Saturday, August 28, 2021

St. Thomas Aquinas Beats St. Frances Academy

     The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders held off the St. Frances Academy Panthers 38-23 at Brian Piccolo Stadium on Saturday. The Raiders are the two-time defending FHSAA Class 7A state champions and have captured a state-record 12 Florida high school football state titles. 
     St, Thomas Aquinas(1-0) got up 7-0 at 8:57 in an unusual way. St. Frances Academy had their first offensive snap of the game go off badly. Raiders defensive lineman Kyrie Samuel recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. 
     It became 14-0 for the Raiders at the 4:02 mark. Quarterback Zion Turner rolled out to his right and threw a 20-yard pass to wide receiver Isaiah Hardge in the middle of the end zone. 
     St. Frances Academy(0-1) reached the end zone with 2:10 remaining in the first. Backup running back Darien Lewis busted through the middle from two yards out. 
     The Panthers evened it up 14-14 with 1:05 to go in the quarter. Quarterback Michael Van Buren tossed a swing pass to the right side on a 4th-and-4 to running back Lamar Patterson and he sprinted 26 yards down the right sideline into the end zone. 
     St. Thomas Aquinas pulled ahead 17-14 with 5:35 remaining. Michael Kern was able to boot a 24-yard field goal. 
     St. Frances Academy finally got the lead 20-17 with 2:20 to go in the second quarter. Running back Terron Kellman rushed around the left end and scored from eight yards away. 
     The Raiders ended up getting the lead 24-20 on the last play of the first half. Turner fired a 43-yard pass to wide receiver Jaylan Sanchez on the left side. 
     In the third quarter, STA increased their lead to 31-20 at the 6:51 mark. Turner ran the ball to the right pylon for a nine-yard touchdown. 
     The Panthers closed the deficit to 31-23 at 7:37 of the fourth quarter. Andre Jandayan made a 22-yard field goal. 
     St. Thomas Aquinas put the game away with 1:43 left to make it 38-23. Running back Xavier Terrell went through the left side of the line and scored from six yards away. 

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