Published Saturday September 8, 2007 in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Raiders roll over Paladins
By Jackie Friedman, Special Correspondent
Despite being on the sour end of a lopsided game, Tyrell Austin was all smiles.
"I had how many yards?" asked the South Plantation running back. "142? Wow! I'm amazed with myself.” Unfortunately for the Paladin back, his contribution, including an 11-yard touchdown run, didn't cut it as South Plantation (1-1) fell to St. Thomas Aquinas 51-14 as the Raiders unveiled their new FieldTurf at Brian Piccolo Stadium.
"He ran well out there," St. Thomas coach George Smith said. "But [anyone] could have run all over us today."
The Raiders (2-0) scored on their first four offensive drives, and their defense added two interceptions for touchdowns. St. Thomas entered halftime with a 37-7 lead but came out stagnant after the break, amassing only three first downs to South Plantation's nine.
"We played good at times, and didn't play very good at times," Smith said. "We ran the ball pretty hard but just had no intensity. We've got to play the whole game no matter what the score. [The Paladins] could have given up, but they didn't."
St. Thomas had four different players rush for touchdowns, with Jeremiah Harden running for two - a 19-yard run to open the game and a 56-yarder toward the end of the third quarter.
Paladins coach Rick Maresco was impressed with both teams' running games, but frustrated his players made mental errors, including six muffed snaps.
"They just physically lined up and beat us," Maresco said.
Copyright © 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
