Season begins for national champ St. Thomas Aquinas
South Florida’s football season is marching on, and another major local programwill now begin its campaign.
Reigning state and national champion St. Thomas Aquinas joins the list of Broward and Palm Beach teams playing, and the Raiders open their season with a good matchup against TRU Prep Academy, which is comprised mainly of former University School players.
The Saints and Raiders highlight one of the best slates of football games in South Florida so far this season.
Iw ent 2-1 withmy picks last week after two games were canceled. Iam19-4 this season. All games start at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.
TRU Prep Academy (3-0) at St.Thomas Aquinas (0-0)
TRU Prep enters this game riding high, coming off an 18-point win over reigning Class 2A champion Hialeah Champagn at Catholic. But St. Thomas is better than Champagnat— the Raiders are on another level altogether. The Raiders, coming off an undefeated season that included state and national championships, remain stacked at basically every position.
St. Thomas could see some of the first-game sloppiness other teams have faced due to an altered practice schedule and no preseason games. TRU Prep is talented enough to capitalize on any of those mistakes, and that will probably give the Saints their best chance of winning. But St. Thomas should be favored in every game on its schedule, including this one. St. Thomas Aquinas 28, TRU Prep Academy 17 Jacksonville Trinity Christian (3-1) at American Heritage (3-0), 7:30 p.m.
The Patriots come home for the first time this year, and they bring a strong opponent with them. Trinity Christian is usually among the top small schools in the state, and this year is no different.
The Conquerors feature star sophomore T rey aun Webb, a Georgia commit who already has 425 rushing yards and eight touchdowns this year. But the Patriots have some experience stopping top-tier running backs, having held Chaminade’s Thad Franklin to fewer than 100 yards and no scores in their season opener. Marcus Burke, Trinity Christian’s senior star wide receiver, left lastweek’s game with a hamstring injury, according to the Florida TimesUnion, so he may not be a factor in Friday’s game.
Heritage quarterback Blake Murphy didn’t play lastweek and three other players took snaps, completing 7 of 9 passes. Heritage ran the ball 38 times in its win over St. John’ s Bart ram Trail, and that could be a winning recipe. American Heritage 24, Trinity Christian 14 Chaminade-Madonna (2-1) at Clearwater Academy International (0-3)
Chaminade had back-to-back off weeks, which provided an opportunity to heal any bumps and bruises sustained through the first three games of the season. This should help Franklin, the Lions’ star running back and Miami commit, whom they rely on heavily.
Clearwater Academy International is a talented team despite its record. CAI’s first loss was against Brentwood, the top-ranked team in Tennessee, and then the Knights lost a pair of games against good teams by a combined four points.
Despite its winless record, CAI is not a pushover. Still, I think Chaminade has the advantage. Chaminade31, Clearwater Academy International 20
Doral Academy (1-1) at Cardinal Gibbons (1-0)
The Chiefs opened their season lastweek with a 28-12 win over Miami Monsignor Pace, though they struggled with penalties and general sloppiness. Much of that can be attributed to the team simply not spending much time playing together due to the coronavirus pandemic. As the Chiefs spend more time playing andworking together, those mistakes should become less common.
In the meantime, Gibbons can hang its hat on its strong defense, which allowed only one touch down lastweek. Regardless of how much the offense improves from lastweek, the defense should be strong enough to hold off Doral Academy. Cardinal Gibbons 24, Doral Academy 10
Cardinal Newman(3-1) at Clewiston (3-1)
The Crusaders have recovered well fromtheir season-opening loss, reeling off three straight wins. Newman has balanced its passing and running game and had a solid defense in all three victories.
Clewiston kept it close against Calvary Christian and put a running clock on struggling Archbishop McCarthy. These are two evenly matched teams, and with the Crusaders going on the road, I’ll give the Tigers a slight edge. Clewiston 24, Cardinal Newman21