St. Thomas Aquinas wins international debut vs. NFL Academy squad in nail-biter
St. Thomas Aquinas likely won’t win a national title this season although they are still Florida’s highest-ranked team in the national polls.
But the Raiders won’t mind having some international bragging rights.
After years of dominating on the national stage, Aquinas showcased its program successfully abroad on Wednesday by securing a hard-fought, 41-38 victory over the NFL’s UK-based Academy, an international squad made up of elite players from several different countries.
The game was played in London at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where the Cleveland Browns and Minnesota Vikings just played this past Sunday, and was organized jointly by the NFL and Nike.
The Raiders (6-1), ranked 11th nationally by MaxPreps, played a game outside the U.S. for the first time in program history.
“We’re grateful to be here and the opportunity Nike and the NFL provided us,” Aquinas coach Roger Harriott said postgame on the YouTube broadcast. “It was a very competitive game against our guys. It’s a tremendous program and our guys had to fight hard to the very end and this was a great experience for both programs.”
The NFL Academy squad, which played a team from the U.S. in such an event for the third consecutive season, and will next travel to Florida to face Bradenton IMG Academy next week, gave the Raiders all they could handle.
Twice, Aquinas took 18-point leads in the second half before NFL Academy rallied to make it a one score game.
The Raiders appeared to put the game out of reach early in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by Virgil Lemons, which put them ahead 41-23.
But NFL Academy’s Canadian quarterback Viktor LaChambre connected on a 13-yard touchdown pass to Austrian tight end Luca Wolf. A subsequent two-point conversion cut the Raiders’ lead to 41-31 with 7:59 left. LaChambre then found Finnish tight end Vili Haapasalo for a 34-yard touchdown with 1:14 to go to pull within three points.
Aquinas, however, recovered the ensuing onside kick and was able to run out the clock.
“The NFL Academy didn’t disappoint,” Harriott said. “They put the world on notice.”
Julius Jones shined for the Raiders, catching two of quarterback Mason Mallory’s three touchdown passes.
Aquinas trailed only once in the game when NFL Academy took a 7-0 lead on a 24-yard touchdown scramble by LaChambre, which was set up by a 65-yard run by Canadian running back Andrew Gomon.
Mallory answered by finding Jones open for a 33-yard touchdown later in the first. Lemons’ 2-yard touchdown run put Aquinas ahead 14-7. After NFL Academy cut the deficit to 14-10, Mallory hit Jones on a slant over the middle and he scampered 65 yards for a touchdown to put Aquinas ahead 21-10 just before halftime.
Mallory opened the second half by finding Shavis Linder Jr. open for a 33-yard touchdown.
After NFL Academy cut the deficit to 28-23, Aquinas defense preserved the lead when Jaden Carey sacked and stripped LaChambre on a corner blitz and Chase Goodrich returned the fumble 45 yards for a touchdown.
Wyatt Smith also had a key fumble recovery early in the fourth quarter for the Raiders.
St. Thomas Aquinas has its sights set on extending its state-record state championship streak to seven years in a row and capturing its state-high 17th state championship. The Raiders will close out the regular season against three of Broward County’s best as they face Monarch (Oct. 17), American Heritage (Oct. 24) and Chaminade (Oct. 31).
This story was originally published October 8, 2025 at 9:20 PM.
