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Aquinas coach claims 300th victory
St. Thomas Aquinas coach George Smith became the fifth Florida high school football coach to win 300 games.
BY JOSEPH GOODMAN
[email protected]
TOM ERVIN/FOR THE MIAMI HERALD
GONE! Aquinas receiver Leonard Hankerson is all alone as he scores a 63-yard touchdown on a slant route.
All week long George Smith tried to downplay Friday's home game against Western. But when it finally came time to win career No. 300, the St. Thomas Aquinas family wouldn't let its head coach ignore the milestone any longer.
St. Thomas beat Western 45-7 on Friday at Piccolo Stadium and Smith improved his career record to 300-63. Smith is now one of only five Florida prep football coaches with at least 300 wins. Corky Rogers of Jacksonville Bolles holds the record (340).
Of the five members in Florida's 300-win club, Smith is the only coach to have won every game with one school.
''I'm excited but when you think about 30 years of coaching you think about all the great people that have been through here,'' Smith said. ``Win No. 1 was just as important as win No. 300.''
Philosophically true, indeed, but there probably wasn't a fireworks show for that first win way back in 1975.
A cascade of fireworks exploded above Piccolo Stadium before the game and then again as the final seconds ticked away.
Players drenched Smith with Gatorade and then formed a circle around him and chanted, ``Smi-tty, Smi-tty, Smi-tty.''
''We had to make sure and pour the Gatorade on the left side of his body so we didn't ruin his cell phone,'' St. Thomas senior quarterback Wesley Carroll said. ``We didn't want him to lose all of those numbers.''
Good point. Smith, one of the most highly respected high school coaches in the country, does have a few college programs on his speed dial.
After the impromptu celebration, Carroll and his teammates presented Smith with a commemorative football signed by another 300-game winner, Don Shula. A packed stadium displayed posters printed for the occasion. St. Thomas' marching band played the Purdue University fight song. Smith graduated from Purdue before moving to Fort Lauderdale in 1972.
''It's not everyday that you get to win No. 300 for one of the best coaches in history,'' Carroll said.
Smith said the win was dedicated to his longtime assistant, John Hackett, who was unable to be at the game. Hackett, the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, recently injured his back.
Had Hackett been at the game, he would have been proud of Carroll. The senior quarterback tossed four touchdown passes in the first half Friday. After Western tied the score at 7-7 in the first quarter, St. Thomas scored five unanswered touchdowns to take a 42-7 halftime lead.
In 2005, St. Thomas (8-1) waited until the third round of the playoffs to unleash its passing attack. Carroll tossed a school record five touchdowns against Delray Beach Atlantic.
''The old Wesley Carroll is back,'' said Carroll, who completed 9 of 15 passes for 193 yards. ``We're proud that we don't need the hype we had last year. We're rolling into the playoffs now.''
Carroll broke the first-quarter tie with a bullet to senior wide receiver Leonard Hankerson. A simple slant route, Hankerson caught the pass at midfield and raced through the heart of Western's secondary for a 63-yard score.
Carroll threw touchdowns to Kyle Tuthill (24 yards) and Darryl Robinson (33 yards) on the Raiders' next two offensive possessions. A Ronnie Kennedy 10-yard run gave St. Thomas a 35-7 lead. Carroll's final touchdown pass of the first half was a 30-yard play to Kyle Johnson, who broke two tackles before diving into the end zone.
''We've grown together so much since the first game of the season,'' Johnson said. ``Our running game has gotten better and our passing game has really come a long way, too.''
St. Thomas now enters a bye week before a first-round playoff game against Ely.
''I'm glad all of this over because it's time to move on,'' Smith said. ``The way Ely won the Soul Bowl was impressive and they're playing some of the best football in the county now.''
Western, which scored its only touchdown of the game Friday with 5:21 left in the first quarter, ended its season with a 5-4 record.