Aquinas (13-0) heads into a rematch of their 2007 season state semifinal against the Largo Packers (12-1) at Brian Piccolo Memorial Stadium in the Florida Class 5A Championship Series. The winner heads to Orlando for the State Championship Final.
St. Thomas overpowered regional final opponent, South Fork, 56-14 to send the Bulldogs to the sidelines for the 2008 season.
All-purpose Raider senior Ronnie Kennedy scored three touchdowns in three different ways. He scored on a 3-yard run in the second quarter and then returned an interception 32 yards and a punt 88 yards for scores in the third quarter.
Aquinas held the lead at half time 35-7 as James White scored twice on runs of 15 and 4 yards. QB Ryan Becker connected on a 10 yard TD pass to Steven Bravo-Brown. Running back Beau Bucci dashed 65 yards over the left side of the Raider offensive line to give the home team a 28-7 margin before Kennedy added his first touchdown of the night to close the first half.
The Raiders added 3 more TD scores in the third period on a 7 yard run by Giovanni Bernard and Kennedy's interception and punt returns to extend the score to 56 to 7.
Michael Palardy, Raider junior kicker, was a perfect 8 for 8 on points after touchdown extending his consecutive steak to 25 straight.
The Aquinas defense yielded 233 yards on the ground to South Fork. This was a game season high in rushing yardage allowed bythe Raider defenders. Conor O'Neill, a University of Wisconsin commit, led the Raider defense with 8.5 tackles and a pass break up.
In last year's game at Largo's Packer Stadium, Largo led the Raiders at halftime 13-7. In the second half a motivated St. Thomas squad scored 28 points while holding the Packer offense to zero.
Final score: Raiders 35, Packers 13.
Largo enters this week's playoff game on an eight game winning streak after a 59-point performance in their regional final win over Charlotte High School. Their defense has been solid all season recording 4 shutouts and holding opponents to an average of 8.5 points per game.
This game should come down to defensive strength versus defensive strength.
The Raiders send their season record to 14-0 as they come away with their 23rd consecutive victory and earn their 5th straight appearance in the state final game.
Raider fans, see you in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl!
Raider Press Box Perdiction: Raiders by 10
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