St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale and Lakeland, two of the most successful football programs in the Florida High School Athletic Association, will decide who has the upper hand in 2008 next weekend at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.
St. Thomas Aquinas, ranked No. 1 in the USA Today national high school football rankings, routed visiting Largo, 35-14, in the southern semifinal of Class 5A. The Dreadnaughts, who won their fifth and sixth state titles in 2005 and ’06, edged visiting Pine Forest (Pensacola) 22-21 in the northern semifinal. Lakeland is No. 6 in the latest USA Today rankings.
The teams, both 14-0, meet next Friday in the Citrus Bowl at 7 p.m. for the Class 5A state title. The Raiders, who have now won 23 straight, will be seeking their second straight title and fifth overall under coach George Smith, while Lakeland will be going for its seventh title under coach Bill Castle.
Six other teams punched tickets to the state finals next weekend, while two schools earned state titles Friday at the Citrus Bowl. In Class 1A, North Florida Christian School of Tallahassee won its sixth state title by beating Fort Meade, 17-7. In Class 1B, Jupiter Christian stretched its winning streak to 27 with its second straight state championship victory, 49-14 over Warner Christian of South Daytona.
Today, two more schools will be crowned state champions in Orlando. In the Class 2B final at 1 p.m., 11-1 Pahokee meets 12-1 Trinity Catholic of Ocala. The 7 p.m. matchup for the Class 2A title features 13-0 Bolles of Jacksonville against 11-1 Gulliver Prep of Miami. Bolles will be seeking its state-record ninth state title and Pahokee is seeking its sixth.
The Class 6A state final next Saturday evening at 7 will feature Seminole (Sanford) against Miami Northwestern, which will be seeking its third straight state title and sixth overall. Northwestern beat Miramar 42-23 in the southern semifinal, while Seminole came back to beat Orlando Boone, 21-17, in the northern semifinal.
Cocoa and Tallahassee Godby will play for the Class 3A state title next Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. Cocoa ousted Monsignor Pace of Miami, 20-17, on a 52-yard field goal by Cody Bell as time expired. Godby went on the road and doubled up on Pasco of Dade City, 28-14.
The Class 4A state championship game next Saturday at 1 p.m. will feature Tallahassee Lincoln, a 31-12 winner against Daytona Beach Seabreeze, against Tampa Plant, which rallied for a 33-21 victory over Dwyer of Palm Beach Gardens.
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 1A
North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) 17, Fort Meade 7
ORLANDO – After suffering losses in the Class 1A state championships the previous two seasons, North Florida Christian School of Tallahassee finally reversed its fortunes and kept those of Fort Meade still wanting.
Keith Carter and Cody Ledford scored on short runs of 1 and 3 yards in the first and fourth quarters, respectively, and Aaron Powell kicked a 24-yard field goal to provide the points as NFCS (10-2) handed the Miners a 17-7 setback for their sixth state championship Friday night in the Citrus Bowl.
Coach Tim Cokely’s Eagles won previous state titles in 1996 and ’98 in Class 2A and ’99, 2000 and ’01 in Class A. It’s the seventh runner-up finish for Fort Meade (12-2), which was seeking its second 1A title to go with the one it won in 2004.
The Eagles led 10-0 at halftime after Carter’s 1-yard run and Powell’s PAT with 48 seconds remaining in the first quarter and Powell’s 24-yard field goal 20 seconds before halftime.
The Miners closed the gap on a 43-yard touchdown pass from Rumeal Carlton to Treon Howard with 7:56 left in the third quaeter, but the Eagles completed a 10-play, 72-yard drive with Ledford’s 3-yard touchdown run with 8:16 left in the final quarter.
The Eagles outgained the Miners, 242-217 thanks to a 127-66 rushing edge. Junior quarterback Clint Trickett, the son of Florida State offensive line coach Rick Trickett, was 10-of-20 passing for 104 yards for the Eagles and rushed 12 times for 50 yards. Ledford led the Eagles with 55 yards on 10 carries. Fort Meade quarterback Carlton completed 10 of 18 passes for 151 yards and the one touchdown but had two inteceptions and was sacked three times.
CLASS 1B
Jupiter Christian 49, Warner Christian (South Daytona) 14
ORLANDO – Marshyl Rothman rushed for 144 yards, passed for 71 more and accounted for three touchdowns (two rushing, one passing) to lead Jupiter Christian to a 49-14 victory over Warner Christian (South Daytona) and its second straight Florida High School Athletic Association Class 1B state football championship Friday afternoon at the Citrus Bowl.
The victory was the 27th straight for Jupiter Christian’s Eagles (14-0) under head coach Bill Powers. They won the 2007 title with a 13-1 record, the only loss coming in the 2007 season opener, a 42-14 setback to King’s Academy of West Palm Beach.
Jupitern Christian rushed for 287 yards on 37 carries (7.8 average) and totaled 358 yards while holding Warner Christian (12-2) to just 82 yards on the ground and 183 total. Will Powers of Jupiter Christian gained 136 yards on 15 carries, two more than Rothman needed, and scored twice, including a 54-yard run 1:44 into the game.
A Westin Pedersen 55-yard interception return gave Jupiter Christian a 14-0 lead after the first quarter, and then following Breon Allen’s 2-yard run early in the second quarter cut the lead in half, Jupiter Christian scored three times in a 5:49 span to take a 35-7 halftime lead. Rothman scored on 3- and 18-yard runs within 0:58 seconds before Cobie Graham hauled in a 5-yard scoring pass from Rothman, who was 7-of-9 passing.
Allen rushed 11 times for 73 yards and one touchdown and had another 28 yards on five receptions for Warner Christian, while quarterback Shelton Willis completed 12 of 19 passes for 101 yards and one touchdown.
FHSAA FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
The schedule for the remaining games in the Florida High School Athletic Association state football playoffs.
FRIDAY, DEC 12
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 1B
At Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Jupiter Christian 49, Warner Christian (South Daytona) 14
CLASS 1A
At Citrus Bowl, Orlando
North Florida Christian (Tallahassee) 17, Fort Meade 7
STATE SEMIFINALS
CLASS 6A
Seminole (Sanford) 21, Boone (Orlando) 17
Northwestern (Miami) 42, Miramar 23
CLASS 5A
Lakeland 22, Pine Forest (Pensacola) 21
St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) 35, Largo 14
CLASS 4A
Lincoln (Tallahassee) 31, Seabreeze (Daytona Beach) 12
Plant (Tampa) 33, Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens) 21
CLASS 3A
Godby (Tallahassee) 28, Pasco (Dade City) 14
Cocoa 20, Monsignor Pace (Miami) 17
TODAY
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 2B
At Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Pahokee (11-1) vs. Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (12-1), 1 p.m.
CLASS 2A
At Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Gulliver Prep (Miami) (11-1) vs. Bolles (Jacksonville) (13-0), 7 p.m.
FRIDAY, DEC. 19
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 3A
At Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Godby (Tallahassee) (12-2) vs. Cocoa (13-1), 1 p.m.
CLASS 5A
At Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Lakeland (14-0) vs. St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) (14-0), 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, DEC. 20
STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
CLASS 4A
At Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Lincoln (Tallahassee) (11-3) vs. Plant (Tampa) (13-1), 1 p.m.
CLASS 6A
At Citrus Bowl, Orlando
Seminole (Sanford) (12-2) vs. Northwestern (Miami) (12-1), 7 p.m.