By:Laura Keeley
St. Pete Times
December 18, 2011

ORLANDO — The “Dark Side” Miramar defense had a weakness coming into Saturday’s Class 8A state title game.

Plant coach Robert Weiner knew it. Starting quarterback James Few knew it. And running back Wesley Bullock knew it, too. And together the duo, along with Antonio Crawford and Aaron Banks, exploited the Patriots’ man-to-man coverage for 254 rushing yards on 53 attempts, a season high.

The game-plan tweak worked, as Plant won the first 8A title in Florida history 31-20.

“We knew that they were going to be in man, and we were going to try to spread them out and see if they were going to account for me,” said Few, with tears of joy in his eyes. “We didn’t think they would, and it turned out they weren’t.”

Few rushed for 57 yards on 11 carries, both season highs. His 8-yard scramble through the middle of the defense in the first quarter put Plant ahead 14-7. The Panthers never trailed again.

Typically, Plant (14-1) has used Banks, a junior, in running situations. While he did carry the ball three times for 20 yards, Few took off on the majority of the quarterback-designed runs.

“We wanted to give them a little different look,” Weiner said. “Everybody always thinks that James is just a pocket passer and that Aaron is a runner; both of them can do both. We loved having James in those situations, and he just gutted it out on every one. He took shots each time and got back up and answered the call.”

Bullock, who came into the game averaging about 128 rushing yards in the playoffs, gained 124 yards on 26 carries. About half of those yards (56) came on the opening drive, and he finished in the end zone after bouncing out to the right sideline.

In the third quarter, Bullock fumbled after defensive lineman Trevon Conley jarred the ball free. Miramar (13-1) recovered at the Plant 17 and scored its first touchdown of the quarter. The second came 24 seconds later.

“My 11 teammates and 11 coaches, they picked my spirits back up,” Bullock said. “ ‘Pick your head up, pick your head up, we’ve got plenty of time.’ I said all right, and I made a promise to my team that I would get them this ring.”

Bullock made good on that vow, with a little help from his teammates.

“I just never got the chance to run (before),” Few said. “We took it on the ground. I don’t even know if I completed three passes. But whatever, dude. We won the state championship."