It is an anticipated Class 7A matchup as the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders host the Royal Palm Beach Wildcats in a regional final at Brian Piccolo Stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Friday night. Both schools come into this game with momentum.
St. Thomas Aquinas(11-1) were undefeated in District 15-7A and breezed by the competition in their division. The only exception was a nationally televised defeat to Don Bosco Prep 24-7 in a neutral site game in West Point, New York during their second game. The Raiders are currently on a ten-game win streak. They had an opening week victory over the defending Class 5A champion American Heritage 38-7 at Sun Life Stadium and a win at Miramar 20-12 during their third game.
The Raiders have outscored their last nine opponents, which included two playoff opponents, 465-20 and compiled six shutouts. They won a regional quarterfinal over Mater Academy Charter 57-0 and dropped their top district rival Plantation 38-6 in a regional semifinal last week. STA have appeared in a regional final every year since 2004.
Aquinas comes in with a balanced offensive attack. Running back Jordan Scarlett is expected to get the bulk of the carries from the backfield. Deltron Sands and Khambrel St. Hubert can run the ball when necessary. Jake Rizzo is their quarterback and he can throw the ball to any part of the field. He has a strong wide receiver core with Davante Peete, Sam Bruce and Jawuan Harris.
Royal Palm Beach(11-1) missed the postseason last year and have lost just three games in the last two seasons. They finished on top of the competitive District 13-7A ahead of defending Class 7A champion Dwyer, Atlantic, West Boca Raton and Lake Worth. The only loss in 2014 for the Wildcats was at Dwyer as they fell 47-24. They currently sit on a seven-game win streak in which they have outscored their opponents 269-60 in that span.
The Wildcats have never advanced beyond the regional final in school history. They had two playoff games at home and handled Fort Lauderdale 30-7 in the regional quarterfinal along with Atlantic in the 28-7 in the regional semifinal.
The main emphasis on the RPB offense will be quarterback Toddy Centeio. He can throw the ball and on occasion run the ball out of the pocket. They have a duel threat at running back with Charles Perry and Shamar Jackson as both players have speed to break open on a carry. Demarcus Holloway is an additional asset to their running game. Expect wide receivers Derick Python and Marlon Eugene to make their share of receptions from Centeio.
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