THANKSGIVING SPECIAL

The Thanksgiving weekend brings Round 2 action in the FHSAA Class 5A Championship Series with a match up between long-time rivals St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders (11-0) and the Dillard Panthers (9-2) Friday at Brian Piccolo Stadium. 

The Raiders' Round 1 opponent Coconut Creek fell to St. Thomas 35-7.  The Cougars held Aquinas to seven second half points, but scored none themselves.   Creek's ball control-rush offense averaged 4.0 yards per carry, but never advanced closer to the end zone than the Raiders 33 yard line on any of their ten possessions.

Leading tackler for the Aquinas defense was linebacker, Conor O"Neill with 7.5 tackles which included an interception, a pass break up and a tackle-for-loss.  Other defensive leaders were Jean Luc Charles (5.5 tackles, 2 TFL's), John Baglia (5.5 tackles, 1 sack) and Vinnie Mauro (5.0 tackles).

Senior punter Ben Turk pinned the opponent inside their 20 yard line twice.  Turk's stat line is truly amazing on the season.  The Notre Dame University commit has compiled the following numbers.

• 20 punts averaging 38.7 yards per punt

• 3 punts returned for a total of 10 yards

•  4 punts over 50 yards with a long of 63 yards

• 10 punts downed inside the 20 yard line 

The Raider offense built up a 28-7 halftime lead behind the passing of Ryan Becker and the running of Giovanni Bernard.  Becker threw 3 touchdown passes- two to Duron Carter ( 82 and 10 yards) and another to Steven Bravo-Brown for 13 yards.  Bernard started the scoring with a 14 yard touchdown run in the 1st quarter and ended the Raider scoring with a 6 yard TD in the final period. Mike Palardy added PAT's after each Raider touchdown.

Dillard has lost to the Raiders 10 consecutive times dating back to the 1996 season. But the Panthers arrive this time on an eight game winning streak with a Broward County leading defense and a red-hot offense which has averaged 47 points per game in their last three games. 

Nationally-ranked St. Thomas has averaged 45 points over their last three games while holding those opponents to twelve totals points with no touchdowns.

Both teams face a must-win situation to keep their state title dreams alive.  All signs point to a very special evening under the Friday night lights at "The PICC".

Watch for the Raiders to produce a special performance, win their 21st straight game and advance to Round 3.

Raider Press Box Prediction: Raiders by 7