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Marve and Murray Starting for Purdue and UGA -TBO Print E-mail

Robert Plant QBs Robert Marve and Arron Murray Starting QBs for Purdue and UGA By: Joey Johnston
Tampa Tribune
September 2, 2010

Their time has arrived.

"I've been counting down to this moment for a long time," Robert Marve said.

"I'm excited, a little bit nervous, but it can't come soon enough," Aaron Murray said. "It's going to be a big day for both of us."

From "Between the Hedges" to the Golden Dome, let's call it the most significant afternoon ever for Plant High School's quarterback pipeline.

Saturday at 12:21 p.m., Murray, a redshirt freshman, gets his first start for the University of Georgia when the Bulldogs host Louisiana-Lafayette. Then, in an NBC-televised game at 3:30, Marve, a junior transfer, will make his Purdue University debut when the Boilermakers visit Notre Dame.

"We couldn't be more proud of those guys," Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "Their bodies change and the speed of the game changes, but their ability to lead a team and win, that doesn't change.

"I wouldn't be at all surprised to see Georgia in the mix for a national championship during Aaron's career. I wouldn't be surprised to see Robert playing in the Rose Bowl before he leaves Purdue. I believe these guys are on the road to success."

The path has sometimes been bumpy.

Marve landed at Purdue after his acrimonious split from Miami, where he started 11 games in 2008. But he was twice suspended and developed a strained relationship with Hurricanes coach Randy Shannon. Shortly after announcing his Purdue plans, Marve tore his ACL during a workout.

"There were quite a few tests along the way," said Marve, who led Plant to the Class 4A state championship in 2006. "It's hard to watch when you have to sit out. It's like if you never had a cell phone, you wouldn't know what life was like with one. But once you get one, you couldn't live without it. I have missed it, and now I'm really going to embrace the moment. Purdue is a great place for me."

Marve has been educated in the tradition of Purdue quarterbacks. He recently met former Boilermaker Drew Brees, Super Bowl-winning leader of the New Orleans Saints. Marve said Purdue's wide-open spread offense will accentuate his strengths and has fueled his excitement.

Purdue coaches seem equally excited about Marve's presence.

"He can beat you with his arm or beat you with his legs," Boilermakers coach Danny Hope said Aug. 2 during Big Ten Media Days. "Robert has great passion for the game. He has fit in well and his teammates love him. We like everything about him. We certainly think he has the potential and talent for us to win on Saturdays with."

At Georgia, Murray's first-year outlook is described in more cautious tones.

The Bulldogs return 10 offensive starters, including All-America receiver A.J. Green, so Murray sees his job in clear terms.

"I'm the question mark everyone is wondering about," said Murray, who helped Plant to a 4A state title in 2008. "I understand that. I haven't done anything yet.

"I need to be smart and careful with my reads and decisions. They're not going to give me the whole playbook right away. If I can allow our playmakers to stand out, let them do the work instead of trying to win the game myself, I think I'll earn some trust."

Only Georgia coach Mark Richt could express that philosophy with more clout. And he did just that July 22 at SEC Media Days.

"We can't just say, 'Let it rip,' and hope he doesn't stumble," Richt said. "I mean, we have to manage him. I think he understands that, but now he just has to live it out.

"I'll say this about our team. They respect this kid because he prepares, because he puts the team first, because he has talent. So they're all rallying around this kid. He's not abusing that trust because he's working his tail off."

Murray can't wait to experience the atmosphere. He's eagerly anticipating his first SEC road game, Sept. 11 at South Carolina. It's a Plant-Jefferson matchup of sorts as Murray will face Stephen Garcia, who began his junior season Thursday against Southern Miss.

"Our area has a few (starting quarterbacks) in college football now," Murray said. "This is going to be a lot of fun."

"Aaron and I have even talked about our teams matching up in a bowl game one day," Marve said. "How amazing would that be? But that's way off in the future. We've got to do our job by taking it week by week."

