St Thomas Aquinas And Osceola Title Preview

     The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders take on the Osceola Kowboys in the FHSAA Class 7A state championship on Friday night at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. The Raiders, who have captured seven FHSAA state championships, look to win their fifth state title in the last eight seasons while the Kowboys will try to reach the top the mountain and win a championship for the second time in school history. Both schools met at the Citrus Bowl in the 2007 Class 5A state championship where Aquinas won 35-20.
     St. Thomas Aquinas(13-1) will be playing in their eighth state championship game since 2004. STA, who have outscored their last 11 opponents 562-34, has hosted all of their FHSAA playoff games this year. They bashed Mater Academy 57-0 in the regional quarterfinal, topped district rival Plantation 38-6 in the regional semifinal, crushed Royal Palm Beach 52-7 in the regional final and beat East Lake 45-7 in the state semifinal.
     The Raiders will split their offense with a balanced amount of rushes and carries. Jordan Scarlett is expected to get more of the carries from the backfield followed by Deltron Sands and Devontae Henry-Cole. The have a number of wide receiver threats with Devante Peete, Sam Bruce, Jawuan Harris and Connor Fee who quarterback Jake Rizzo can throw the ball to.
     Osceola(13-1) comes into the title game with a 12-game winning streak following a second week road loss to Lake Mary 29-28. They also hosted all four playoff games on their road to Orlando. The Kowboys dumped Bartow 35-7 in the regional quarterfinal, barely got by longtime playoff rival Lakeland 35-28 in overtime during their regional semifinal, dropped Tampa Bay Tech 35-15 in a regional final and defeated 2013 Class 7A state finalist Niceville 42-14 in the state semifinal.
     The Kowboys will run the ball for the entire game and rarely can you see a passing play on offense. Running back Laderrien Wilson is expected to get most of the rushes from the Osceola backfield. It will be a tough task to stop the St. Thomas Aquinas front seven with defensive end Nicholas Bosa as their most recognized defensive player.