Easy win for St. Thomas

St. Thomas used a swarming defense and racked up 258 yards rushing on offense to cruise past Plantation 49-0.

The Raiders’ offense had numerous short fields to work with as they held the Colonels (0-3) to negative 17 yards rushing. Plantation was also forced St. Thomas (2-1) to punt from inside its own 20-yard line five times in the first half.

"Our special teams and defense did a great job changing the math of the field to put us in a great situation for scoring opportunities and we took full advantage of it." said coach Roger Harriott.

Michael Epstein scored first on a 27-yard run -- as the Raiders needed only two plays to take an early 7-0. Then after a 2-yard punt by Plantation gave the Raiders the ball at the Colonels 8, Kyshaun Bryan scored from 1 yard out.

"One hand washes the other," said Defensive Coordinator Amir Riley on the short fields his defense gave the offense. "We play as a unit; we are all St. Thomas Aquinas. Whether its special teams, offense or defense, everybody plays together as a team."

Bryan finished with 110 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns, including a 75-yard run to give the Raiders a 28-0 lead. Daniel Carter added 68 yards on six carries, while Samuel Llewellyn and Epstein each had 45 yards rushing.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 11:19 PM with the headline "Easy win for St. Thomas."