Their time has arrived.


 
PLANT SHUTS OUT Tampa Bay Tech 10-0 -TBO Print E-mail
James Wilder cuts through a hole in the TBT defense
James Wilder cuts through a hole in the TBT defense. PHOTO BY: BILL WARD Tampa Tribune
By: Katherine Smith
Tampa Tribune
September 4, 2010

TAMPA - When the Plant Panthers hand out game balls, they might want to toss one to the Tampa Bay Tech concessions staff.

Apparently, the chicken they served was the difference in the second half for James Wilder, the Panthers' senior two-way starter, who took over the game and helped avenge last year's loss to the Titans. Plant hung on for a 10-0 victory against Tech in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the Titans' stadium.

"I don't know if the chicken was fried or what, but it was frozen and I knew I needed to eat it to get right," Wilder said. "They fed me that and I got right."

Wilder picked up 52 of his 78 rushing yards in the second half and recovered a Tech fumble with less than two minutes remaining to help seal the victory.

Feeling a bit woozy in the first half because of a stomach virus, Wilder emerged from the locker room with a belly full of chicken and a renewed vigor.

"He came out like an animal," Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "First on defense, he was all over the place. And then, as we've done it before, we just put the ball in his hands to seal the game."

Putting the ball in his hands became a necessity after quarterback Phillip Ely aggravated the ankle injury he sustained last week in the loss to Bradenton Manatee. Ely led the Panthers into the end zone on an 11-play drive to take the lead 7-0 with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter. On Plant's next offensive series, Ely had to be helped off the field after he was sacked and fumbled.

He returned after sitting out one series and led Plant to the Titans' 8-yard line, but another turnover on fourth-and-goal kept the Panthers out of the end zone.

Plant, which had five unsportsmanlike penalties, turned the ball over again at the beginning of the third quarter, but Tech failed to capitalize despite having first-and-goal at the Panthers' 9-yard line. A false-start penalty, a sack and an incomplete pass brought up fourth-and-goal. Tech lined up for a field goal, but faked it with a direct snap to the kicker, who was tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

Plant controlled the clock for most of the fourth quarter and got a key special-teams play from junior Austin Aikens, who downed a Plant punt at the Titans' 1-yard line.

That series resulted in Wilder's recovered fumble and led to Grant Van Aman's 37-yard field goal.

"We'll see them again. This was just Volume 1," Tech coach C.C. Culpepper said. "I hate to say that I am happy because we did lose, but we built some character. We learned a lot. We'll build and we'll be fine."

Plant 7 0 0 3 - 10
TBT 0 0 0 0 -  0
  • P - Ely 1 yard run (Van Aman kick)
  • P - FG Van Aman 37 yards

 
Encore Awaits as Unbeaten Ely Goes For 3-Peat - TBO Print E-mail
By Katherine Smith
Tampa Tribune
September 1, 2010

TAMPA - Numbers tell a lot about Plant High senior quarterback Phillip Ely.

In two seasons of varsity football for the Panthers - 24 games - Ely has thrown for 3,627 yards and 39 touchdowns. As a starter, he's 19-0.

But numbers don't tell the whole Ely story.

"He really is one of the great stories of all time," Plant coach Robert Weiner said. "He's a young man who has never had a personal individual goal and is always focused on the right things.

"He's focused on what's best for the team and the overall group. And because of that, everything that he could have wanted has come his way."

Two state titles? Check.

Recognition as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, including an invite to the prestigious Elite 11 Quarterbacks Camp? Check.

Verbal commitment to defending national champion Alabama? Check.

Those are just a few things that have come Ely's way. And with a full year of high school remaining, there should be plenty more.

Not bad for a kid who started as a sophomore when Aaron Murray broke his leg and stood barely 5-foot-9 and weighed 150 pounds.

Ely literally has transformed and grown up before everyone's eyes, now standing 6-1 and weighing 190. He was the cleanup guy, so to speak, his sophomore year when he was thrust into the starter's role.

