St. Thomas Aquinas wins 15th consecutive game by dominating Western

St. Thomas Aquinas kept its impressive start to the 2022 season intact with a convincing 38-0 victory over the host Western Wildcats.

Aquinas (4-0) improved to 8-0 against Western dating back to 2004 outscoring them 389-63. Over the past 10 seasons, including 2022, Aquinas has a record of 68-6 against Broward opponents.

“We’re never satisfied,” St. Thomas Aquinas coach Roger Harriott said. “We’ll watch the film and evaluate and see where we can improve. This was an emotional game against a local team that’s very talented. We’re fortunate to come out of here with a solid win.”

Despite the victory, the Raiders, ranked No. 5 in the country by MaxPreps, had their nine-game streak of scoring at least 42 points snapped. The victory also improved the Raiders win streak to 15 games.

Western (2-1) has struggled to find the end zone since the second half of their first game of the season and have now gone 10 consecutive quarters in regulation without scoring a touchdown.

“We made too many mistakes against a great football team.” Western coach Adam Ratkevich said. “You can’t make mistakes against one of the best teams in the country.”

Western committed 91 yards in penalties, most coming after gaining positive yardage and first downs.

Western’s second half start was like its first. Their opening drive ended with a blocked punt that gave the Raiders the ball at the Wildcats 10. Though Western kept the Raiders from the end zone, the minimal drive resulted in a Nicholas Romero 23-yard field goal for a 24-0 lead.

Much of the third quarter was played inside the Western 30.

Gemani Sands put Aquinas up 31-0 on a 6-yard run following a punt return that put the Raiders at the Western 9-yard line with 7:44 left in the third quarter.

King Mack then scoring on a 5-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to build a 38-0 lead to kick start the running clock.

Aquinas scored on its opening possession driving 80 yards on eight plays with Chance Robinson hauled in a 15-yard scoring pass from Hezekiah Harris with 7:37 to play.

Typically, not a promising start for any opposition against the Raiders.

Making matters worse, Western senior quarterback Collin Hurst threw an interception three plays into the Wildcats ensuing possession.

The result was a 25-yard touchdown by Rashad Henry for a quick 14-0 advantage for Aquinas.

Twice the Wildcats had chances to cut into the lead, but the St. Thomas held on downs.

Following a Western punt that gave Aquinas the ball at the opponents 45, Harris needed only one play to give his team a 21-point lead with 2:40 left in the first half.

Harris connected with Robinson for the second score as he went into the end zone untouched.

Western had a final play to get points on the board with an untimed down. However, Hurst’s attempt to Nelson Walker at the goal line was short of its target.