Preps

Plant 54, Leto 7

By PETER ARRABAL, Times Correspondent
Published October 19, 2007

TAMPA - Aaron Murray's seven first-half touchdowns were too much for Leto (2-6) to overcome as the Panthers (6-1) rolled to a 54-7 district victory.

"What can't you say about him? It's great," coach Robert Weiner said about Murray. "He's just spectacular. He gets better every week. He plays the game like a little kid but he focuses like a man."

Murray completed 11 of 14 attempts for 229 yards and six scores. He also ran for a touchdown in the first half.

Cornelius Gallon caught two touchdowns and returned a punt 56 yards for another score. He leads Hillsborough County in receiving touchdowns this season.

Gallon's second touchdown came as time expired in the first half on a 44-yard pass from Murray.

"The touchdown (Murray) threw to Cornelius Gallon, that was his call," Weiner said. "We called a running play and of course no quarterback ever checks off of a running play, and that was exactly the right call."

Derek Winter, the county leader in receptions and receiving yards, did one better than Gallon, grabbing five receptions for 111 yards and three touchdowns. Justin Rudolph had one catch for four yards and scored the first touchdown for the Panthers.

Nothing went well for Leto early. They finished the first half with two total yards and their first drive ended with a blocked punt by Plant's Hunter Baldwin.

The Panther defense shut down the Falcons, allowing only a late score from quarterback Robert Scime to Darius McRoy.

"We try to swarm to the football," Weiner said. "Our defense is really starting to get this. They continue to be a silent killer for us. Everyone wants to look at our offense, but the defense has been pretty dominating."

The win gives Plant a district win, something coach Weiner appreciated greatly.

"It's huge," he said. "We look at this game, and even though we had played a huge opponent last week in Hillsborough, we knew this was the only one that mattered. You only get 10 weeks and we earned this week, so we earned week 11 this season."

The Panthers face Chamberlain (6-2) in a non-district game next week.

"Chamberlain is going to be a huge challenge for us," Weiner said. "They've wanted to get at us for a while so we'll try to get ourselves ready for that. It's going to be a great game."

[Last modified October 18, 2007, 23:40:00]