St. Thomas Aquinas played its Region 4-5A quarterfinal game against Coconut Creek on Friday night like it was a scrimmage, but that didn't stop the nation's top-ranked team from cruising to a 35-7 victory.

But it was a more competitive game than the scoreboard indicated. Coconut Creek controlled the ball for most of the game -- but could not find the end zone.

After St. Thomas (11-0) took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a 14-yard run by Giovani Bernard and an 82-yard pass from Ryan Becker to Duron Carter, Coconut Creek responded with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Justin Williams to make the score 14-7.

The score remained that way until late in the first half, when St. Thomas' pressure defense finally paid dividends.

Aquinas took over at Coconut Creek's 32-yard line, and three plays later, Becker found Carter for a 10-yard touchdown pass for a 21-7 lead with 2:08 left in the half.

Cody Riggs intercepted Eric Wallace at Coconut Creek's 20-yard line to set up up another scoring opportunity. Becker found Stephen Bravo-Brown for a 13-yard touchdown pass and a 28-7 lead going into the break.

''Getting out 14-0 and getting the two scores before the half really helped,'' St. Thomas coach George Smith said.

Becker finished 5 of 10 for 128 yards and three touchdowns. Carter had two catches for 92 yards.

Williams led Coconut Creek with 19 carries for 101 yards.

''I thought Creek came out and did a pretty good job against us,'' Smith said. `` . . . We had a lot of guys hurt. Hopefully, we can get them a little bit better because we have to get better for next week, when we play Dillard [on Friday]..''

• Region 4-4A quarterfinal -- Hallandale 28, Barron Collier 10: Same teams. Same location. Same scenario. Same result.

For the second year in a row, Hallandale came into Barron Collier's Cougars Stadium for a Class 4A regional quarterfinal and left with a hard-fought victory. Hallandale relied on quarterback Victor Marc to advance.

Marc, a transfer from Miami Dr. Krop, threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Michael Lee on the first play of the fourth quarter to stretch Hallandale's lead to 20-10.

Ricardo Dixon, another transfer from Dr. Krop, put the game out of reach eight minutes later, when he intercepted a pass from Nate Garland and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown.

The victory sets up a semifinal rematch against Booker T. Washington next Friday.

''Victor was huge,'' Hallandale coach Dameon Jones said. ``So [was] our offensive line. The game was a grudge match, especially in the first half. We refused to die and they refused to die. I take my hat off to Barron Collier. As for Booker T. next week, let's go.''

Barron Collier's offense took a big hit when leading rusher Quin Thornton left the game because of an injured left ankle.

Thornton came into the game with 1,565 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns, third-best in the state.

Korvic Neat, Hallandale's leading rusher, also left the game early in the third quarter because of an injury and did not return. Marc passed for 128 yards and rushed for 35.

Barrion Collier scored first after Hallandale's Dontray Goolsby fumbled a punt return midway through the second quarter, which Barron Collier recovered on Hallandale's 34-yard line.

Barron Collier reached Hallandale's 13-yard line and faced fourth-and-inches.

An illegal-procedure penalty on running back Alan Montgomery moved the ball back to the 18-yard line. Barron Collier settled for a 35-yard field goal by Marvin Kloss.

Hallandale responded with eight seconds left before the half when Marc capped a 14-play drive with an 8-yard scramble up the middle to make the score 6-3.

-- SCOTT CLAIR

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