By Dave Brousseau * BCAA Writer
FORT LAUDERDALE – The St. Thomas Aquinas football team learned a hard-fought lesson in their 42-38 loss to American Heritage on Friday.
If the Raiders (7-3) want to extend their state record of five consecutive state championships and 25 straight playoff victories, they’ll need to perform better, especially on defense.
The three regular season losses tied for the most since the 2013 season.
”Need to reflect what exactly what we need to improve on.” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach Roger Harriott. “The most obvious thing is we just didn’t finish, and they did.
We’ve got to move forward. Our losses have been frustrating, and it’s been tough to digest. We need to make the necessary corrections.”
The Patriots (5-4) victory was the first over the Raiders after three previous all-time meetings.
American Heritage led 21-17 at the half following a 15-yard scoring pass from Dia Bell to Malachi Toney and a Nicholas Romero 38-yard field goal for Aquinas.
Bell, a University of Texas commit, would prove too much for the Raiders defense to handle. He completed 19 of 22 passing attempts for 266 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 117 yards on just eight carries and another score for the Patriots.
Senior running back Byron Lewis added 141 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns, including an 80-yard reception and another touchdown. Toney had nine catches for 124 yards and a pair of touchdowns
Overall, the Raiders defense allowed 567 yards in the loss.
Andrew Indorf also had a strong performance for the Raiders, finishing 26 of 42 for 315 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. He also rushed for 34 yards on six carries and a touchdown.
“We were sloppy on the offensive side of the ball and we can win games like that,” said Indorf. “No team that we have played has been better than us. We haven’t played our best game yet.”
Indorf also moved closer to the Raiders all-time career passing record. His 4670 yards is 282 yards short of surpassing the all-time Raiders record of 4951 set by Zion Turner (2019-21)
Sophomore wide receiver Julius Jones Jr. caught seven passes for 97 yards and a pair of second half touchdowns.
For the first time in 88 games that the Aquinas defense allowed 40 plus points in a loss and most allowed since a 43-27 loss to Miami Central in 2018.
The regular season loss was the first since winning six straight last game of regular season. The last loss was a 44-27 to Miramar in 2017.
Dave Brousseau can be reached on X at @dbrouss76 – or via e-mail at:
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