St. Thomas Aquinas dominates Columbus in clash of defending state champions
The most convincing sign that St. Thomas Aquinas is worthy of its top 10 national ranking wasn’t the fact that the Raiders throttled two-time defending state champion Columbus 42-6 here Friday.
Rather, it’s how dissatisfied Roger Harriott’s young men were with how they played.
Certainly, this was far from Aquinas’ cleanest game. The Raiders gave up a long kickoff return, had at least four drops, and put the ball on the turf three times Friday night.
And except for a very brief time in the third quarter, there wasn’t a time that the game’s outcome seemed remotely in doubt.
The question wasn’t whether Aquinas (2-1) was going to hand the Explorers their second loss on this young season, but how lopsided the final score would be.
“When you’re playing a sound team like Columbus, they win championships for a reason,” Harriott said postgame. “They’ve got a great tradition. Sometimes they’re gonna force you to make mistakes and as a team you gotta grow, show your maturity and overcome those obstacles and be able to execute in a sound manner.
“And that’s just coaching and, and evolving as the season goes on. So this is a tough game for us. The scoreboard does not really show the true nature of this particular game.”
With all due respect to St. Thomas’ wildly successful head coach, Columbus is fortunate the score wasn’t worse.
The Explorers’ lone touchdown Friday came after an interception by University of Miami commit Bryce Fitzgerald gave them a short field, Fitzgerald stepped in front of Raiders quarterback Andrew Indorf’s only reckless pass of the night early in the third quarter, and returned it to the STA 19.
One play later, Columbus was in the end zone, thanks to an impressive run by Agyeman Addae.
“Terrible,” Indorf said. “Terrible job by me. Just threw it right to him.”
Like the Raiders in general Friday, Indorf was being way too tough on himself.
He otherwise was excellent Friday, completing 21 of 31 attempts for 216 yards and two touchdowns (to Division I recruits Cameron Roberts and Braden Hoch).
And Indorf’s stat line would have been even better had his teammates done a better job of hanging onto on-target passes.
Since dropping a heartbreaker to top-ranked Las Vegas Bishop Gorman in the opener, Aquinas has outscored its opponents 93-6, and is set for another dominant run through the regular season.
“We learned who our guys are,” Indorf said. “We’re still figuring out who our best guys are and we just continue to fight and continue to strive for greatness.”
St. Thomas defense is already great. The Raiders have allowed just 35 points in 12 quarters, and Friday night was a masterclass by defensive coordinator Michael Kelleher.
The Raiders held the Explorers yards (2.7 yards per play), forced three turnovers, and totaled six sacks -- including a scoop and score by Richard Scott III in the third quarter to put the game away.