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REGIONAL QUARTERFINAL | ST. THOMAS AQUINAS 45, ELY 8
Aquinas dominates in every phase
St. Thomas, which next faces Delray Beach Atlantic, was stellar on offense, defense and special teams, and snuffed out just about every scoring opportunity by Ely.
BY BOB EMANUEL JR.
[email protected]
A microcosm of Ely's Friday night could be found in the second quarter.
Trailing 23-0, Tigers quarterback Jean Dessein found a streaking Justin Bentley down the right sideline for 20 yards. But Aquinas defensive back Kevyn Scott, who was celebrating his 18th birthday, yanked the ball away. Three plays later, Raiders quarterback Wesley Carroll hit Philip Louis-Pierre for a 14-yard touchdown and Leonard Hankerson for the two-point conversion.
St. Thomas (9-1) continued to dominate in all three phases of the contest and emerged with a 45-8 victory in a Class 5A regional quarterfinal at Brian Piccolo Stadium.
''I kind of felt that pressure,'' Scott said. ``In that moment, you've got to make this play. If you don't make the play, they're back in the ballgame. They're going to fight for their life.''
Ely coach Greg McGirt said: ``We make a great play on the catch and try to run it down. The guy made a great play on him and took it the other way. That's how the night went for us.''
The Raiders, who next play Delray Beach Atlantic, scored nine points in a three-minute span covering the end of the first quarter and the start of the second.
Ely's long snapper fired the ball over the head of punter Ryan Jones who tracked the ball down in the end zone and stepped out of the rear of the end zone for a safety.
Approximately three minutes later, Carroll hit Leonard Hankerson in the left corner of the end zone to give the Raiders a 9-0 advantage.
After St. Thomas forced a three-and-out, it marched 38 yards in five plays, capped by a 14-yard run by Jeremiah Harden. Harden took a pitch from Carroll in the left flat and raced untouched into the end zone.
A holding penalty wiped out a first down by Ely (7-4) on a third-and-18 on the Tigers' next possession. On the resulting third-and-33, Aquinas linebacker Jeff Fuller tipped Dessein's pass, secured it to his chest, broke three tackles inside the 5 and scored on a 15-yard return.
''I thought our defensive guys played very, very well,'' said St. Thomas coach George Smith, whose team is in search of its third consecutive state final appearance. ``Our defensive staff came up a great game plan. We did a real good job.''
The Raiders bumped their advantage to 31 on their next possession and nearly added to the lead in the waning seconds. After Jones mishandled the snap on a punt and ran for 7 yards, Carroll overthrew Pierre-Louis down the left sideline and was intercepted by Darren Edwards.
St. Thomas' defense yielded just 34 first-half yards and forced three turnovers. Cornerback Major Wright led the bruising effort with several bone-jarring tackles and a shoulder block to spring Scott on his fumble return.
''We definitely came out hard,'' Wright said. ``This whole week of practicing was full of intensity.''
