Habit-forming: Lakeland tops Aquinas for 7A title
It was a familiar finish for Lakeland in the Class 7A football state championship game Friday night.
The Dreadnaughts (15-0) defeated Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (13-2) in a state final for the fifth time in six meetings, this time winning 33-20 in front of an announced crowd of 6,693 at Camping World Stadium.
Lakeland forced two turnovers and rushed for 277 yards while claiming the program’s seventh title under 43-year head coach Bill Castle.
Aquinas made the game interesting while getting within three points twice in the third quarter, which featured a 30-point scoring spree between the teams. Daniel Carter reached the end zone on a run of five yards to make it a 17-14 game, but the Raiders failed to score again until there was two minutes to play with the game already out of reach.
Lakeland’s Fenley Graham tied a state championship game record when he took kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown early in the third to give the Dreadnaughts a 17-7 lead. Darren Davis of Miami Southridge returned a kickoff 99 yards against Bradenton Manatee in a Class 5A final in 1993.
Demarkcus Bowman electrified the crowd, which featured a packed visiting sideline of Lakeland supporters, with an 80-yard touchdown run for the Dreadnaughts. The junior carried 22 times for 211 yards to finish the season with 2,422 yards and 36 TDs.
Cardinal Gibbons 48, North Marion 10: For decades, Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons has played in the shadow of St. Thomas Aquinas, which has won 10 state titles. But now the Chiefs can call themselves champions, too.
Cardinal Gibbons was engaged in a battle with North Marion for most of the first quarter on Friday, but the Chiefs (13-2) used a blockedpunt return for a touchdown to spark a scoring spree on its way to a decisive 48-10 victory in the 5A state championship game.
Seven players scored for Gibbons, which finished the season with a 13-game win streak.
The Chiefs had made only one state title-game appearance (1990) prior to this season and lost. Gibbons coach Matt DuBuc was a junior running back on the 1990 Chiefs team and was a longtime assistant coach before taking the head spot in 2016.
“When I was 17 years old in high school, I never envisioned [a state title],” DuBuc said. “When I took over, I wanted to get back to it as a coach. I wanted to lead a group of young men onto the field and have the opportunity to do something that we weren’t able to do as a player. It’s unbelievable for the administration, our student body and, obviously, our team.”
North Marion (12-3), playing in its first state-title game, led 10-3 at the end of the first quarter after an 11-yard run by backup quarterback Quintin Gross. He replaced injured starter Corey Wilsher, who has thrown for nearly 5,000 career yards, late in the first quarter.
NFC back on top in 2A: Tradition-rich Tallahassee North Florida Christian made its first state-final appearance since 2011 and returned to the top of Class 2A.
The Eagles took advantage of several Hialeah Champagnat Catholic miscues and received clutch play from quarterback JD Jerry to win 28-20. It is NFC’s first title since 2011 and eighth overall.
Jerry, the son of former Lyman quarterback Steve Jerry, ran for 68 yards and two touchdowns, passed for 47 yards, punted three times for a 40-yard average, and kicked four extra points for NFC (9-4). His father, a college assistant coach since his 1990s playing days at North Carolina, was a NFC assistant this season.
“We’ve been working all seven years to get to this spot,” JD said. “Everybody who has been here for the last seven years has put in the work to get us here right now.”