By: Martin Fennelly
Tampa Tribune
December 19, 2009

ORLANDO - We interrupt this James Wilder Jr. for King of the World highlight video with this story: Once upon a time, in 2006, Plant High was making a run to a first state football title, and a few area coaches hated it. Plant, the school with everything, was muscling in on football. One coach complained that all he saw in the newspaper was "Plant, Plant, Plant."

Boy, was he ever right.

Make it three championships for Plant with Friday night's 21-14 Class 5A title win over Manatee. No Hillsborough County school has ever done that at football in the playoff era. Make it three championships in four seasons for Coach Robert Weiner and his Panthers. It didn't matter that they moved up from Class 4A this season. No one could stop them. Make it a dynasty.

Three rings.

Hey, it finally works.

Go ahead, somebody say it.

"Plant, Plant, Plant," Panthers quarterback Phillip Ely said.

I think their next game should be against the Bucs.

In other news, James Wilder has decided to skip his senior season at Plant and go straight to the NFL. Actually, he can't do that. Or even go to college yet, though college coaches were everywhere at the Citrus Bowl, and their jaws dropped as far as everybody else's as Wilder put his shoulder down and sent three Manatee defenders flying like duck pins on the way to a 41-yard touchdown run from another planet.

"My heart just went to the whistle every time," Wilder said.

All their hearts did.

Beyond the superhuman, there were human tears, soft, sweet championship tears, from Wilder, from a whole lot of Panthers. Plant offensive lineman Andre Mondor took a knee. The 6-7, 330-pound senior buried his face in his hands and sobbed.

"It just kind of hit me," Mondor said. "That's three championships. Add the fact that nobody thought we could do this, go from 4A to 5A, then Manatee beat us in an exhibition game before the season, and here we are again, and it's my last game."

They set the tone Friday, just as they set it last week against Lakeland, with a long opening touchdown drive, with Wilder again leaving tacklers in his wake. He ran for 137 yards and that was only part of the story. He was easily the best player on the field. He snuffed two Manatee drives with sacks. His wingspan covered the field. He dominated here, there, everywhere.

"Coach told me I had to put the team on my shoulders, so that's what I tried to do," Wilder said.

"He's a freak," Ely said.

It takes more than that to make a dynasty. Wilder wasn't at Plant for the first two titles. And Friday was Ely's first start in a title game. He joined Robert Marve and Aaron Murray in the Plant QB pantheon. Ely overcame back problems to lead the Panthers this season. He overcame so much. They all did.

Dynasty?

"You can use the word 'heart,'" Ely said. "We couldn't have won this game without heart."

It was everywhere as the Panthers built a 21-0 lead. And with that lead in danger, with Manatee driving in the fourth quarter, it was there again as Plant stuffed the Hurricanes on fourth down and inches. These Panthers didn't give an inch. Wilder was in on the tackle, of course. So was defensive end David McCarthy. Oh, put it down as a team tackle. That one was for all the Panthers, past and present.

And when it was done, for the third time in four seasons as done as it can get, Wilder hugged Ely.

"We're doing it again next year," Wilder told junior Ely as he squeezed him.

One title at a time, guys.

This one makes three.

Go on, somebody say it again. Weiner smiled.

"Plant, Plant, Plant."