American Heritage wins emotional shootout for first ever win against St. Thomas Aquinas

Mike Smith fought off tears while his players poured onto the field to celebrate a long-awaited breakthrough for Plantation American Heritage at Brian Piccolo Stadium.

A regular season full of close calls—a five-point loss to Norland, a pair of three-point losses to Miami Central and Chaminade-Madonna, a hard-fought .500 record entering the week—finally ended Friday with a 42-38 win against St. Thomas Aquinas and American Heritage, even with all the state titles it has won in the last decade, felt no need to downplay what the victory meant.

There was the result itself—the Patriots badly needed a signature win after all those narrow losses. There was the emotion of the week at hand—American Heritage’s coaches all wore black ribbons on their shirts to honor Mark Fletcher Sr., the father of Miami running back Mark Fletcher Jr. and a long-time fixture around the Patriots. And there was the history—American Heritage had never beaten the Raiders until now.

“They made sure they posted that on social media this week, too,” Smith said.

Maybe above all else, there was the way the win played out. The lead changed hands six times, including four times in the second half and thrice in the first 6:30 of the third quarter. The Patriots (5-4) scored 13 more on St. Thomas Aquinas (7-3) than anyone else did this season. Finally, American Heritage erased a 10-point lead in the final seven minutes and did it with signature plays from each of their most important offensive players.

Star quarterback Dia Bell, who’s already orally committed to Texas as a junior, scrambled 47 yards for a touchdown with 6:21 left to cut the Raiders’ lead to 38-35. Star running back Byron Louis, who’s orally committed to Florida State, scored the go-ahead touchdown with 3:19 left and then iced the game with a 22-yard run on third down to make up for a costly fumble late in the third quarter. Star wide receiver Malachi Toney, who plays both ways for the Patriots, effectively locked up the win when he intercepted St. Thomas Aquinas quarterback Andrew Indorf on fourth down with 1:35 left and American Heritage clinging to a four-point lead.

Bell finished 15 of 18 for 247 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for 108 yards and another touchdown on 10 carries. Louis ran 17 times for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and caught two passes for 86 yards and another touchdown. Toney caught seven passes for 99 yards and two touchdowns, and sealed the victory with an interception with 1:35 left.

In one of the best games in South Florida this season, the Patriots beat the Raiders in Fort Lauderdale because their best players delivered in the biggest moments.

“We went through this hard schedule all year and we faced a lot of adversity, and we came up short most of the time,” Smith said. “The thing is these kids never gave into it.”

Immediately, American Heritage and St. Thomas Aquinas made clear that it was going to take a near-perfect offensive performance to win. The Raiders opened the game with a field goal and the Patriots hit back just 1:09 later with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Bell to Toney. On the next drive, St. Thomas Aquinas marched 82 yards on nine plays for a touchdown, and then Bell threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Louis on the first play of American Heritage’s next drive to put the Patriots up 14-10.

After punting on its first drive, American Heritage scored three straight touchdowns, but the Raiders kept pace with three field goals by specialist Nicholas Romero and a strong start by Indorf.

Neither offense ever slowed down, either. Indorf was nearly as productive as Bell, finishing 26 of 42 for 315 yards, three touchdowns and one interception, and adding 34 yards and another touchdown on six carries. And star wide receiver Julius Jones, only a sophomore, caught seven passes for 97 yards and two touchdowns, both in the second half when the pace was fastest.

The second half started with three straight touchdowns to give St. Thomas Aquinas a 31-28 lead and then a fumble by Louis near midfield late in the third quarter threatened to dash the Patriots’ chances.

Instead, American Heritage played perhaps its best quarter of the season in the fourth and ended the regular season with the signature win it needed.

“This game,” Bell said, “meant everything to us.”