Julius Jones’ two fourth quarter touchdown receptions rally Aquinas to win over Western

A sign of a champion is being able to overcome adversity.

St. Thomas Aquinas is no stranger to championships.

Winners of five straight state titles, the Raiders showed on Friday night they are serious contenders again.

On a muggy, rainy night, St. Thomas overcame a nine-point halftime deficit and rallied to a 23-15 win on the road against an inspired Western squad.

“We try to coach our guys to play with a chip on their shoulder, every single night, because we’re going to get every opponent’s best,” St. Thomas coach Roger Harriott said.

The Raiders had to overcome the elements as well. The start of the game was delayed about 90 minutes due to rain and lightning.

In the end, it was two fourth-quarter touchdown passes from Andrew Indorf to Julius Jones that proved the difference.

The Wildcats certainly had their chances to pull off a major upset. They led 15-6 at halftime, and turned most of the night into a physical ground game.

But in the fourth quarter, St. Thomas’ big play capabilities came to light.

Jones set up his first touchdown with a 30-yard reception on the last play of the third quarter. That long pass play moved the ball to the Wildcats’ 25.

On the third play of the fourth quarter, Indorf connected with a leaping Jones in the right corner of the end zone on a 22-yard scoring pass. Nicholas Romero’s extra point gave St. Thomas the lead for good, 16-15.

“I had to lay out and make the play for the team,” Jones said.

The pass play that seemingly iced the game was Indorf to Jones for 58 yards.

Jones split the secondary and had clear sailing to the end zone. So uncontested was Jones that he was able to high-five his teammate, receiver Ah’mari Stevens around the 20-yard line.

What was the key to the comeback?

“Staying together,” Jones said. “This whole team is a real family. Everybody is a family. We preach that. We come out here and play for each other. Everybody bleeds the same blood.”

Close encounters like Friday are good tests for St. Thomas (3-1).

The Raiders had a sloppy first half.

Credit Western (0-3) for that because the Wildcats controlled the tempo, and played the first half in the trenches. Running back Johnathan Bueno effectively gained yardage on the ground.

In the first half, the Wildcats forced two St. Thomas turnovers. Montrel Canion recovered a fumble with the Raiders threatening. And Jaylin Jones added an interception.

After a scoreless first quarter, Sebastian Circo put Western on the board in the second on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. A 2-point conversion by Jacob Joseph gave the Wildcats an 8-0 lead.

St. Thomas Aquinas broke through at 8:24 of the second on Cedric Wyche’s 19-yard touchdown run. But a 2-point attempt was stopped.

A 6-yard touchdown run by Martin Rhyne with 59 seconds left in the second gave Western a 15-6 lead at halftime.

St. Thomas pulled to within six points on Romero’s 38-yard field goal midway through the third quarter.

In the second half, Western had chances to pull off the upset. But in the fourth quarter they had a field goal attempt blocked.

Eventually, St. Thomas was able to burn much of the clock in the fourth quarter behind Chance Washington’s hard-nosed running.

“All we do is work and work and work,” Washington said. “We are a full team. We do not let up. It don’t matter if we’re down 30 points. We’re going to come back.”