The newest Mountaineer couldn't climb the mountain.

But for Eugene Smith and Miramar there are more mountains to climb, and they probably won't see a better team than St. Thomas Aquinas in the playoffs.

Mount Aquinas won again, this time holding back Smith, one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, and Miramar 49-2 on Friday in Miramar to close out the regular season.

Smith was getting ready for the playoffs early.

After throwing for 201 yards (190 in the first half) against the No. 1-ranked team in the nation, Smith threw two passes in the second half before he sat out the rest of the game as Miramar went to the Carol City game plan.

The Patriots (8-2) meet Carol City in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs Friday. They could arguably win the rest of their games and win a 6A state title and not face anyone in Aquinas' class.

Barack Obama's landslide looks like pebbles rolling down a hill compared to avalanche of points Aquinas (10-0) has buried opponents this season. Not only have the Raiders outscored everyone 464-57, but Friday's game against Miramar was arguably the closest game they played in Broward all season.

Pity on the rest of the 5A teams in the playoffs because Aquinas looks ready to roll over the state.

''I thought we played pretty hard, and we played better than we did last week,'' said Aquinas coach George Smith. ``Like I have said before. In the past, we have gotten better from week to week, and that's what we want to do now.''

How much better do the Raiders need to be?

They smothered Smith, sacking the usually elusive quarterback who finished the night with 49 yards in losses on the ground.

''I thought our defense did great job,'' George Smith said. ``[Eugene] Smith is one of the better quarterbacks we've seen in the past couple of years. We didn't stop him, but I think we forced him to do some things he didn't want to do.''

Eugene Smith completed 11 of 20 for 190 yards in the first half, and came close to tossing a TD on at least four times, but never scored.

We had four touchdowns on dropped passes in the first half,'' said Miramar coach Damon Cogdell. ``But that's a great team. That was rough, but our kids have to learn how to get up for the big game.

''This will help us to get ready for the playoffs,'' he said. ``It will give us that watery taste in our mouth.''

Miramar should be thirsty and hungry for the playoffs because the Patriots only loss to a 6A team was a 41-40 loss to Cypress Bay, ranked No. 2 in the state poll. Miramar is ranked No. 3.

''It was a learning lesson,'' said Eugene Smith, who committed earlier this week to West Virginia and then faced his best test.

It didn't take the Aquinas long to show off an offense that could line up with anyone in the country.

In their first 14 plays from scrimmage, Aquinas scored twice and drove to the Miramar 1-yard line, where Brendin Pierre recovered a fumble for Miramar.

But Ryan Becker, who threw three TD passes and ran for a 48-yard TD, scored quickly, tossing two TD passes in the first quarter -- a 9-yarder to Dwayne Difton and a 31-yard TD to James White -- to lift Aquinas to a 14-0 lead.

Then there was Michael Palardy's TD pass -- his first and possibly his last. If you follow Aquinas you know all about Palardy's foot. But he unleashed his arm Friday. A bad snap on a 23-yard field-goal attempt sent Palardy scrambling -- and throwing.

Palardy, who was a QB on the freshman team, found White open on the left side and White jumped into the end zone for a 6-yard TD catch. Palardy added the extra point and Aquinas went to the half up 21-2.

''I thought that was a big play,'' said George Smith.

It seemed to epitomize the night for Aquinas because even when the Raiders made mistakes, they seemed to recover.

At least the game wasn't over at halftime, which is usually the case f or Aquinas that has made a mockery of its schedule.

Smith should have had at least two touchdowns, but his fourth-and-goal pass from the Aquinas 3 went right through Joie Thompson's fingers. Earlier in the same drive, Smith hit a wide-open Terrance Gourdine, who could have waltzed into the end zone, but he slipped and fell at the 19 He threw two other long passes to receivers who couldn't hang on to the ball.

Miramar's only points came after that drive when the Patriots held Aquinas inside the 5 and forced Benjamin Turk to punt out of the end zone.

He never made it. Turk ran down a high snap, but Sylval Taylor tackled him for a safety to close the gap to 14-2 with 8:25 left in the half.

''We just need to move on and get ready for the playoffs,'' Eugene Smith said.

That's the way everyone feels after playing Aquinas -- ready to move on and play anybody else.

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