St. Thomas exacts revenge on Gibbons
Nearly a year to the day after having to watch Cardinal Gibbons dance around their field following an upset win, St. Thomas Aquinas exacted some revenge in a big way Saturday.
Playing at FAU’s Howard Schnellenberger Stadium in Boca Raton before a crowd of approximately 7,000, a game that was supposed to be a showdown between these two Broward giants turned out to be anything but. That’s because the Raiders, ranked No. 2 in the Herald’s Top 20 poll and No. 15 in the nation by MaxPreps, dominated from the opening whistle to the final tick of the clock in putting a convincing 39-14 beatdown on No. 4 Gibbons.
“They beat us last year on our field and I’ve been thinking about it 3-6-5,” running back Gemari Sands said. “We wanted to come out here tonight and really get this thing done, and I’m just glad I was able to do my share to make that happen.”
Sands perhaps did even more than his share. Having to play more or less in the shadow of star running back Anthony Hankerson, Sands was the centerpiece of Raiders’ success Saturday as he led all rushers with 134 yards on just seven attempts.
That’s because two of those carries went for long touchdowns, a 32-yarder in the first quarter and a 65-yarder midway through the fourth to wrap up the scoring.
Sands wasted little time making his statement as he returned the opening kickoff 61 yards to Gibbons’ 32-yard line to give his team a short field and go up 6-0 before many late-arriving fans had even sat down. He also caught two passes for 12 yards including a 5-yarder from star quarterback
Zion Turner for a touchdown in the first minute of the fourth quarter to stretch a 12-point St. Thomas lead to 32-14.
“Gemari definitely showed up tonight,” Aquinas coach Roger Harriott said. “His time came and we always tell our guys, when God gives you an opportunity to showcase your talent you have to make the most of it and he did just that.”
Harriott also got a front row seat to watch his offensive line dominate Gibbons’ front all night long. Hankerson certainly wasn’t invisible either as he also crossed the century mark with 111 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown as the Raiders finished with 262 yards on the ground.
“We felt like we could dominate up front and our offensive line and running backs did a great job,” said Harriott, who saw his team improved to 7-1 with undefeated Dillard on the slate next week.
Aquinas exercised its superiority from Sands’ opening kickoff and never looked back. They took advantage of the short field when Hankerson went over from three yards out seven plays later for a quick 6-0 lead following a missed PAT.
St. Thomas wasted little time extending the lead when, after the defense got a quick three-and-out, Turner dropped back and found star wide receiver Camden Brown all by himself for a 52-yard touchdown strike. Just like that, following a missed two point conversion,
Gibbons was down 12-0.
It would get worse for the Chiefs.
After another quick Gibbons three-and-out, the Raiders took over at their own 47 and needed just three plays to find the end zone again, the payoff being a 32-yard scoring run through a huge hole in the middle by Sands to make it 19-0.
A quiet and stunned Gibbons sideline came to life midway through the second quarter when the Chiefs finally got a break. That came when Jeremiah Makins broke free through the line on a St. Thomas punt attempt and blocked it. He recovered his own blocked punt at the Raiders’ 4 and running back Kamari Moulton scored on the next play to make it 19-7.
But any momentum the Chiefs established disappeared in the final three minutes when the Raiders drove 76 yards in 10 plays and found the end zone nine seconds before halftime when Turner scrambled to his left and found Brown, who went up high to make a spectacular catch in the corner of the end zone, barely getting one foot down.