DP downs Plant 24-10, advances to regional final

After missing out on a Class 8A regional semifinal win by one-and-a-half yards last season, Dr. Phillips High School’s varsity football team turned the tables on Tampa Plant. 

Undefeated DP (12-0) is headed to the regional finals for the second time in three years after grinding out a 24-10 victory over Plant on Friday night at Bill Spoone Stadium. Senior running back Daquan Isom scored all three Dr. Phillips touchdowns, highlighted by a 96-yard kickoff return. 

The momentum-changing play came after Plant (10-2) had closed within 17-10 on Kyle Henderson’s 2-yard touchdown run and John Houston’s extra point with 20 seconds left in the third quarter. DP, which dropped a 24-23 overtime decision to Plant last year when a two-point conversion came up just short, built a 17-0 halftime lead on Friday. Dylan Meeks forced a fumble – and Kelvin Clue emerged from the pile with the ball at the Plant 9-yard line - to set up Isom’s 3-yard TD run with 3:28 left in the first quarter. 

Isom added a 39-yard scoring run on a fourth-and-4 play at the 9:23 mark of the second quarter, and Ethan Shafer kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Panthers a 17-point advantage. Senior safety Khai Perkins helped lead the defensive effort with two interceptions as Dr. Phillips held Plant to its lowest single-game point total this season. 

Manatee, a 47-28 winner over Vero Beach on Friday, represents DP’s next opponent. 

“Special teams were huge tonight and probably the play of the game was from Daquan Isom,” Dr. Phillips head coach Rodney Wells said. “I told the guys that Plant is great team with a great coach and they will make a play and they will get some momentum.

"This is high school football where it’s all about momentum and we had it early, but I knew Plant would come back and make a play and they got it to within 17-10," he said. "But Isom took the (ensuing) kickoff up the sideline and it was a great call with great blocking.”