St. Thomas Aquinas High School Football

Published Saturday November 22, 2008 in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Big 1st half boosts Raiders

St. Thomas will face Dillard in regional semis

By Gary Curreri, Special Correspondent

Fort Lauderdale

Ryan Becker threw for 126 yards and three first-half touchdowns as host St. Thomas Aquinas rolled to a 35-7 victory over Coconut Creek on Friday night.

Becker connected with Duron Carter on touchdown tosses of 82 and 10 yards, and 13 yards to Stephen Bravo-Brown, as the Raiders (11-0) won their 20th consecutive game dating to a loss to Deerfield Beach last year.

The defending Class 5A state champions, who have outscored the opposition 499-74, will host the regional semifinal Friday against Dillard.

"They were playing a tight cover two zone ([on the 80-yarder]), and I wanted to run a takeoff," Carter said. "I got past the corner and I split the gap between the corner and the safety, and it was off to the races. It was definitely big, because after they scored on the kickoff you could see they had the momentum."

Giovanni Bernard finished with 82 yards rushing on 11 carries and scored two touchdowns to boost the Raiders. He scored from 14 yards out to give the Raiders a lead they didn't relinquish.

The Raiders held Coconut Creek (7-4) on the next series and extended the margin to 14-0 on an 80-yard slant pass from Becker to Carter with 4:24 remaining in the first quarter.

Coconut Creek's Justin Williams took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for the score to cut the lead to 14-7. It is the most points the Raiders have given up in the past three weeks.

But Becker hit Carter and Bravo-Brown for scores in the final 2:08 seconds of the first half to break the game open.

"Getting out 14-0 and then getting the two scores right before halftime really helped," said Raiders coach George Smith, who is 44-3 in playoff games when leading at the half in his 32 seasons at St. Thomas Aquinas. "We had a lot of guys hurt tonight, and we hope to get them back next week. We are going to have to play better next week, too."