Raider Press Box

GOT GAME?

Nationally-ranked Aquinas (7-0, 3-0) travels to meet the much-improved McArthur Mustangs (5-2, 3-0) in a Friday night game which should decide the eventual 2008 District 16-5A champion.

The Raiders continued their winning ways last week with a 49-8 victory over district-foe South Broward in front of a homecoming crowd at Brian Piccolo Stadium.

The St. Thomas defense lead by Junior, linebacker Vinnie Mauro with 4 tackles and Senior, defensive back Ronnie Kennedy with 3 tackles, held the Bulldogs scoreless until late in the third quarter.  The lone South Broward touchdown came with the score, 49-0, in favor of the Raiders.

Ryan Becker, the highly-efficient Raider quarterback, continued to guide a Raiders' team which has not been held to less than 35 points in a game this season.  Becker completed 8 of 12 passes with touchdown throws to Duron Carter and Steven Bravo-Brown.  A 17-yard touchdown run by Becker in the second quarter put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs.

The threesome of Raider running backs-Gio Bernard, Beau Bucci and James White-ran through the South Broward defense averaging over 10 yards per rushing attempt. Bernard and Bucci both finished with over a hundred yards rushing while White scored 3 times on the ground.

Mike Zarra, a former St. Thomas assistant coach, in his fifth season as the McArthur head coach has turned the Mustang program around and has the Mustangs competing for a Class 5A playoff spot.  Running back Marqueze Williams leads the offense averaging 5.4 yards per carry. 

The 'Stangs truly "got game" in the 2008 season, but Aquinas has "got more than enough in this game" to defeat McArthur.  Look for the Raid-uhs to win number 17 in a row and their 49th straight district game.

Raider Press Box Prediction: Raiders by 24

 

FOCUS ON HOMECOMING

Coming off an unprecedented victory for the Raider program against the Deerfield Beach Bucks, Aquinas (6-0, 2-0) faces the South Broward Bulldogs (4-3, 2-1) in a pivotal District 16-5A game  at Brian Piccolo Stadium.  

The Raiders continue to climb to the top of the national polls after their stunning, 65-10, blowout win last week versus the Bucks in the nationally showcased game.  The Aquinas defense and offense played great and the special teams made a huge play to set up the Raider's first touchdown.  But the only way to continue their success is for St. Thomas to focus on their next opponent, not to continue to celebrate a past victory.  In other words, the only way to stop talking about the Deerfield win is to stop talking about it... effective now.

This week's game is part of homecoming week which features many distractions for the undefeated St. Thomas team.  Their focus should only be on this week's opponent-South Broward which started the season slowly by losing 3 of their first 4 games, but has played up to their preseason predictions as of late.

The Bulldogs look to extend their current three game victory streak, while the Raiders go after their 16th consecutve win and 48th consecutive district victory in this game.

Too much for South Broward to overcome to pull off the upset of the Raiders, St. Thomas locks up the Bulldogs before a homecoming crowd.

Raider Press Box Prediction: Raiders by 21

Aquinas moves up in 2 national polls

Aquinas moved up in 2 national rankings this week after their 65-10 victory over Deerfield Beach.

The Raiders jumped from #3 to #2 in the recent ESPN Fab 50 poll, moving ahead of previous #2 Lowndes High School out of Georgia.

The Raiders moved up 3 spots to #2 in the RivalsHigh 100 poll, surpassing Gateway (PA), Byrnes (SC) and fellow Florida school Armwood.

ESPN Fab 50

RivalsHigh 100

A NUMBERS GAME

Showtime comes to Brian Piccolo Stadium as the nationally-ranked Deerfield Beach Bucks face the nationally-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders under the bright Friday night lights.

The media arrives in full force to showcase the Bucks (5-0) and the Raiders (5-0).  Both teams are rated at the top of most national, state and local polls.  This much anticipated game between the long-time rivals will be broadcast on CBS College Sports TV and streamed-live over the Internet by WWFE-670 AM.

The Raiders have won 14 consecutive games since their 2007 loss to Deerfield in the final seconds.  But the Bucks are a team that has dominated Aquinas in recent seasons, winning four times against one loss over the last five years.  Deerfield has won the last two meetings between the schools.

Both teams are coming into this game with high-scoring wins last weekend.  Both teams have athletic, competitive players.  The Bucks and Raiders match up evenly in most every area. 

The defense that tackles better will provide the key to victory in this game.

When the lights go down and the media heads out of town, the numbers add up to a Raider victory as St. Thomas tackles a major obstacle and continues undefeated in 2008.

Raider Press Box Prediction: Raiders by 10

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

St. Thomas heads to Cooper City in a district game to face the Cowboys.  The traveling Raiders are the visitor for the fourth time in five games this season as they head into the midseason point of their schedule.

Aquinas (4-0) is coming off a 35-7 victory over Hollywood Hills as the Raider rushing attack crushed Hills by midway through the third quarter.  Gio Bernard, James White and Beau Bucci combined for 329 yards rushing on 21 carries with 4 touchdowns. Sophomore QB, Jake Rudock, tossed his first career touchdown pass to Duron Carter to open the scoring.

The St. Thomas defense continued to impress with another strong effort against Hills.  On the season the Raider defense has held opponents to 20% conversion rate on 3rd-down.

Cooper City (1-3) looks to gain a second victory in the all-time series against the Raiders, but come away another loss this season.

Aquinas lassoes the 'boys and reaches the mid season mark undefeated.

Raider Press Box Prediction: Raiders by 24

GETTING BETTER WITH AGE

Coach Smith ties Coach Smith in wins.

Raider Head Coach, George Smith, has lead Aquinas Football for 32 seasons. He has split his St. Thomas coaching career into two segments and has totaled 322 wins against 65 losses over that time.

After being named head coach for the 1975 season, he coached 18 seasons (1975-1992) amassing a record of 161-42 with a winning percentage of .793. Smith retired as head coach after a 1992 perfect season and capturing his first state championship.

He returned as head coach of Aquinas in 1995. After only 13 plus seasons and 3 additional state championships during his second term, Coach Smith has once again reached his 161st victory after the Raiders win against Hollywood Hills last Thursday.

With three additional state championships and his winning percentage of .875 during this most recent head coach stint, he has easily outpaced his previous successful totals.

LB, CONOR O'NEILL SELECTS WISCONSIN

Raider co-captain, Conor O'Neill, is off to The University of Wisconsin.

(as reported by recruiting guru, Larry Blustein, in The Miami Herald.)

From the moment he raced for a touchdown in the 5A state championship game on a kickoff return against Kissimmee Osceola, St. Thomas Aquinas linebacker Conor O'Neill became a household name among recruiters.

This gifted athlete had become the heart and soul of this Raider program that reached the No. 1 spot in the country. His hard work and leadership became a trademark for a football team that continues to get better every week.

On Monday, after talking things over with his family and coaches, the 6-1, 190-pounder made his decision.

"It's Wisconsin, O'Neill said. "It came down to Clemson, Auburn and Wisconsin, and in the end, the Badgers were the right fit for me."

O'Neill, who was also a first team Miami Herald baseball selection last spring, felt that with the direction that coach Brett Bilema and the Badgers were headed, he wanted to be a part of it.

Wisconsin also hinted that O'Neill could come in and compete for playing time next year.

"The education, football program and environment all sold me," O'Neill said. "This is a huge relief for me to get this selection done so I can focus fully on the season."

O'Neill joins Raider teammates Duron Carter, Ohio State University; and Ben Turk, University of Notre Dame, in announcing their college decisions