Raider Press Box

Aquinas tops Elder at Herbstreit Series

St. Thomas Aquinas overcame some early mistakes to down Cincinnati Elder, 35-24, at Paul Brown Stadium.

Top performers for the Raiders on defense included Dylan Drake (3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT), Jon Marmarosa (3 tackles, 2 sacks), Cody Riggs (4 tackles, 2 INT's) Vinnie Mauro (6.5 tackles, 1 TFL) and John Baglia (4 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL).

On offense Ryan Becker shined along with his top two receivers Duron Carter (132 yards, 1 TD) and Dwayne Difton (121 yards, 1 TD).

The special teams was solid with the punting of Ben Turk and the kicking of Ben Hopfinger.

RAIDERS IN ANOTHER STATE FOR 2008

St. Thomas Aquinas starts the 2008 football season with their first-ever game played outside the State of Florida.  The Raiders will face the Cincinnati Elder Panthers in the Herbstreit Challenge at Paul Brown Stadium to open the season.

The Raiders fly into Cincinnati nationally ranked in preseason polls to meet the Panthers who started their season with a win over Middletown, Ohio.

George Smith, Aquinas Head Coach, begins his 32nd season with a .830 winning percentage while compiling an overall record of 318-65 with the Raider program.  The hall of fame coach has built St. Thomas into a national powerhouse.

A trio of running backs comprised of Beau Bucci, Gio Bernard and James White should set up the Raiders' high power passing attack of returning receivers Duron Carter, Dwayne Difton and Gabe Holmes .

The Aquinas defense should be solid with returning linebacker, Conor O'Neill along with strong play from defense backs Ronnie Kennedy, Brian Robinson and newcomers Dez Southward and Cody Riggs.

Look for highly-efficient Ryan Becker, Senior QB, to pilot the Raiders by air - back to Florida with the historic win.

Raider Press Box Prediction: Aquinas by 8

Everglades canceled; Elder to regular season

The September 18th game against Everglades has been canceled to accommodate a ruling handed down by the FHSAA.

The Cincinnati Elder game at the Herbstreit Series will now be a regular season game.

Ohio game finally OK'd

Aquinas 4th in ESPN Fab 50 poll

Another preseason poll has St. Thomas Aquinas ranked in the top 5.

This time it's the ESPN Fab 50 poll and the Raiders come in at #4.

The ESPN Fab 50 poll, the first national high school ranking to be compiled by a panel of voters, is published by a group of experts that include Mark Tennis, Doug Huff, Chris Lawlor, Sheldon Shealer, Ronnie Flores and Jon Mahoney. These rankings combine three previously separate national rankings into one.

ESPN Fab 50

Aquinas ranked #5 by PrepNation

The first major preseason poll has been released and Aquinas is considered one of the top 5 teams in the country.

PrepNation, which publishes the National Prep Poll, has ranked the Raiders #5 in the first edition of their annual high school football poll.

Compiled weekly since 1987, the National Prep Poll is the nation's second oldest weekly high school football rankings. Started by Doug Huff with the help of 35 national panelists, the National Prep Poll has been authored by Jamie DeMoney since 1999.

National Prep Poll