Football: Bloomingdale 37, Plant City 34 (OT)

VALRICO — Bloomingdale and Plant City combined for 720 yards of offense and played into overtime Friday.

It came down to a special play on special teams on the game’s final play for the Bulls (4-1, 2-0) to pull out a 37-34 Homecoming victory against the Raiders (2-4, 0-2).

The Class 7A, District 7 thriller ended when North Dakota State commit Dominic Gonnella blocked a 22-yard field-goal attempt by Plant City’s Chris Rodriguez, who had kicked a pair of three-pointers earlier.

Bloomingdale, which overcame an 11-point third-quarter deficit, took its first lead since the second quarter on a Michael Espinosa 31-yard field goal on the first series of overtime.

"It’s crazy,'' Gonnella said, clutching the football that he blocked. “Bouncing back from rebuilding, and no one thought we were going to win this game.”

It was a sweet victory for Bloomingdale, which was denied a possible district title in 2018 after a 24-10 defeat to the Raiders. The Bulls had lost nine of their previous 13 meetings against Plant City since 2004.

Gonnella had a pair of first-half rushing touchdowns (27 and 4 yards), and accounted for more than 100 yards (69 yards on 12 rushes, and 37 yards on two receptions).

But it was his special team play that had teammates racing the length of the field in celebration.

Gonnella, positioned on the left side of the Bulls’ line, raced around the corner and dove with arms extended to block Rodriguez’s kick.

"They’ve been leaving me in the game, and I’ve been just off, just off,'' Gonnella said. "I focused on getting down early and getting off my start (to rush) really fast. I focused on hands to the ball . . . hands to the foot."

Overtime was needed after Bloomingdale had two big plays negated by penalties in the final seconds of regulation. An illegal man downfield flag nullified a pass reception inside the Plant City 15. On the ensuing play, a block-in-the-back penalty wiped out a 29-yard run by Javon Stephens to the Raiders 5.

Plant City led 31-20 after Zamir’ Knighten’s 1-yard run capped a six-minute, 17-second drive to start the second half — a 12-play, 76-yard march.

But Bloomingdale responded behind quarterback Lance Alderson. His 10-yard TD pass to Ollie Manhertz, and Gonnella PAT run cut the deficit to 31-28.

After a Rodriguez 25-yard field goal, Alderson scored on a 5-yard run with 5:16 left to tie the score. The ensuing PAT center snap on a potential kick was bobbled by the holder, and a pass into the end zone fell incomplete.

Plant City’s Makenzie Kennedy accounted for three touchdowns, and completed 12-of-18 passes for 259 yards.

The first half featured six lead changes as the teams combined for 467 yards in offense.

Kennedy and wide receiver Mario Williams hooked up for a pair of long TD passes (78 and 64) to lead the Raiders to a 24-20 halftime advantage. They were the only receptions before intermission for Williams, a junior who has drawn interest from many Division I programs.

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Kennedy also scored on a fourth-down, 1-yard run with 14 seconds left for Plant City’s final TD before intermission.

Maurice Frost had a big first half for Bloomingdale with 90 yards on four receptions, the final one a 35-yard TD catch from Javon Stephens on a halfback option play.