South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
A sad rerun
Lakeland (15-0) reprises ’06 title win over St. Thomas
ORLANDO — The last time St. Thomas Aquinas had lost in a state championship game, it was against Lakeland High School.
St. Thomas, which had won seven titles following that epic 2006 double-overtime defeat at the hands of the Dreadnaughts at Hard Rock Stadium, was overwhelmed by myriad errors and Lakeland’s running attack in a 33-20 loss in the 7A state title game at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium late Friday night.
For Lakeland, its first championship since that historic 45-42 bout 12 years ago, puts an exclamation point on a 15-0 season. Junior running back Demarkcus Bowman ran for 222 yards and a touchdown while Jaharie Martin had two rushing scores for the Dreadnaughts.
Losing two fumbles, missing a pair of field goals and turning it over on downs on a fourth-quarter red-zone try, the Raiders (13-2) missed a chance to tie Jacksonville Bolles for the state record for total championships (11).
Aquinas entered with a high national ranking of ninth in MaxPreps polling, while Lakeland was 44th.
“We coach our guys through adversity,” St. Thomas coach Roger Harriott said. “We responded at times, but we didn’t finish the deal. The Dreadnaughts did a good job of playing strong through the course of the game.”
Early in the fourth quarter, down 26-14, St. Thomas missed a chance to cut into the deficit. After a third-down sack set up fourth-and-13 from the 14-yard line, running back Daniel Carter, who finished with 121 yards and a t o u c h d own o n 15 c a r r i e s, dropped a screen pass.
Martin’s second touchdown extended the Lakeland lead to three scores. Quarterback Curt Casteel would hit The’Andris Freeman for a touchdown with under two minutes to play, but it would be too little, too late as an onside kick attempt was ruled out of bounds when Jordan Battle was up against a sideline as he recovered it. The Dreadnaughts ran out the clock.
“We make sure that we continue to build on our St. Thomas Aquinas tradition and come back a better team next season,” said Harriott, who gave his team a powerful speech following the defeat.
For seniors, a talented class heads off to various top college programs, but appreciative of the time spent at Aquinas.
“It was great to be a part of this prestigious program,” said cornerback Jaden Davis, who is committed to Oklahoma. “I wish it would’ve ended better, but it obviously didn’t.”
As Aquinas initially battled back from a 10-0 halftime deficit, the Raiders and Dreadnaughts played to a wild back-and-forth to start the second half.
St. Thomas started with the ball, but Casteel fumbled it away. Lakeland wouldn’t retain possession for long, though. Dontae Lunan forced a fumble on the following play and Anthony Solomon recovered it. The Raiders turned the second chance into their first score as Casteel redeemed himself, scoring on a 15-yard run.
Aquinas appeared set to build momentum, but Lakeland’s Fenley Graham returned the ensuing kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown to put the Dreadnaughts back up 10, 17-7. Doing the highfive-before-crossing-the-goalline celebration, Lakeland was penalized ahead of the kickoff that followed.
The Raiders would respond again. A 44-yard pass from Casteel to Marcus Rosemy set up Daniel Carter’s 5-yard touchdown run to pull them back within three at 17-14. Casteel went 17 for 24 for 220 yards, a passing touchdown and rushing score, adding 73 rushing yards.
Lakeland, after extending the ensuing series with a 68-yard pass on third-and-25, settled for a field goal that made it 20-14 after highly-touted tight end Keon Zipperer dropped a would-be touchdown.
The first half was marred by missed opportunities for the Raiders. None greater than when they had the ball at the 1-yard line on third down, were called for false start, got sacked and then missed a 30-yard field goal.
It was one of two missed field goals for Aquinas before halftime, and that one was followed immediately by an 80-yard touchdown run from Bowman to put Lakeland ahead 7-0 early in the second quarter.
“We didn’t execute,” said senior receiver Jamal Cooney, who had three receptions for 33 yards. “We left points on the board.”
Before halftime, the Dreadnaughts knocked in a field goal to cap a long drive where they pounded Aquinas with the running game. Lakeland had a touchdown to Zipperer wiped away on its second drive. An illegal formation call brought back what would’ve been a 74-yard score on a short pass.
Rosemy had 94 yards on four catches. Junior slot receiver Xavier Restrepo collected seven receptions for 72 yards. Solomon and fellow linebacker Derek Wingo led the Raider defense with eight tackles apiece.
Earlier Friday, Cardinal Gibbons made Broward County 1 for 1 in 2018 state football titles, topping Citra North Marion 48-10 in the Class 5A game. ChaminadeMadonna faces King’s Academy in the Class 3A final, a 10 a.m. kickoff on Saturday morning.
dfurones@sunsentinel.com / @DavidFurones_