Manatee’s rally falls short in state final

ORLANDO — There was that fourth-down push that fell an inch short.

Then came the near interception that resulted in a wrenching first down.

And that final, fluttering pass that grazed off the outstretched hands of a leaping wide receiver.

Manatee’s valor was palpable Friday night, its second-half comeback pieced together to near perfection.

But there was little solace taken at the Florida Citrus Bowl, where the Hurricanes fell to Tampa Plant 21-14 in the Class 5A state championship game.

The final scene said it all — receiver Ace Sanders, bent at the waist, staring at the grass, moments after Manatee’s final rally fell short.

“Real aggravating,” Sanders said.

That was the word of the night for the Hurricanes (13-2), who were dominated in the first half and fell on the wrong side of a number of key plays in the second.

“The plays that we needed to make,” said Manatee coach Joe Kinnan, “we couldn’t make.”

The Canes couldn’t do much of anything in the first half, when they fell into a 21-0 hole — the first time this season they’ve been shut out in a half.

Defensively, they couldn’t solve James Wilder Jr., Plant’s rugged fullback who finished with 137 yards on 20 carries. His 42-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the stuff of legend — Wilder Jr. fought his way out of traffic, bowled over three Manatee defenders and sneaked into the far corner of the end zone, giving the Panthers (13-1) a 21-0 lead about two minutes before the half.

“The first half, I thought we’d be intense,” Kinnan said, “and we weren’t.”

Adding to the frustration was Manatee’s final drive of the half, where the Hurricanes got to Plant’s 14 but couldn’t score. On 1st-and-10, quarterback Brion Carnes’ pass bounced off the chest of receiver Brandon Kull in the back of the end zone.

Three plays later, the Canes turned the ball over on downs.

It didn’t help that Manatee was whistled for 67 yards of penalties, including three false starts.

“We didn’t come out ready to play,” said Sanders, who rushed for 30 yards on two carries and had one reception for 29 yards. “That’s just fact.”

It was a different story after the break. Manatee got on the board when Carnes hit Quenton Bundrage for a 34-yard touchdown with 2:34 left in the third quarter.

A little more than two minutes later, Mike Blakely took a Carnes pass 86 yards to Plant’s 2. One play later, he was in, and Manatee was down 21-14.

They never got closer.

The Canes had chances. The defense, which looked completely different from the one Wilder Jr. exploited in the first half, forced Plant to punt on its first drive of the fourth quarter.

Manatee got the ball on Plant’s 45 and drove to the 25, where the Canes decided to go for it on 4th-and-inches with less than six minutes to go. Carnes took the snap and lunged forward. But the officials, after taking a measurement, ruled he came up short.