St. Thomas Aquinas Stops Dwyer

     The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders finally walked out of Blum Stadium in Palm Beach Gardens with a 24-7 victory over the Dwyer Panthers on Friday night in a Class 7A regional semifinal. The Raiders had lost as defending state champions in the regional final during their previous two trips there in 2011 and 2013.
     Both schools had captured the last three FHSAA Class 7A state titles. The Raiders had not been eliminated prior to a regional final since 2003. The Panthers lost two of their last three games to end the season.
     After a scoreless first quarter, St. Thomas Aquinas got a 32-yard field goal by James McCourt at 9:00 of the second quarter and took a 3-0 lead.
     Dwyer backup quarterback Eli Mathews fumbled the ball at his 45-yard line  and it was recovered by linebacker Patrick Moody midway through the frame . Running back James Charles finished the drive with a three-yard run across the right side of the line at 5:16.
     The next drive for Aquinas was set up by defensive back Asante Samuel when he intercepted a pass by starting quarterback Toddy Centeio at the Dwyer 30-yard line. STA extended their margin to 17-0 as wide receiver Trevon Grimes caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Allen in the back right side of the end zone with 2:09 to go in the first half.
     Late in the third quarter, Allen lost the ball on a fumble in Panthers territory. Dwyer advanced the ball on that possession into the red zone for the first time in the game. Running back Zach Wilson capped the drive with a touchdown run up the middle from two yards out with 23 seconds left to break the shutout and closed the deficit to ten points.
     It did not take long for the Raiders to answer as running back Jaxson Kincaide broke several tackles and dashed through the middle for an 82-yard touchdown on the first play of the drive with no time remaining in the quarter.
     The Panthers had one more opportunity to put up points with seven minutes remaining in the contest. They were unable to score on a fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line when Centreio fumbled the ball and it was recovered by defensive lineman Colin Nace.