FORT LAUDERDALE – As the rain poured down on a rowdy Brian Piccolo Field, the Miramar Patriots defense showered the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders running game nearly all night long. The vaunted “darkisde” defense from Miramar held the Raiders to a mere 23 yards.
(Photo By Nash Williams)
The Patriots, who controlled the line of scrimmage most of the night, used their advantage up front to come out on top as they defeated St. Thomas Aquinas 22-20.
“I think this was big for the county.” said Miramar head coach Damon Cogdell. “This was also big for our football program. Although we didn’t prepare any differently. We still had guys coming into my office to watch film at lunchtime like normal.”
The Raiders, who had a 12-game winning streak coming into this game, were leading the Patriots 20-13 until the Patriots defense forced a safety early in the fourth quarter.
On the punt following the safety, Miramar running back Eric Pittman took the ball just over 50-yards as he brought it down to the Raiders 25-yard line. Not long after, Miramar running back Cameron Rigby punched it in for a touchdown from three-yards out with 9:20 left in the game and they took a 22-20 lead which proved to be the final score.
While St. Thomas Aquinas did decent in the passing game, as they completed many passes across the middle to senior receiver Corey Holmes and junior receiver Devante Peete, Miramar’s pass rush was disrupting way to much as they recorded five sacks on the night which ultimately proved to win the game for the Patriots.
In a game that started out as a battle of field position, and ended in a battle at the line of scrimmage, the Miramar Patriots won one for the ages.
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