St. Thomas Aquinas squashes Coconut Creek’s upset hopes to keep ‘Drive for Five’ alive

If there was ever going to be a time for Coconut Creek to make a run at an upset of St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday, the final moments of the first half would have been it.

A dazzling interception by Elijah Cannon set up Coconut Creek right around midfield and Jamarie Hosztclaw, filling in at quarterback for the injury-riddled Cougars, drove Coconut Creek down to the goal line.

“We kind of felt the momentum trying to switch,” Aquinas star safety Allen Bryant said.

The Cougars got four chances from inside the Raiders’ 5-yard line, and Bryant and Co. stopped every one. Coconut Creek’s first run went for negative yardage and then three straight passes fell incomplete. St. Thomas Aquinas kept its shutout alive, quashed any momentum the Cougars felt like they were gaining, and rolled to a 28-0 win, and yet another trip to the final four.

St. Thomas Aquinas (12-1) is now just two wins away from a fifth straight state championship. After four-time defending champion Miami Central fell to Norland on Friday, the Raiders can become the first team ever to win five in a row if they can claim another Class 3M championship next month.

Their showdown with Coconut Creek, on paper, seemed to be one of the biggest hurdles in the way of a five-peat. The Cougars’ only two losses in the regular season were one-score losses to Chaminade-Madonna and Georgia’s Gainesville -- both top-50 teams in the nation, according to MaxPreps -- and they gave up just 8.7 points per game in their 10 wins this year. St. Thomas Aquinas expected a defensive struggle and got one, beating Coconut Creek (10-3) at its own game by winning in all three phases.

The No. 10 Raiders held the Cougars to just 183 yards with three sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery. St. Thomas Aquinas’ four touchdown drives stretched a total of 80 yards. The Raiders won a blowout despite totaling just 277 yards and committing a dozen penalties.

“It was just an all-around team effort,” St. Thomas Aquinas coach Roger Harriott said.

The Raiders’ first touchdown came early in the second quarter after they punted twice from Coconut Creek’s side of the field, flipping field position to eventually start a drive from the Cougars’ 35 after a long punt return by Bryant. Star running back Stacy Gage scored seven plays later on a 3-yard plunge.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ next touchdown came after another punt in Coconut Creek territory. The Raiders forced a three-and-out, got another long punt return from Bryant and then went up 14-0 on the first play of the drive when star running back scored on a 10-yard run.

After one more three-and-out, the Raiders started their next drive at the Cougars’ 2 after a long punt return by St. Thomas Aquinas wide receiver Ah’Mari Stevens and Raiders running back Justin Montgomery scored to put St. Thomas Aquinas up 21-0.

“We had to emphasize making plays on special teams” Bryant said, “because we had to win all three phases of the game.”

Four different Raiders scored rushing touchdowns -- St. Thomas Aquinas quarterback Andrew Indorf ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter -- and St. Thomas Aquinas was able to control the game thanks to its early lead.

Lyle, who’s orally committed to Ohio State, ran for 61 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, and added three catches for 48 yards. Gage, who’s committed to UCF, ran for 60 yards and a touchdown on just six carries. Indorf, who’s in his first year as a full-time starter, went 11 of 17 for 104 yards, and ran for 29 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

The Raiders’ offense did enough. Their defense did the bulk.

The goal-line stand halted Coconut Creek right as the Cougars seemed poised to threaten St. Thomas Aquinas. The Raiders, however, took a long time to finally bury Coconut Creek and the Cougars had one more chance to cut into St. Thomas Aquinas’ 21-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Hosztclaw, who typically plays running back yet spent most of the game behind center with Coconut Creek quarterback James Hayes injured, again got the Cougars into the red zone with a long throw to Coconut Creek wide receiver Erik Simmons and the help of a 15-yard penalty.

On second down from the Raiders’ 18, Hosztclaw took a shot and missed. Bryant hauled in an interception and crushed another scoring chance.

“It’s a blessing,” Harriott said. “For us, it’s part of the standard of who we are with regards to our championship culture. It’s a real expectation here that we’ve cultivated throughout our school history.”