Plantation tops previously unbeaten Dillard to advance to regional semifinals
The Dillard football team came into its Region 4-4A quarterfinal on Friday with the opportunity to remain undefeated.
The Panthers’ opponent - the Plantation Colonels - had other ideas.
Losers of four consecutive playoff games dating back to 2021, the Colonels won, 21-14, in dramatic fashion led by sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Demond Christian’s three touchdowns at Dillard High.
Plantation (7-4) advances to play at defending Class 4A state champion American Heritage next Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Colonels lost to Heritage earlier in the regional season 28-13.
“Christian had a pair of touchdowns on offense and came up big on defense which was perfect timing for us,” Plantation coach Darrell Strong said. “We took advantage of that. We knew Dillard was good and we didn’t care about their schedule. At the end of the day, it’s hard to go undefeated.”
Trailing 14-13 with Dillard (10-1) poised to buffer its lead late in the third quarter Christian stepped in front of a Jayden Chico pass attempt and raced untouched 97 yards to the end zone with 30.5 seconds remaining in the quarter.
A successful two-point conversion run by senior running back Zachariah Ray gave Plantation its winning seven-point lead.
The Panthers offense failed to produce and threat of a comeback at Chico struggled to connect with his receivers. The dagger came on an interception by sophomore defensive back Jeffrey O’neal with 2:11 remaining in regulation.
“Tough loss,” Dillard coach Demitris Mincey said. “It was a competitive and we had the lead. It was the small things and us not taking care of the football. It was just a tough loss.”
Dillard rallied from an early 13-0 deficit on a pair of Chico scoring passes to running back Anthony Carey.
The first was a five-yard toss with 4:21 left in the second quarter, followed by a 6-yard TD pass to Carey with 2.1 seconds left be for the half. The conversion was good and Dillard led 14-13.
Chico finished his night with 211 yards passing, two touchdowns, and a pair of interceptions.
Plantation scored on its opening possession on a 10-play 78-yard drive with Zakari Johnson 36-yard scoring pass to Christian. The conversion failed for a 6-0 lead with 8:21 left in the first quarter.
Johnson was also solid in the run game with 25 carries for 137 yards that helped keep the Panthers off the field.
Following a Panthers punt the Colonels added to their lead with another Johnson to Christian scoring play, this time covering 21 yards with 2:47 left in the first quarter.
“I came in here real confident,” said Christian. “I told myself I would score four times. We were down at halftime, and I had to help my team. We had to fight adversity and I showed them.”
Plantation’s victory was the second straight over Dillard in as many years, after four consecutive losses dating back to 2016.
