St. Thomas eager to move on from state title defeat
MIAMI GARDENS– For many of the schools present at the Miami Dolphins High School Media Day at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, players and coaches talked about the excitement of hoping to make a playoff appearance, or maybe even win a game in the postseason.
But for a powerhouse program like St. Thomas Aquinas, anything short of the state title is a failed season. And that meant that no one has come close to forgetting their loss to Lakeland in the Class 7A state championship game.
“It still weighs heavy. A loss is always going to be a loss, and it’s going to hurt [especially] a loss of that magnitude,” senior fourstar offensive lineman Marcus Dumervil said. “We’re just working consistently to make sure that we get back to that level and we’re back on top.”
St. Thomas Aquinas had a highly successful campaign in 2018, even with that season-ending loss. The Raiders went 13-2, putting up eye-popping numbers on both offense and defense throughout the year.
But all that success was somewhat tainted for the players by the loss in the state championship — and has served to motivate them to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again this year.
“I still feel it because we’ve still got a championship to win, we’ve still got a season to go through,” said four-star senior wide receiver Marcus Rosemy, who is committed to Georgia. “So we’ve just go to keep pushing this thing and get this thing moving.”
But despite all of the talent within the program, another state title game season isn’t a guarantee. The Raiders will first have to figure out who will be the quarterback for 2019. But the team has remained confident in its options.
“The quarterback position obviously in any organization is one that has a high expectation and we think that we have a few guys that are up for the task,” coach Roger Harriott said. “And right now Zion Turner and Brady [Dean] are doing a great job of competing and supporting each other and they’ve done an exceptional job of leading our team to this point so we’re getting there.”
Even with the quarterback situation and the loss last year, the Raiders are ready to get the 2019 season started, and are confident that they can maintain a level of success that is simply unthinkable for most programs.
“The expectation for us is to come out victorious and give a championship effort,” Harriott said. “Sometimes we fall short but for us, we have such a strong tradition, foundation. We have a substantial amount of support around us, not only from St. Thomas, but there’s admiration across the country so we’ll pick ourselves back up and continue to give our best effort and meet expectations, not only to play like champions but live our life as such as well.”