carson, Calif.'s, Home Depot Center.

The defending Class 4A state champion, Plant rolled over Oak Ridge, Tenn., Daytona Beach Seabreeze and Houston Stratford, all by at least two scores, but last-second losses to Crespi, Calif., and Miami Gulliver Prep kept the Panthers from reaching the finals.

According to Weiner, a fortunate bounce of the ball here or a stopped clock there was the difference in Plant's unsuccessful bid to capture its first 7-on-7 national championship.

"We were probably two plays away from winning the championship, but that's the way it goes," Weiner said from the team bus as it pulled away from the Home Depot Center. "You have to make those two plays."

In its opening-round games, Plant lost to eventual finalist Crespi on the last play in triple overtime before capturing its first victory over Oak Ridge by five scores. Plant defeated Seabreeze in its first-round playoff game but lost, again on the final play, to Gulliver, a team the Panthers defeated on the last play in a regional tournament in Miami to reach the national championship tournament.

"We felt we were a little unlucky in the first game," said Weiner, who raced home at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday morning to catch his flight to California after spending the previous two days in Naples following former Plant quarterback Robert Marve's car crash early Monday morning. "We had a couple of chances to put it away and didn't. ...If we had beaten Crespi in the first round, we probably would have had a good shot at winning the tournament.

"Against Gulliver, we came back from two scores down to tie it up and thought we had them stopped on the final play of the game because of the running clock. But, for some reason, the officials stopped the clock, giving them one last play, which they capitalized on."

Plant defeated Stratford by four scores in the consolation round to finish fifth. Pahokee won the tournament, defeating Crespi in the final.

Weiner, who will remain in California with Aaron Murray, a participant in the EA Sports Elite 11 quarterback camp, while the rest of the team arrives today in Tampa, was happy with the competition and quality players his team encountered.

"In terms of the trip itself, it was a great experience," he said. "We got to see some of L.A. while playing some good football teams. In terms of the result, we were a little disappointed. It was a hard trip and it's been an emotional couple of days."

[Last modified July 19, 2007, 23:04:47]