A lot of football is left before St. Thomas Aquinas can once again claim that mythical national championship.

But performances like Friday's make that goal seem more and more inevitable.

In Step 1 of their quest for a third consecutive state title, the Raiders played as expected -- scoring with ferocity and completely overmatching Coral Springs in a 66-8 thrashing during a Region 4-5A quarterfinal at Brian Piccolo Stadium.

James White scored three touchdowns and rushed for a game-high 176 yards -- all in the first half -- and Jacob Rudock threw for 117 yards and three scores.

By the 1:36 mark of the second quarter, the Raiders -- 11-0 this season and winners of 35 consecutive games dating back to 2007 -- had reached 50 points. And by early in the third quarter, they topped their season high for points in a game.

``It's the first playoff game, and in a situation like this, you're one and done, and you just have one chance at it,'' said St. Thomas coach George Smith, whose team will host South Broward in a regional semifinal matchup next Friday. ``Over the last couple of years, we've gotten better as the playoffs have come around and progressively tried to get better each game, so this is something we need to build on.''

• Region 4-2A semifinal -- American Heritage 34, Boynton Beach 13: The Patriots' road their defense and survived four drive killing turnovers in the red zone to defeat a pesky Boynton Beach squad.

Things started off well for the Patriots as they took the opening kickoff and drove 73 yards on an 11 play drive for a touchdown capped of by Sony Michel's 6-yard run.

Boynton Beach fumbled on their first play from scrimmage and the Patriots recovered at the Tigers' 20-yard line. On the next play the Patriots gave the ball right back to Boynton Beach when Gunnar Holcombe connected with Brandon Simeon on short pass. After a nice run Simeone fumbled into the end zone and it was recovered by the Tigers for a touchback. Boynton Beach continued the turnover frenzy in the first quarter when 5 plays later quarterback Marcus Davis was picked off by Heritage cornerback Julien David. David would have two picks on the night, including one returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.

-- RYAN ROGERS

• Region 3-6A quarterfinals -- Krop 19, Everglades 7: On the strength of two touchdowns in the last four minutes, Krop knocked off Everglades.

The game-winner came with 3:55 left when Krop quarterback Marlon Kelly found Lekam Hanna for a 27-yard touchdown pass to snap a 7-7 tie. Kelly went up for the ball in the back of the end zone and outbattled Evergades defensive back Christian Restrepo for the ball.

Krop moved its record to 7-4 and will play district rival Carol City in a rematch next week while the Gators finished 5-6.

-- BILL DALEY

• Region 4-2B semifinal -- North Broward 38, Gulliver 33: After the Raiders handed the Eagles a loss in the opening round of last year's playoffs, North Broward (9-2) claimed the win in a back-and-forth Class 2B regional semifinal against Gulliver Prep (7-4). ``We owed them one from last year,'' Eagles coach Jeff Dellenbach said.