Last year, his own injury delayed his debut as the full-time starter but he returned to help the Panthers to their second consecutive state title.

So what will Ely do for an encore as a senior? If his past performances are any indication, great things.

"Talking with Aaron and Robert (Marve), they said going into your senior year the game just kind of slows down," Ely said. "You get to breathe for a second and get to see things you never got to see before, and I'm kind of excited to see what they're talking about.

"It's crazy that it's my senior year. I want to go out with a bang. I just want to go and play football and not really think about numbers and that stuff, and hopefully keep this train going."

 
James Wilder Jr. Stars in 'The Wild Side' - ESPN Print E-mail
Lucas O'NeillLucas ONeill Senior Editor,
ESPN RISE Magazine
08/20/10

With a little help from Wilder and a cast of friends, ESPN RISE set out to see what a screenplay for the movie version of his life might look like.

FADE IN: EXTERIOR: BRYANT STADIUM – NIGHT
Zoom in on a Jumbotron at a high school football field in LAKELAND in December of 2008. As the clock expires, the scoreboard shows a 40-20 victory for the home team. Fans celebrate, and we hear screams, air horns, bells, music and chants of so hot / to be a Dread-naught.
 
James Wilder Jr.
CUT TO: CLOSE-UP
A player on the losing team holds his helmet in his hands. Only a sophomore, he’s tall and muscular. His name is JAMES WILDER JR., and his team, CHAMBERLAIN, has just been eliminated in the Class 5A regional finals by the dreaded Dreadnaughts in what would be the last game for legendary CHIEFS coach BILLY TURNER. We see that Wilder is crying.

But hold up: That’s not how Wilder, the nation’s top athlete and No. 8 recruit in the ESPNU 150, sees the movie of his life story beginning. His version starts with his older brother CURTIS, now 32, getting him involved in youth football. James, who has bounced around quite a bit in his 18 years, lived mostly with Curtis from ages 11-16.

CUT TO: INTERIOR: CHAMBERLAIN HIGH – DAY
James, a freshman, is called to Turner’s office in the fall of 2007. Curtis is there, so James assumes he’s in trouble. It turns out that Florida coach URBAN MEYER is in the office to see Turner, and the Gators’ coach greets the young, impressionable freshman.

To James, this meeting is a turning point. Well, maybe for football, but not for his life story. Sure, James soon becomes a standout running back/linebacker on the gridiron, but he just as quickly slacks off in the classroom. After his sophomore year, he transfers from Chamberlain in North Tampa to PLANT in South Tampa to live with his mom, BARBARA. This positions him well for football, as the PANTHERS are defending state champs. But academically, it’s not a quick fix. He enters Plant with a 2.1 GPA.

PLANT COACH ROBERT WEINER
"James was not very studious when he came over. He was scraping along the bottom of the barrel in terms of being eligible."

But that scene comes later. The fall of 2009 is all about football. In a preseason game against MANATEE, James tallies seven tackles and rushes for 100 yards in the first quarter — then does little else the rest of the game. He’s gassed, and the Panthers lose. Plant then falls in its first game to TAMPA BAY TECH, and suddenly a season of great promise isn’t looking so good. James blames himself, but it’s not a problem of effort — it’s a matter of conditioning and of picking his spots.

WEINER
"James doesn’t pace himself. He is all out on every single play."

There is reason for hope, however. Starting quarterback PHILLIP ELY missed the start of the season with an injury but is ready to return. And while Plant has always had a pass-oriented offense —Ely’s predecessors ROBERT MARVE and AARON MURRAY each broke the state single-season record for touchdown passes — the offense suddenly has balance with James in the mix. And the defense, thanks largely to him, is more intimidating than ever.

ELY
"We had a pretty stacked team in my eyes. We had a lot of guys returning. It wasn’t in our minds to lose."


