Published Wednesday December 17, 2008 South Florida Sun-Sentinel
St. Thomas Aquinas' nemesis comes in as underdog this time
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
Irony, drama, history, passion.
And plenty of good football players.
Friday's Class 5A state championship promises to have it all.
On one side of the field, Lakeland. You know the Dreadnaughts, the dominant program that won three consecutive state titles and in 2005 and 2006 finished the season atop just about every high school football poll.
On the other side, St. Thomas Aquinas. The Broward power that for three years in a row saw its season end at the hands of the Dreadnaughts. The Raiders come in as the defending champion, the favorite, and the one with a chance for national glory.
This match up has become one of the country's top high school football rivalries. One which two seasons ago made for such an incredible game — a 45-42 double-overtime Lakeland win — that ESPN's SportsCenter highlighted it in it's top 10 Plays of the Day.
Friday night during St. Thomas' 35-14 semifinal win over Largo, fans cheered and booed as they heard updates from Lakeland's match up with Pine Forest. When the games ended and it became clear the Raiders would play the Dreadnaughts again, emotions were high.
So were expectations.
"It's become a great rivalry," Raider linebacker Conor O'Neill said on Friday. "I was a small part of it my sophomore year, and Lakeland's a good team. I can't be happier that we have a chance to play them again."
For St. Thomas, Friday's game will be a chance to win back-to-back titles for the first time and finish the season 15-0.
For Lakeland, also 14-0, it's a chance to get back to the top and knock off the nation's top-ranked team.
There are plenty of story lines. Much is at stake. And for high school football fans, it can't play out soon enough.
Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
