St. Thomas Aquinas & Lakeland Title Preview

     The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders challenge the Lakeland Dreadnaughts for the FHSAA Class 5A state championship on Thursday night in South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium on the Florida International University campus. It is a renewal of a longtime rivalry between two Florida high school football powerhouses. 

     It will be the sixth time that both high schools will face each other in the state championship game. The Dreadnaughts won four of their state titles in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2018. The famous 2006 contest held in Miami was decided in double overtime. The Raiders was victorious only once over Lakeland in 2008 which gave them a national championship. 

     Legendary Florida high school football head coaches have been involved in this rivalry. They were George Smith for St. Thomas Aquinas and Bill Castle for Lakeland. Guiding the teams now are Roger Harriott of the Raiders and Marvin Frazier of the Dreadnaughts. 

     St. Thomas Aquinas(11-3) is the only team in FHSAA football history with five consecutive state titles and look to extend it to six. They currently have a state-record 29-game postseason winning streak and will attempt to capture a state-record 16th state championship. 

     The Raiders, who have won 12 state championships in the last 17 seasons, have outscored their opponents 587-229 on the year. STA shut out North Miami 58-0 in a regional quarterfinal, outscored Blanche Ely 53-32 in a regional semifinal, came back on Atlantic 49-42 in overtime during a regional final and got by Manatee 16-13 in a state semifinal. 

     They will rely on quarterback Andrew Indorf to bring them down the field. He will look for wide receivers Ah'mari Stevens, Julius Jones, Branden Hoch and tight end Cameron Roberts on passing attempts. The Raiders rushing attack consists of running backs Cedric Wyche II, Chance Washington, Jerry Derosier and Virgil Lemons.

     Lakeland(13-0) is undefeated and have outscored their opponents 499-160 this season. The Dreadnaughts smashed Spoto 51-6 in the regional quarterfinal, handled Gaither 41-13 in the regional semifinal, pushed by Tampa Bay Tech 24-21 in the regional final and took Niceville in triple overtime 34-33 during a state semifinal.

     Their offense will have a heavy emphasis on rushing the ball with running backs Jordan Henderson Jadarius Dobie, Jaysean Pritchard, Alashawn Hagan and Malik Morris. Quarterback Zander Smith can throw the ball to wide receivers Shanard Clower, Jerry Thomas, Cassidy Ervin and Cam Fuse.