Nationally-ranked, undefeated St. Thomas Aquinas (14-0) gets together with the nationally-ranked, undefeated Lakeland Dreadnaughts (14-0) to once again decide the FHSAA Class 5A State Championship. Aquinas appears in the title game for the fifth consecutive season.
The Raiders advanced to the title game with a 35-14 victory over the Largo Packers in the state semifinal played at Brian Piccolo Stadium.
Scoring the first 28 points of the game, St. Thomas crushed the Packers playoff hopes for the second straight year. The high-scoring Raider offense used a combination of the run and pass while the defense provided timely take aways.
Ryan Becker, Raider Senior Quarterback, completed a season high 14 of 21 passes. Becker threw for 148 yards with TD throws to Duron Carter - 21 and 1 yards, and 4 yards to RB James White. WR Dwayne Difton caught four passes for 59 yards.
Becks set two school records in the win. He now holds the top mark for career passing yards surpassing Wesley Carroll's 3,567 yards, with 3,621 yards and one more game to play. The highly-efficient signal caller also topped Dan Shula's 2001 season record of 1,893 yards. Becker has totaled 1,927 so far in 2008.
Junior running back, Giovanni Bernard, netted 171 rushing yards which included a 54-yard sweep left for the touchdown to extend the Raider lead to 28-0.
Michael Palardy extended his consecutive points after streak to 30, going 5 for 5.
Co-captain Conor O'Neill recorded 10.5 tackles, DB Brian Robinson added 7 tackles and defensive end Dylan Drake chipped in with 6 tackles and an interception.
The Raider defensive play of the night occurred when Cody Riggs intercepted his 8th pass of the season in the end zone stopping any early momentum by Largo.
Lakeland presents a huge hurdle for the Raiders as the Dreadnaughts hold a lopsided 5 wins to 1 loss advantage in the all-time series between the two state powers.
The "Naughts have defeated St. Thomas four times - 1996, 2004, 2005and 2006 (2 overtimes) - in championship games.
The Raiders have kept their focus game-to-game this season while dominating 14 straight opponents.
The stakes are at an all-time high as Aquinas reaches for an historic 15 win season, back-to-back state championships, and an opportunity to finish 2008 as the number 1 ranked team in the nation.
To do all this the Raiders must do something they have never done before -- defeat Lakeland in a state final.
The time is right for St. Thomas to get over the hump. No overtime needed in Orlando, as Aquinas' holiday wishes come true.
Raider Press Box Prediction: Raiders by 4
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