It's safe to say Gulliver Prep's 47-30 victory over Archbishop Carroll on Friday is one for which the Raiders have been waiting a long time.

When a pregame brawl against Carroll in 2007 caused several suspensions for its football team and tarnished its season while Carroll went on to the state semifinals, the Gulliver Prep players vowed to never lose control again.

When a two-point conversion that could have tied the score was stopped by Carroll's stout defense on Oct. 24, causing the Raiders to lose their chance at a district title, Gulliver Prep longed for another rematch.

And when the two teams met again in the Region 4-2A finals Friday night, Gulliver Prep finally got its revenge.

In a matchup that pinned the stingy defense and grind-it-out running attack of Carroll against Gulliver's potent offense, it was the Raiders who couldn't be stopped when they had the ball.

Darian Mallary rushed for 235 yards and three touchdowns, Michael Strauss threw for 335 yards and four scores -- three to Daniel Rodriguez -- and Gulliver pulled away in the second half en route to the victory at Harris Field.

With the victory, the Raiders (10-1) advance to the state semifinals against Tampa Catholic and are two wins away from capturing their first state championship since 2000.

But Gulliver coach Earl Sims is never one to look ahead.

''We're just one win away two times,'' Sims said.

``This is very sweet. It looked like it was going to go another way at a time in the game, but those guys buckled their chin straps real tight, put their mouth pieces in and got ready to go.''

LAST GASP

Down 33-14, Carroll (9-3) kept hope alive when, facing a fourth-and-6 at Gulliver's 8-yard line in the third quarter, Jeff Scott took a pitch to the left side and leaped into the end zone. It was the second of his three touchdowns in the game.

After Carroll recovered a fumble midway through the fourth quarter, Cory Ammons had the Gulliver secondary beat. But a potential touchdown pass slipped through his hands to essentially end Carroll's season.

Gulliver sealed the win with 5:20 left when Strauss hit Tacoi Sumler with a 48-yard touchdown pass on third-and-17.

Barring a 96-yard touchdown run by Scott after the game had already been decided, Carroll's offense was limited to just 38 yards in the fourth quarter.

''Those guys made the stops when it counted,'' Sims said. ``Hats off to those guys. They played for each other, and that's all I ask them to do.''

TOO MUCH

It was a scoring contest between both team's featured running backs early on, as Mallary and Scott accounted for the first four scores of the game.

But Gulliver's offense took over.

Strauss found Rodriguez for a 5-yard touchdown pass as the Raiders regained the lead. Then, after a Carroll fumble, Strauss hit Rodriguez with a 64-yard touchdown pass to give Gulliver a 26-14 lead going into halftime.

The Raiders extended their lead when they scored on their opening drive of the second half. After a botched punt gave Gulliver Prep the ball at Carroll's 41-yard line, Strauss again hooked up with Rodriguez on a 5-yard touchdown to cap a seven-play drive and give the Raiders a 19-point advantage.

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