South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Defense the difference
Raiders prevail against Patriots in battle of titans
American Heritage came out of halftime with a 14-7 lead over St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Patriots got the ball to start the half.
If the Patriots could get out to a two-score lead, they could lean on their star-studded defense and put pressure on the Raiders.
As the play clock ticked down toward zero, American Heritage quarterback Blake Murphy took the snap and appeared to pantomime a spike into the ground, consistent with feigning a frustrated reaction to a delay-ofgame penalty. However, with the ball actually snapped on time, Murphy held on to the pigskin and sprinted forward into a pile of Patriots and Raiders.
Somewhere in the scrum, St. Thomas senior linebacker Derrieon Craig stripped the ball, broke out of the pile and sprinted about 25 yards for a touchdown. His score tied the game and keyed a 17-2 run for St Thomas, allowing the Raiders to pick up a
24-16 victory over fellow powerhouse American Heritage in Plantation on Friday.
“I ain’t going to lie, as you can see, the momentum — that set the tone,” Craig said.
The Patriots had the early momentum. They scored first on a 10-yard touchdown run by Murphy. St. Thomas came back and tied the game on the following drive when quarterback Zion Turner tossed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Hardge.
Both teams had to leave the field for the locker room due to lightning, and the delay lasted nearly two hours. Neither side struggled with rust after the delay, and American Heritage running back Mark Fletcher scored a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Patriots up 14-7 midway through the second quarter.
Craig’s forced fumble and touchdown tied the game up, and the Raiders forced another fumble on the next drive. They turned that turnover into seven more points with a pass from Turner to wide receiver Camden Brown.
Turner finished the game completing 14 of 19 passes for
165 yards and two touchdowns. “Especially after last week’s disappointment, we went in the lab,” said Turner, referring to the Raiders’ receivers. “We were working after practice, timing. That was a thing we really needed. We worked hard for it, and it came into fruition today.”
St. Thomas’ defense changed the game with its takeaways. The Raiders forced five turnovers. In addition to the two fumble recoveries, defensive back Conrad Hussey had two interceptions and linebacker David Vadala — who transferred from American Heritage — had another. St. Thomas scored 17 points off those turnovers.
“Coach [Jason] Taylor does a good job of getting our defensive guys excited and bought into the scheme,” St. Thomas Aquinas coach Roger Harriott said. “They’re adamant about forcing turnovers and creating opportunities to change the momentum of the game.”
The Patriots were the ones who took advantage of the final turnover. St. Thomas took over at its own 2-yard line, and American Heritage forced a safety.
The Patriots got the ball back in an eight-point game with 5:35 remaining in the final quarter, but after Murphy left the game with an injury in the third quarter, American Heritage struggled to move the ball. With star wide receiver Brandon Inniss playing quarterback, the Patriots’ drive stalled, and St. Thomas ran out the clock.
With the loss, American Heritage starts the season 1-2 for the first time since 2010. St. Thomas moves to 2-1 after a loss to Tampa Jesuit last week.
“They say winning cures all,” Harriott said. “It’s a great feeling. I’m happy for the guys in our program. Winning is a standard, an expectation, for us. We’re grateful, but we have to work hard to maintain this tradition.”