St. Thomas Aquinas routs Buchholz in state semifinals. Next up: A chance at history
The standard is high at St. Thomas Aquinas, so the Raiders’ celebration after their 45-7 rout of Gainesville Buchholz in the Class 7A semifinals Friday was relatively subdued.
The seniors posed for a photograph on the giant “A” at midfield at Brian Piccolo Stadium, then Zion Turner was on to thinking about the title game. A chance for a three-peat — only the second in St. Thomas Aquinas history — is in play and Turner is ready to try to make history as the starting quarterback for all three.
“This game’s in the past,” the star senior said. “We’re focused on whoever we’ll play in the state championship.”
The Raiders (13-1) will get to take their shot at history in Fort Lauderdale, too. St. Thomas Aquinas will face Tampa Bay Tech on Dec. 17 at DRV PNK Stadium with a chance to add a record 13th state title.
On Friday, the Raiders made the path there look easy. After picking up just one first down on its first two drives, St. Thomas Aquinas scored on five straight possession to end the first half and put a running clock on Buchholz (12-2) in the 7A semifinals.
Turner threw went 12 of 13 for 206 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 58 yards and another score on five carries, while star running back Anthony Hankerson ran for two more touchdowns blow away the Bobcats and clinch a third straight trip to the 7A championship game.
“Once we figured out what they were trying to do with us,” Turner said, “we stuck with our game plan.”
Buchholz came down to South Florida on Friday as one of the last obstacles between the Raiders and another championship. The Bobcats are an impressive upstart, with nine-game winning streak a wide receiver committed to the UCF Knights, and a quarterback with scholarship offers from the Florida Gators and Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
St. Thomas Aquinas, though, is its own kind of beast. The Raiders’ 12 Florida High School Athletic Association state titles are the most in history and their roster features at least a dozen — and probably more like two — future Division I players. They came in as the No. 13 team in the nation, according to MaxPreps, and their only loss came to another top-15 team in Week 2.
“It hurt,” Hankerson said of the early-season loss to Tampa Jesuit, “but it woke us up.”
For about 10 minutes, Buchholz hung with St. Thomas Aquinas. The Raiders picked up one first down on their first drive and then punted, then they went three-and-out on their next possession. The Bobcats started their drive with a first down, but it was all they managed before punting the ball back.
St. Thomas Aquinas took over at its own 42-yard line, gave the ball to running back Xavier Terrell for a 30-yard gain on the first play of the drive and was in the end zone two plays later when Hankerson got to the corner, and raced down the sideline for a 26-yard touchdown and 7-0 lead with 2:30 left.
For the rest of the half, Buchholz gained 28 yards and not a single first down. The Raiders went on a 42-7 run across the next 14:12 with a kick-return touchdown by the Bobcats as the only hiccup.
St. Thomas Aquinas forced a three-and-out after Hankerson’s first touchdown and Turner launched a 50-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jaylan Sanchez on the first play of the next drive to push the lead to 14-0 with 42 seconds left in the first half. After another three-and-out, the Raiders went 60 yards in seven plays and Turner threw another touchdown to star wide receiver Isaiah Hardge to make it 21-0 with 6:56 left in the half. A third straight three-and-out forced Buchholz to punt from the shadow of its own end zone, and Hankerson fielded the kick near midfield and ran it back all the way to the Bobcats’ 6.
He scored another touchdown on the first play of the drive and the Raiders were up 28-0 with 5:22 left in the second quarter.
After Buchholz’s kick-return touchdown, Hankerson ran for another 2-yard touchdown and Turner capped the near-flawless half with an 11-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left before halftime.
Now history is within touching distance and St. Thomas Aquinas is happy to go for it close to home.
“It’s a blessing,” Harriott said. “We’re extremely grateful for that.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 11:08 PM.
