Raiders snap Tornadoes’ win streak Games not affected by storm, so far
Aquinas, the defending Class 7A state champ, has scored at least 31 points in each of its past eight season openers.
FORT LAUDERDALE — All that talk about a 41-game winning streak is over.
St. Thomas Aquinas saw to it with a prolific offense and a stingy defense in snapping Booker T. Washington’s winning streak with 35-3 victory Friday in front of a national TV audience and a crowd of 6,500 at Brian Piccolo Stadium.
Junior quarterback Jake Allen passed for 259 yards and four touchdowns to lead Aquinas. Senior receiver Sam Bruce was Allen’s favorite target on the night with three receptions for 63 yards and two TDs.
“Jake is an exceptional talent,” Aquinas coach Roger Harriott said. “The most impressive thing about him is his leadership.”
Senior running back Devonta’e Henry- Cole rushed for 118 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown to lead the Aquinas rushing attack. Five total interceptions by Raiders senior Eric Walker and freshman Daniel Richardson led to four touchdowns
What likely changed the psyche for Booker T. Washington was St. Thomas recovering from a second-and-43 from its own 47 to score a touchdown in only two plays.
Allen competed the drive with a 30-yard TD pass to Dominic Thieman with 1:29 left in the first half for a 21-0 lead.
The scoring play was set up when Allen connected on a screen pass to HenryCole for 25 yards to the Tornadoes 30.
While Washington’s loss was its first since falling to Miami Central, 37-26, on Sept. 8, 2012, Aquinas extended its winning streak to 14 games.
Despite some sloppy play in the second half by Aquinas, mostly by penalty, the Raiders successfully pro- tected their lead. They were flagged 13 times for 135 yards.
St. Thomas (1-0), ranked No. 2 in the nation by MaxPreps, has now won 12 consecutive season openers and improved to 3-0 alltime against Booker T. Washington (0-1).
Aquinas, the defending Class 7A state champ, has scored at least 31 points in each of its past eight season openers.
Aquinas approached the much-publicized game matching two traditional national powers like any other game, and it showed.
St. Thomas and Washington’s combined resume includes 12 state titles and three national championships. The majority of that has come since 2007.
Walker and Richardson combined to throw three first half interceptions, two of which stalled potential scoring drives deep inside Raiders territory. All three picks led to Aquinas touchdowns.
The first Aquinas touchdown followed a Frank Coppet interception of Walker. Some 77 yards later on 12 plays Coppet scored on a 3-yard run for a 7-0 lead. Asante Samuel, who had two interceptions on the night, was next to pick off Waler to give Aquinas the ball at the Tornadoes 20. Two plays later Allen found Bruce for a 20-yard scoring pass.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the half was the Raiders’ decision to run the ball, and they did it well. Henry-Cole had 79 yards on 16 carries in just one half of play.
St. Thomas put on a dominating first half in which it outgained its opponent 272 to 99 in total yards.
The Tornadoes avoided the shutout on a Jose Borregales 39-yard field goal with 3:51 left in the third quarter. Aquinas was seeking its first shutout to open the regular season since beating Miramar 56-0 in 1998.
dbrousseau@tribpub.com, on Twitter @dbrouss76
Tropical Storm Erika has done nothing to blow apart this weekend’s high school sports schedule involving Broward and Palm Beach events.
As of Friday afternoon, Saturday’s North Marion at Blanche Ely football game will be played as scheduled. So to will the Park Vista Cross Country Invitational at South County Regional Park and King’s Academy Invitational slated for the morning.
Also, Sunday’s football game featuring Dillard at IMG Academy in Bradenton set for a 2 p.m. kickoff is still good to go.
Coconut Creek, Hallandale and American Heritage football teams are playing games in the Chick-fil-A Battle of Borders Classic at Hallford Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday, so there’s a chance their return flights on Sunday could be affected.
The limted number of high school events scheduled for Monday could be postponed if winds in the storm exceed 40 miles per hour. If schools in Broward and Palm Beach are canceled because of the storm, all athletic events would follow.