By Jon Melton, Miami Herald
Two weeks ago, Cooper City pulled off one of the biggest upsets in school history, beating St. Thomas Aquinas 21-16.
After beating Miami Beach 28-8 in the first round of the 7A playoffs Friday night, the Cowboys will have a chance to prove it wasn’t a fluke.
The Cowboys get another shot at the Raiders in next week’s regional semifinal thanks in part to running back Camden Krohn.
Krohn sustained a shoulder injury on the opening kickoff, an injury that he re-aggravated two more times. Krohn wouldn’t be denied, though, as he continued returning to action to grind out yards for his team.
Things were tough to come by in the first half, but the Cowboys offense finally got rolling after halftime when Krohn scored on a 6-yard touchdown run.
After a Justin Ingram touchdown run put Cooper City (10-1) up 21-0 on Miami Beach (8-3), Krohn capped off his night and put the game away when he broke loose for a 90-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
• Region 4-7A quarterfinal — St. Thomas Aquinas 58, American 14: There was a sense of urgency for St. Thomas Aquinas heading into the postseason after failing to win their district for the first time in 15 years.
The Raiders put that urgency to good use.
“You could tell there was a different energy this week. Our team felt like the underdogs and we like that,” Raiders coach Rocco Casullo said. “They wanted to make a statement and they made one tonight.”
Despite a somewhat slow start, St. Thomas Aquinas was able to jump out to a 24-0 lead in the second quarter powered by a balanced offensive attack that the Patriots struggled to slow down.
The run game was especially effective, as the Raiders dashed for six total rushing touchdowns.
American was able to strike back before the half came to a close, scoring two unanswered touchdowns to go down by only 10 points heading into the locker room.
But the Raiders came out strong in the second half, scoring 21 points in the third quarter to pull comfortably ahead going into the final quarter of play.
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