St. Thomas Aquinas Pound De La Salle

Two of the top-ranked national high school football programs met in Fort Lauderdale on Friday as the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders took out the De La Salle Spartans of California 30-6. The nationally-televised game was delayed by 45 minutes prior to the contest due to a weather delay. The Raiders took the lead with 7:12 left in the first quarter as running back Fred Coppet hustled in from 12 yards away. St. Thomas Aquinas increased their lead to 10-0 with 2:57 remaining in the second quarter on a 23-yard field goal by Nolan Bieck. Following a Raiders fumble by wide receiver Mark Barr, De La Salle pulled off a double pass from scrimmage during the final minute of the first half. Quarterback Bart Houston threw toward the right side to Andrew Buckley who then found wide receiver Anthony Williams behind the Raiders secondary and completed a 58-yard pass for a score to close the defecit to 10-6. The Raiders capitalized on a Spartans fumble by Houston as Coppet finished a seven-play, 48-yard drive with a one-yard run at 5:44 of the third quarter. Houston then had a 10-yard punt on De La Salle's next possession. Raiders quarterback Max Lescano ended a five-play, 35-yard drive on a seven-yard touchdown dash with 2:12 left in the third making it 24-6. Bieck added a 40-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter and a 20-yard field goal in the final minute. The Raiders stopped De La Salle's win streak at 29 and are now 6-0 against out-of-state opponents. St. Thomas Aquinas travels to take on the McArthur Mustangs next Friday, who lost to Dr. Phillips 34-7 in Orlando.