St. Thomas Aquinas Knocks Off Venice

     The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders defeated the Venice Indians 29-8 at Brian Piccolo Stadium in a FHSAA Class 7A regional final contest in Fort Lauderdale on Friday night. The Raiders will play in their seventh straight state semifinal game next week against Bloomingdale. 

     It was the fifth consecutive season that both teams met in the FHSAA Playoffs. They faced each other in the state semifinal round from 2016 to 2019. 

     St. Thomas Aquinas(6-1) moved in front  at 6:43 of the first quarter. Running back Anthony Hankerson busted through the right side of the line from two yards out. They were able to make the two-point conversion and led 8-0. 

     The Raiders increased their lead to 15-0 at the 7:41 mark of the second quarter. Hankerson went around the right end and scored from 12 yards away. 

     It became a 19-point margin for St. Thomas Aquinas with 7:03 remaining in the first half. Defensive lineman Dallas Turner blocked a punt, recovered the ball and ran two yards into the end zone. 

     STA made it 29-0 at 8:11 of the third quarter. Indians quarterback Colin Blazek threw a pass to the low right corner of the end zone and it was deflected. Raiders defensive back Isaiah Taylor caught the ball and returned it 101 yards down the sideline for a score. 

     Venice(10-4) broke the shutout with 1:16 left in the third. Blazek found wide receiver Weston Wolff in the middle of the end zone on a six-yard touchdown pass.