St. Thomas Aquinas-Lincoln Preview

    The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders will look to win their seventh FHSAA football championship on Friday night as they face the Tallahassee-Lincoln Trojans for the Class 7A state title at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The Raiders had previously won three titles on that same field since 2007 in Class 5A. They beat the Osceola Kowboys in 2007, Lakeland Dreadnaughts in 2008 and Tampa-Plant Panthers in 2010. Aquinas will play in their seventh championship game in the last nine seasons.
    St. Thomas Aquinas(12-2) got a home victory last week in a state semifinal as they upset quarterback Cord Sandberg and the Bradenton-Manatee Hurricanes 35-18. The Hurricanes entered the game as the defending Class 7A champions and as the number one ranked high school team nationally by several organizations. They also had their 25-game winning streak snapped.
    The Raiders enter the title game on a nine-game win streak after they began the season losing two of their first five games. The team has averaged over 38 points per game during their four home playoff games in 2012. Rocco Casullo will try to capture his first state title as a head coach.
    The Aquinas running attack has several options from the backfield. Fred Coppett, in his final game with the school, will get most of the carries while Mardre London and Deltron Sands are expected to get the remaining rushing attempts. John O'Korn will also make his final appearance at quarterback for the team. He will have numerous targets to throw the ball to which includes Mark Barr, Franklyn Richardson, Chandler Dorrell, Corey Holmes, Dion Collier and Jonathan Boozer.
    The Raiders defense has held their four playoff opponents to an average 14 points per game. Joey Bosa, an Ohio State University commit, his brother Nicholas Bosa and Anthony Moten make up the imposing defensive line. Lance Virgile and Martel Williams will attempt to stop the Trojans running game. Chris Washington and James Crawford are expected to be impact players in the secondary.
    Lincoln(12-1) pulled off a surprising road victory over the Osceola Kowboys last week 24-17. They have averaged 30 points per game on offense and allowed 21 points per game on defense in their four playoff games. Ben Robinson will take charge of the running game while Taj Williams can get open for catches downfield.
    The Trojans won their first eight games of the regular season until they lost to local Tallahassee rival Godby in the season finale. The team has to make a trip over 260 miles for the second straight week. Aquinas has to travel 212 miles from Brian Piccolo Stadium to the Citrus Bowl. It will be their second game that they will play outside of Broward County this season.