CLASS 5A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: St. Thomas Aquinas pitches shutout over Lakeland to win sixth consecutive state championship

MIAMI – It was the seventh all-time meeting in state championships between St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) and Lakeland.

In most previous instances, both teams would battle each other until the end, but this time it was not the same story. Instead, St. Thomas Aquinas (12-3) handed Lakeland (13-1) their only loss of the season, in the most important and final game of the season with a 34-0 shutout victory at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium on Thursday night.

The victory handed the Raiders the 2024 FHSAA Class 5A State Championship.

Here are five takeaways from the game:

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING…

When looking at the complete statistical book, nothing would lend to saying that St. Thomas Aquinas dominated the game. For instance, St. Thomas Aquinas had 16 first downs compared to Lakeland having 11 which is not a massive difference. St. Thomas Aquinas had 299 yards of total offense while Lakeland had 209 for a difference of 90 yards, but again not that much of a difference. Even the time of possession was very similar with Lakeland having the ball for 25:51 compared to St. Thomas Aquinas having the ball for 22:09. However, if we want to look at where St. Thomas Aquinas made this game look like they dominated, let’s take a look at our next takeaway.

TURNING TURNOVERS INTO POINTS

St. Thomas Aquinas was not all perfect on the night, having committed two turnovers (one fumble and one interception). However, it was the Raiders who got three takeaways on the Dreadnaughts, and two of those turnovers became 14 points. The first of those seven points came thanks to a Jaysean Pritchard fumble that was recovered by Lantz Pascal. That fumble recovery would be capped off with a Chance Washington six-yard touchdown run that would make the score 17-0 with 8:58 left before half. The other seven points on turnovers would come thanks to Zayden Gamble intercepting a Zander Smith pass and returning it 78 yards back the other way, which would eventually set up Washington taking up the middle from 2 yards out that would, making the score 27-0 with 11:56 left to go in the game. Converting turnovers into points was the most critical thing in this game and the Raiders took advantage of a majority of their opportunities on the night.

AQUINAS PICK!

Zayden Gamble with the pick and returns it all the way back to the Lakeland 20! #flhsfb @STA_Football @AquinasRaiders @LHSDreadnaughts @FACACoach @FHS7v7A @scorestream @HSFBamerica @bighitslive @Dwight_XOS @792FlSportspod @HSSportsFL @offsidepreps @H2_Recruiting… pic.twitter.com/7JHwGmzvTd

— FloridaHSFootball.com (@FlaHSFootball) December 13, 2024

OFFENSE HUMMED ALONG FOR THE RAIDERS

The Raiders were a pretty balanced team on offense for the game, with 140 yards rushing being earned, while quarterback Andrew Indorf had a solid night and took care of business with 159 yards passing on 13-of-19 completions and two touchdowns, plus adding another rushing touchdown later in the fourth quarter. Indorf’s only belmish of the night was an interception by Kavon McKinney near the red zone that kept the Raiders from putting some points on the board midway through the second quarter.

LAKELAND INT!

Kavon McKinney steps right into near the end zone and intercepts Andrew Indorf. First big mishap of the night for the Raiders. #flhsfb @STA_Football @AquinasRaiders @LHSDreadnaughts @FACACoach @FHS7v7A @scorestream @HSFBamerica @bighitslive @Dwight_XOS… pic.twitter.com/CKPXD1oyCY

— FloridaHSFootball.com (@FlaHSFootball) December 13, 2024

LAKELAND’S PASSING GAME WAS FLAT

According to several sources, Lakeland had not had a passing touchdown in the past three games before Thursday night’s state championship game and it happened again. What made it worse was Smith went 2-of-8 passing for just two yards along with two interceptions.  That alone is concerning for a team that was ranked nationally in the Top 25 by several media outlets seeing the starting quarterback not being able to get anything going in the biggest game of the year. The fact the offense was one-dimensional out of the gate led to the Dreadnaughts’ demise in a quest for a third-straight state championship.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SETTING NEW RECORDS

St. Thomas Aquinas continues to set new records in the FHSAA football record book, having earned their 16th state championship, which is the most by any program in FHSAA State Series history. The victory also marked the sixth consecutive FHSAA state championship won, which is also a record as no team in FHSAA history has ever won six consecutive state championships. At the end of the day, St. Thomas Aquinas caps off a tough 2024 season that saw an unusual three losses on the record be rewarded with a good game of football production through all three phases of the game.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS HEAD COACH ROGER HARRIOTT AFTER THE GAME

BOX SCORE

Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | Final
St. Thomas Aquinas | 10 | 7 | 3 | 14 | — | 34
Lakeland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0

SCORING SUMMARY

FIRST

STA – Nicholas Romero 32 yd FG, 3:52

STA – Cedric Wyche 18 pass from Andrew Indorf (Romero kick), 0:08

SECOND

STA – Chance Washington 6 rush (Romero kick), 8:58

THIRD

STA – Romero 22 yd FG, 7:58

FOURTH

STA – Washington 2 rush (Romero kick), 11:56

STA – Indorf 1 rush (Romero kick), 5:16