It's nearly an hour before the annual blue-gold scrimmage at St. Thomas Aquinas and the new George Smith athletic facility is starting to fill up with familiar faces from schools that annually compete for that coveted national title.

Florida, North Carolina, Purdue, Miami, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia and Notre Dame are there. So are assistant coaches from Minnesota, Pittsburgh, USF, FAU, FIU, UCF and just about any other program you can think of. What else would you expect from the defending national champions.

Say what you want, and I know the rest of the country feels compelled to always push the state of Florida down, but there is no denying that over the past four years, the Sunshine State has been crowned national champion. Mythical or not -- Florida has been directly in the spotlight with the Lakeland for two seasons, and then Northwestern and St. Thomas the past two years.

On this day, they were there to not only check out the senior class, which is loaded one again, but also the underclassmen.

SOME ATTENTION

The idea of having a scrimmage game might not draw much attention in most places, but in Fort Lauderdale, this ritual has become a yearly mark your calendars down and don't miss this event. It's the time of year when college coaches can get a look at some of the top talent in the nation on one field.

While the Raiders might have a few holes to fill on offense, the defense will be the show. Get a hundred yards rushing against this team and you can throw your name into any college program you wish. Throw against the secondary and every program in the nation will be getting your number and calling you -- often.

The Raiders leave spring as the team to beat. Maybe not nationally like last year, but certainly a third consecutive 5A state title has to be well within the reach of a team that still has the goods to compete with anyone in the state of Florida.

The senior class boasts a defensive unit that might be as good as any in the nation with the secondary of Keion Payne (6-0, 170), Cody Riggs (5-10, 170), Brian Robinson (DB, 6-0, 190), Dave Shepherd (5-11, 165), Reynaldo Kirton (6-2, 190) and versatile Southwest Miami transfer Lamarcus Joyner (5-8, 170) being among the best you will anywhere at this level.

Linebackers John Baglia (6-1, 215), Don Chennault (6-2, 185), Dean Fillichio (5-11, 195), Garth Jobb (6-2, 215) and key returnee Vinnie Mauro (6-2, 215) are also as impressive as you get.

While the front will be a work in progress, there is plenty of talent with John Childress (6-0, 200), Dorian Grant (6-0, 245), Matt Stokes (6-2, 250) and Frederick Sutton (6-1, 250) getting plenty of help from underclassmen.

RISING STARS

Speaking of the underclassmen, rising junior defensive lineman Ken Hankerson (6-0, 200) might be as talented as this program has had. So are rising sophomore linebacker Cole Champion (5-11, 175) and lineman Jelani Hamilton (6-5, 205).

With the graduation of quarterback Ryan Becker, and receivers Duron Carter, speedster Ronnie Kennedy and Dwayne Difton, much of the load will fall on the nation's best running tandem of Gio Bernard (5-8, 200) and James White (5-11, 195). Both are as good as it gets, but they will need help.

Help will come in the form of a strong offensive line, anchored by one of the country's best in 6-6, 280-pounder Brandon Linder, who was out for the spring, but will be back and ready to go in the summer.

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