Six Straight State Titles For The Raiders

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MIAMI – </strong>Let these number sink in for a minute: Six straight Florida high school football championships and 16 all time!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As veteran head coach <strong>Roger Harriott</strong> and his Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas football team left Pitbull Stadium on the campus of Florida International University, the scoreboard read 34-0.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While scores like that happen. They don't usually come against the No. 1 team in the state that won two consecutive state title and had won 19 straight games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Say what you will about this football team, but over the past four decades they have kept the state of Florida squarely in the national spotlight – and after Thursday evening nothing has changed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Using a mix of seniors and underclassmen, the Raiders finished the 2024 season at 12-3 and showed the state that south Florida is still among the best football-producing areas in the nation.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When senior kicker <strong>Nicholas Romero </strong>booted a 32-yard field goal with 3:52 left in the opening quarter, nobody realized at the time that those points by one of the best specialists in the nation would be all this team would need.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Raiders extended the lead to 10-0 at the end of the opening quarter (:08) when senior running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1317532' first='Cedric' last='Wyche'] II</strong> (Illinois signee) took a pass from standout senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1322329' first='Andrew' last='Indorf']</strong> from 18 yards out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Raiders went into halftime with a 17-0 advantage when underrated senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='830603' first='Chance' last='Washington']</strong> bulled his way in from 6 yards out at the 8:58 mark.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With the Dreadnaughts (13-0) trying to use halftime as motivation to get going, STA extended the lead to 20-0 with 7:58 left in the third quarter and all but put this game out of reach.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Raiders would add a pair of scores in the fourth quarter – one on a 2-yard run by Washington (11:56) and the final by Indorf at the 5:16 mark.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>THOSE STATS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Thomas Aquinas finished with 16 first downs to Lakeland's 11.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Raiders ran for 140 yards – while the Dreadnaughts had 183.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The passing advantage was heavy in the Raiders' favor with 159-26.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Individually, Washington carried 12 times for 70 yards and Wyche II had 30. Lakeland's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1581905' first='Jadarius' last='Dobie']</strong> led all runners with 89 yards on 12 carries and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='831338' first='Jordan' last='Henderson']</strong> finished with 44.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indorf was 13 of 19 for 159 yards in his final high school game, North Dakota State signee <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='827385' first='Zander' last='Smith']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142239' first='Chad' last='Williams']</strong> could only muster (4 of 16 for 26 yards).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sophomore <strong>Ah'mari Stevens</strong> had 37 receiving yards, <strong>Cameron Roberts</strong> (48) and FAU senior signee <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1317509' first='Branden' last='Hoch']</strong> (33).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On the defensive side of the ball, the “visiting” Raiders had 11 tackles from Maryland signee <strong>Travaris Daniels</strong> and five from <strong>Tremorris Campbell</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>USF signee<strong> [player_tooltip player_id='771522' first='Jermichael' last='Gillis']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1581926' first='Ziggy' last='Riley']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1247490' first='Malik' last='Morris']</strong> all had five tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Statewide Coverage Daily.</strong> <a href="https://prepredzone.com/florida/">https://prepredzone.com/florida/</a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>You Can Contact Larry Blustein with prospect or team information at:</strong> Floridakids1@aol.com.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>COACHES, PLAYERS: Do You Have A Subscription? Contact us for a savings code so you can see what everyone has been talking about! </strong><a href="mailto:Floridakids1@aol.com">Floridakids1@aol.com</a>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>5A: Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas-No. 1 Lakeland: Enough Said! </strong><a><strong>https://prepredzone.com/2024/12/5a-st-thomas-lakeland-enough-said/</strong></a></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->