Aquinas leaves no doubt in rout of Gaither as chase for historic title run continues

The St. Thomas Aquinas football team made it clear against their Class 3M state semifinal opponent in Tampa Gaither there would be no doubt who the victor would be.

Led by senior running back Jordan Lyle’s 131 yards rushing on 11 carries and three touchdowns, the Raiders cruised to a 50-14 victory on Friday.

St. Thomas, who is bidding for a fifth straight state championship, improved to 18-2 in state semifinal games since 2000. Aquinas already owns the state record with 14 state championships.

The Raiders (13-1), winners of 40 of their last 41 games, will play Homestead, a 42-35 winner over Orlando Jones, at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee on Dec. 9 in a rematch of last year’s final won by Aquinas 38-21.

Raiders coach Roger Harriott was pleased with his team’s effort in the victory.

“It’s been a long journey this season,” Harriott said. “We’re proud of the team for working hard day in and day out. We focus on the standards of what it takes to be a winner. To do this on a routine basis is a credit to everyone.”

The victory improved the Raiders record to 7-0 all-time in playoff games against teams from Tampa.

“We knew it was going to be tough tonight,” Tampa Gaither coach Kirk Karsen said. “The kids felt strong like we had a chance, but their depth just overcomes you. Aquinas has a shotgun filled with bullets and we got a revolver filled with bullets.”

Freshman back-up quarterback Derrick Baker completed a scoring pass of 12 yards to Julius Jones with 6:42 left in the third quarter for a 47-7 lead and a running clock.

After a Gaither touchdown cut the score to 47-14, place kicker Francesco Pileggi’s 42-yard field goal with 4:28 left in regulation gave Aquinas 50 points in a state semifinal for the first time in school history.

It was all St. Thomas in the first half.

It took only two plays from scrimmage for Aquinas to take an early 7-0 lead following a Lyle 29-yard run with 10:34 left in the opening quarter.

“We knew coming into the game they we going to stack the box and we took advantage of that,” Lyle said. “Our lineman did a great job blocking up front.”

Lyle also became the second running back in school history to exceed 200 career points after his three scores that put him at 204 points.

Before the Cowboys could recover, the Raiders struck again. This time from junior quarterback Andrew Indorf’s 56-yard scoring pass to Andreus Madison and a 14-0 lead.

Following a pair of field goals by Pileggi, Lyle added touchdown runs of 3 and five yards for a 34-7 lead.

“Tonight’s win is a blessing,” said Indorf, who threw for 183 yards on 9-of-13 passing. “We started off strong tonight with a touchdown on our first drive.”

Gaither was able to put some points on the board with a 72-yard touchdown pass from Jayce Nixon to Darryon Williams.

Even with that brief celebration by the Cowboys, Aquinas ended the half on a Stacey Gage six-yard touchdown run with eight seconds left in the first half for a convincing 40-7 lead.

At that point the Raiders, who have outscored their four 2023 playoff opponents 181-20, were in cruise control.