With all the excitement in recent years regarding the
current success of Tampa’s Plant High School football team including their defeat of Manatee several years ago for
a state championship, we think it’s important for us, that is, our own class,
specifically, to take a second and remember some very special moments for us
but not for our then-arch rival Plant!
It was 1954, and there we
were, all sophomores and just as new to Manatee as was the recently-formed huge
Western Conference loaded with high school football teams from all over the
Tampa Bay area.
We played very well that
first year, well enough to give Plant their first real scare late in November
when we were trailing very late in the game, 19-14. However, while only 6
points from victory the Panthers prevailed and won that inaugural conference
championship.
Such was clearly not the case
the next year in 1955 as our guys, now juniors
and seriously ready to “take it to’em,” took the field at Plant’s Dad’s
Stadium to shouts and jeers from the overflow crowd. Why, even The Tampa Morning Tribune had been
extolling the enormous capability and size of one Panther named Shields Gay,
who was sure to put the huge hurt on our Canes. Unfortunately, Mr. Gay met up
with someone named Tommy McEachern and spent much of the evening looking up
into the stars – the real ones as well as those provided by a much-tougher,
Tommy! Right from the gate, Manatee ruled that night, 13 to 0, while suffering
Plant their only loss of the season as our proud Hurricanes marched on to win
the Western Conference as well as finish the season undefeated!
1956, our senior year, saw
our great Hurricanes continue on with one victory after another; however, once
again, it was “us and Plant” doing battle at Hawkins Stadium for conference
dominance. With Tony Strickland and
Jimmy Lawson assisting George Henderson and Blake Logue, the Canes led after
the first quarter, 6 to 0, although Plant battled back with two touchdowns and
were leading through three quarters, 12 to 6.
Very late in the game,
however, and with a second consecutive undefeated season hanging in the
balance, from the 14 yard line, George
hit Blake with a pass at the 4 who then scored and our Canes had drawn even at
12. George split the uprights moments later giving us the 13 to 12 victory
sending the Panthers back to Tampa with their second loss to us in consecutive
years PLUS another lost opportunity in
the Western Conference Championship battle. And, of course, we shared the
championship with Tampa Hillsborough NOT Plant!!
WAIT A MINUTE !!! WHAT’S THAT OVER THERE??!!
LOOK! LOOK! IT’S GEORGE
THROWING THAT GAME-WINNING PASS TO BLAKE AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!
Let’s have ALL of our former
Hurricanes stand for a very well-deserved applause all these many decades later
for all they did to give us those two very special and consecutive, undefeated
seasons in a row, something Manatee has
never repeated in spite of capturing 5 state championships….!
