Published on Thursday December 08, 2007 in The Miami Herald
Aquinas shuts down Largo star RB
St. Thomas Aquinas held Largo running back Brynn Harvey, who had 2,432 yards coming into the game, to 136 yards.
BY FRANK E. DEMARZO
The task of shutting down Largo running back Brynn Harvey was not an easy one for the St. Thomas Aquinas defense.
Harvey came into Friday's 5A state semifinal with 2,432 yards, and after running for 100 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, it seemed that maybe he was too much for Aquinas to handle.
But the Raiders defense completely turned things around in the second half, holding Harvey to just 36 yards and keeping the Packers out of the end zone to rally for the victory Friday night.
TURNED IT AROUND
''At first, we we're feeling kind of down after the way we played in the first half,'' said linebacker Christian Thompson. ''But we knew we could stop him and we just turned things around.''
With Harvey and the rest of the running game shut down, and with the Packers trailing, Largo turned to quarterback Leonard Jackson to spark the offense.
The result was just one first down the entire fourth quarter.
''We shut [Harvey] down because we made the changes and we executed,'' said St. Thomas Aquinas coach George Smith. ''We put a lot of pressure on them in the second hand and he started to cramp up.''
The Raiders defense came up with big plays throughout the game.
NICE PICK
In the first quarter, defensive back Rodney Gillis picked off Largo's Leonard Johnson to a Packer scoring threat.
''I just started falling back and played to the ball the whole time,'' Gillis said of the interception. ''Every game our defense comes out and plays hard and we did that tonight.''
Gillis also had two pass deflections, preventing a Packer first down each time.
In the third quarter, the Raiders again came through with a timely turnover.
With the Packers trailing 21-13, Harvey ran for an 11-yard game to start the move Largo to their own 39-yard line.
TIMELY FUMBLE
Two plays later, Johnson rolled out to his left and was hit by Conor O'Neil, popping the ball loose.
The ball was quickly recovered by O'Neil, ruining one of the best starting points Largo saw all second half.
The Raiders sacked Johnson twice in the game, and as a team, had five tackles for loss.
''The second half, we started to get up and we just started to play with more confidence,'' said Thomson, who finished the game with a team-high nine tackles.''By then, we knew we had them.''
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