Published Saturday October 17, 2009 in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Steamrolling Raiders
St. Thomas adds trickery to offense, drops previously unbeaten Miramar
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos, Staff Writer
Fort Lauderdale
As if the St. Thomas Aquinas offense weren't tough enough already.
Add a new trick to its arsenal — the Wildcat.
The Raiders debuted the formation Friday night, and on more than one occasion, it proved effective in a 31-6 win against previously unbeaten Miramar.
Raider running back James White, who gained a team-high 96 yards on 16 carries, played a key part, sometimes running the ball himself and sometimes handing it off to speedy defensive back Lamarcus Joyner.
"I didn't know we were going to use it, but it worked in practice," White said. "At first, it was a little shaky, but then I got more comfortable in it."
Early on, it seemed the formation threw the stalwart Miramar defense for a loop.
The Patriots called for timeouts and struggled trying to defend it.
That allowed St. Thomas (6-0) to put up decent yardage — and points in its 30th consecutive victory.
One of the Raiders' biggest gains using the Wildcat came in the second quarter, when White took a direct snap then rushed up the middle and through the Patriot defense on a 22-yard touchdown run that put St. Thomas ahead 17-0 with 2:29 left in the half.
But that wasn't the only bright spot for the potent Raider offense.
Quarterback Jacob Rudock had another solid performance, completing 10 of 19 passes for 155 yards.
He had touchdown throws of 9, 60 and 5 yards.
"You can't make mistakes against the No. 1 team in the nation," Miramar coach Damon Cogdell said. "We know we have a good team, but we turned the ball over a few times, we had some band punts, and the short field hurt us."
The Raiders' defense also did its part, holding Miramar to 73 passing yards — most of which came on the game's final drive.
In total, St. Thomas forced a pair of turnovers, held Miramar 0 for 3 on fourth-down conversion attempts and gave up one first down on 11 third-down conversion attempts.
Miramar (5-1) did get a solid effort from running back Jeremiah Hicks, who rushed for a game-high 123 yards on 23 carries.
But Hicks injured his left ankle in the first half and was used sparingly later in the game.
The Patriots' lone touchdown came on the game's final play when Ryan Williams completed a 16-yard scoring pass to Denzel McCullum.
"We wanted to prove the Byrnes game was just a shootout and our defense wasn't overrated like everyone kept saying," Raider defensive back Cody Riggs said.
Copyright © 2009, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