CUT TO: MONTAGE: HIGHLIGHT REEL (Click Here to Watch Wilder's Amazing Highlights Video)
And indeed, the Panthers start winning. They beat rival ARMWOOD, and then the scores — and James’ numbers — start getting ridiculous: 49-0, 57-21, 40-0, 59-14, 77-16. All the winning sets up the scene we’ve been waiting for: the state semifinals and the Return to Lakeland.

CUT TO: EXTERIOR: BRYANT STADIUM – NIGHT
James has been here before, and the Dreadnaught faithful aren’t letting him forget it. We see James warming up on the field, and hear shouts of “crybaby” — and worse — directed his way.

JAMES
"That was the most focused I think I’ve ever been. I just wanted to demolish them."

Plant eats a ton of clock on its opening drive, a run-heavy series that features lots of No. 32 — James. But the Panthers are stopped inside the Lakeland 20 and face fourth and short. You can probably count on one hand the number of times Weiner has called a running play on fourth down, but Plant sets up in a power formation. James takes the handoff and is hit just past the line. After gaining a few yards, he has about a half-dozen Dreadnaughts on him and nearly goes down, putting one hand on the turf to steady himself and push back up. With the help of his teammates pushing and pulling, James carries half the players on the field into the end zone.

A dagger of a drive, and the Panthers go on to win, 20-0. The next week, Plant avenges its preseason loss to Manatee and wins the Class 5A state title, its second consecutive crown and third in four years. Wilder finishes the year with 1,004 rushing yards, 15 touchdowns and some truly gaudy defensive stats: 136 tackles, 42 tackles for loss and 19 sacks.

So that’s it, right? Roll the credits? Not even close. The academic situation comes to a head after the season. Not only is James likely to lose eligibility, he is in danger of failing Spanish I, which means he might not be able to graduate on time. Weiner soon enlists the help of ANDRIA ROGERS, the mother of fullback/linebacker TATE ROGERS, to oversee an intense push to get James on track academically.
ANDRIA
"Coach Weiner knew I had a really good tutor.
We did the best we could, worked around the clock, tried to figure out what had happened.
My son would just drive him home every day. He needed a tutor for like four to five hours."


CUT TO: INTERIOR: ROGERS HOUSEHOLD
James starts eating and sleeping at the Rogers’ house. Eventually, he all but moves in with the blessing of his mom, who lives about four streets over. The Rogers become like a second family for James, to the extent that he calls Andria “MAMA ROGERS.” It takes time, but his academic situation is remedied. In the spring semester, he barely misses the honor roll, making all A’s and B’s except for one C. He raises his GPA to 2.8.

JAMES
"At Chamberlain, I never thought I was going to be big-time like that, so I never took [school] that serious.
Then I came over to Plant, they had everything set up. I had to make up like five classes.
Mama Rogers has helped me out a lot. Eventually I got used to it, got more comfortable."


CUT TO: MONTAGE: THE FUTURE
So how does the movie end? There’s still this season, one filled with huge expectations for James and for Plant, the state’s top squad and the No. 2 team in the POWERADE FAB 50 ESPN RISE Team Rankings. Then there’s the whole recruiting process. Florida, Alabama, USC, Georgia, Miami and Florida State are among the schools that offered, but on Aug. 18 Wilder committed to FSU. At 6-foot-2 — pushing 6-3 — and 225 pounds, James is projected as a linebacker at the next level by many scouts, but he’s adamant about playing running back.

After college, Wilder envisions himself making it to the NFL, where his dad was a star running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He wants to do charity work like Bucs legends DERRICK BROOKS and WARRICK DUNN and become a motivational speaker “for the kids that don’t have everything coming up and feel like they have no hope.”

Wilder wants to tell them that if he can make it, they can, too. That would be a great ending, but we still need a name for this movie.

JAMES
"You’ve seen "The Blind Side"? It would be like that… (Pauses, thinking. Then cracking up.)
THE WILD SIDE! Hey, that’s pretty good!"


FADE TO BLACK


 
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