TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – It was a rematch of last year’s Class 3M state championship game and it proved once more to be a competitive game between Homestead and St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) that became a tale of two halves that felt like there were two different completely football games going on at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the campus of Florida A&M University as the Raiders defeated the Broncos 31-28 to win their fifth consecutive state championship.
All St. Thomas Aquinas in the first half
The Raiders came out to start the game with the ball and worked the field with a methodical approach with a mixture of passes from Andrew Indorf and carries by Jordan Lyle that would get the Raiders inside the red zone.
However, the Homestead (12-2) would put up a defensive stand to prevent Lyle from getting into the end zone and instead force the Raiders to boot up a Francesco Pileggi 22-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
For the Broncos, their first drive of the game would quickly go to three-and-out status as St. Thomas Aquinas (14-1) would get the ball back to orchestrate their next drive that would start at their 40-yard line. That drive would be capped off with a 17-yard touchdown run by Lyle to give the Raiders a 10-0 lead with 2:42 left in the first quarter.
Homestead’s next drive would be their best of the first half as quarterback Joshua Townsend worked to figure out the Raiders’ defense through a variation of passes to athletes like Isaac Brown and Kevin Cascuda. However, the drive would end up all for nothing as the Raiders had the perfect goal line stand at the one as the Broncos were turned back.
The Raiders would not do much of anything as both teams would trade punts midway through the second quarter.
After the Raiders got the ball back late in the second quarter, Indorf along with Lyle orchestrated a quick 72-yard drive on nine plays as Lyle ran in for a two-yard touchdown that would give the Raiders a 17-0 lead going into halftime.
Homestead gallops back in the second half
With the Broncos getting the ball to start the second half, they needed to get things going, however, things still could not get going for points to get on the board as they would quickly go three-and-out.
Fortunately for the Broncos, they could quickly get a stop on the Raiders to force them into a three-and-out as well.
Homestead then took their next possession down the field and scored in a possession that took just over five minutes to complete It was capped off with a Townsend pass to Brown for a 13-yard touchdown that would cut St. Thomas Aquinas’ lead down to a 17-7 score.
On the ensuing kickoff, it would go about just as horribly as it could for the Raiders as Earl Kulp fumbled the kickoff that would end up being recovered by Cordae Gamble at the St. Thomas Aquinas 34.
With the excellent field position, the Broncos took the opportunity to take advantage of the turnover. In four plays, Townsend found Cascuda for a two-yard touchdown reception to cut the lead to 17-14 with 2:31 left in the third quarter.
However, St. Thomas Aquinas, incensed by the fumble on the kickoff and giving Homestead a touchdown, quickly responded with a touchdown of theirs on an Indorf pass to Julius Jones for a 48-yard touchdown to make 24-14 with 1:33 left in the third quarter.
Heading into the fourth quarter Homesteaded responded quickly to the Raiders touchdown with another touchdown of their own to cut the score back down to a three-point margin as Townsend found Brown once again for a 43-yard touchdown reception to make it 24-21 with 11:41 left to go in the game.
After forcing the Raiders to go three-and-out on the following possession, it seemed like Homestead was going to have a chance to either tie the game up or at least take their first lead of the game as the Broncos drove down into the red zone all the way to the 10-yard line of St. Thomas Aquinas. However, instead of kicking what would have been almost a sure three points with a field goal when facing fourth-and-seven, the Broncos went for it. On that play Townsend never got the pass off as he was sacked for a loss of 22 yards by the Raiders. It would be this drive that the Broncos would not be able to recover from fully as there was 6:22 left in the game.
In quick hurry after the fourth down sack, the Raiders hurried down the field thanks an Indorf pass to Andreus Madison taking down the field for a 69-yard touchdown to make it 31-21 with 5:25 left in the game.
Homestead, attempting to make the game within reach again being down two possession took a lot of time to get down field on a 55-yard drive that ended up netting a Townsend 17-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 31-28 with 2:15 left in the game.
However, the ensuing onside kick did not got the distance as St. Thomas Aquinas quickly pounced on the recovery and the Raiders draining out the clock and kneeling it down to win the state championship.
Record breaking
St. Thomas Aquinas becomes the first team in the Sunshine State to win five-straight state championships breaking the previous record of four-straight state championships that was held by program like Suwannee (Live Oak), North Florida Christian (Tallahassee), Miami Central, Trinity Christian (Jacksonville) and Booker T. Washington (Miami).
The state championship victory for St. Thomas Aquinas also give them 15 overall state championships which now extend the lead to the second most in Florida history with Bolles (Jacksonville) having won 11 state championships overall.
