St. Thomas Aquinas back in 7A title game

St. Thomas Aquinas took a one-score lead into halftime of its 7A state semifinal matchup against Bloomingdale on Friday in Valrico, but the Raiders had their way in the second half en route to a 37-14 win.

The victory sent the Raiders on to the state title game in Tallahassee on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Orlando Edgewater.

It’ll be the Raiders’ 20th appearance in the state championship game, 11 of which ended with a title.

Jacksonville Bolles is tied with Aquinas with 11 championships of their own and also headed to Tallahassee.

If Bolles loses to the Raiders’ cross-town competitor, Cardinal Gibbons, on Thursday afternoon, St. Thomas will be one victory from having the most state championships of any program.

Bloomingdale opened the scoring Friday night, recovering a fumble on the Raiders’ opening possession and cashing in on a 1-yard quarterback keeper from Tre Simmons.

From there, St. Thomas Aquinas took over, scoring on back-to-back possessions with a 7-yard Anthony Hankerson touchdown run and 33-yard field goal from kicker Max Larson.

The Raiders picked off Bloomingdale on their final two drives of the first half, and Aquinas added one more score on a 1-yard quarterback keeper by Zion Turner top grab a 16-8 intermission lead.

Hankerson scored the first points of the second half just minutes in on a 27-yard touchdown run, and immediately following a Simmons fumble near the goal line, Raiders running Corey Reddick had a 54-yard run to help set up yet another touchdown. St. Thomas (7-1) took a 30-8 lead into the fourth quarter.

In the final 12 minutes, the Raiders forced another turnover, picking off Simmons.

On the next play, Hankerson broke away for his third touchdown of the night, this time for 42 yards — all the way to the state championship game.

— Kelly Parsons, Tampa Bay Times Julian Lewis with 2:49 left in the game. Hurst, who finished the game 14 for 33 for 270 yards, threw for two scores and ran for another in the final period to fuel the comeback.

— Gary Curreri

Hennis scores 5 TDs for Plantation

Naheem Hennis scored five touchdowns and the Plantation defense forced three second-half turnovers as the host Colonels rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat visiting Dwyer 41-27 in a 7A tri-county gold semifinal at PAL Field.

Hennis opened the scoring for Plantation on a 3-yard touchdown run for an early 7-0 lead.

Dwyer tied the score on its ensuing possession by going 65 yards in just four plays, capped by Tre’Von Taylor’s 14-yard slant pass for a touchdown to Kyle McNeal.

After the Colonels fumbled at the Dwyer 11 to end their next drive, the Panthers went 89 yards to take a 14-7 lead on Taylor’s 22-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Hopkins on the opening play of the second quarter.

Plantation answered by going 80 yards in 11 plays to cut the deficit to 14-13 on a 2-yard touchdown run from Hennis.

Following a Panthers field goal, the Colonels retook the lead with just under two minutes to play in the first half on a 10-yard touchdown rush by Hennis, his third of the first half, to make it 21-17.

However, Dwyer had just enough time in the half as the Panthers drove 76 yards and converted a fourth-and-3 from the 5-yard line to take a 24-21 halftime lead as Xavier Scott hauled in Taylor’s third firsthalf touchdown pass.

Xavier Bolden’s 68-yard kickoff return to the Panthers 26 to open the second half flipped the momentum back to Plantation and the Colonels capitalized by regaining the lead, 27-24, on a 1-yard touchdown rush by quarterback Cedquan Smith.

— Steve Evans

Alexis stars again for Atlantic

Atlantic senior quarterback Guenson Alexis enjoyed another impressive performance as he accounted for five touchdowns to lead the host Eagles past Miramar 46-21 in the Class 7A gold bracket tri-county playoffs semifinal in Delray Beach.

Atlantic (4-1) will play in next week’s Class 7A championship contest against Plantation.

Alexis rushed for three scores and also passed for two touchdowns in the first half. He has accounted for 19 touchdowns in his first five games.

“Our quarterback is having an outstanding year,” Atlantic coach T.J. Jackson said. “He has got to be the Player of the Year in Palm Beach County.

Atlantic senior wide receiver Tyler Burke had two touchdowns, including a 60-yard score late in the first to help the Eagles pull away. They led 22-7 after the first quarter and held a 36-7 advantage at halftime.

— Alex Kushel

Dillard routs Glades Central

Dillard’s defense came up big, while Jeferris Finley rushed for two touchdowns as the Panthers beat Glades Central 33-6 in the Class 1A-6A tri-county gold semifinals in Fort Lauderdale.

Tyrease Clowers was the star of the Panthers defense, recording numerous tackles, three tackles for a loss and one sack, while also blocking a field goal attempt in the third quarter.

With Dillard clinging to a 18-6 lead, Trevaughn Martinez intercepted a pass with 10 minutes left to set up Finley’s second touchdown of the game. Martinez came up big again, intercepting a pass in the end zone with less than six minutes to go as Glades Central tried to get back in the game.

“It all started with our defensive coordinator, Fred Flowers. He came in with a great game plan to stop their high-powered offense,” said coach Tyler Tate. “And Martinez is one of the best in the county... he’s a ballhawk.”

Glades Central (5-1) had many opportunities, but was 1 for 5 on fourth-down conversions, including 0 for 3 inside Dillard territory.

— J. Darin Darst