FORT LAUDERDALE — It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win.
Top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas escaped Chaminade-Madonna with a 21-20 win on Friday, Oct. 2 despite a sluggish night on offense. In the end, special teams and defense kept the Raiders undefeated.
Chaminade-Madonna looked up to the task against the No. 1 team in the country early. The Lions drew first blood with a short touchdown keeper from Brady Quinn. The Raiders responded on the ensuing drive with a keeper of their own — evening things up with a 10-yard scamper from Blake Calixte.
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Quinn gave the Lions the lead back midway through the second quarter with another keeper up the middle, this time from 18 yards out.
After a punt from St. Thomas Aquinas, the Lions started to find their groove offensively. Cue Zayden Gamble (Notre Dame commit) who got an interception for the Raiders with two minutes left in the half.
Another frustrating series from St. Thomas Aquinas resulted in a turnover on downs, and Chaminade-Madonna escaped the first half up 14-7.
“Practice could’ve been better this week, I’ll just leave it at that,” said Mark Matthews. “We could’ve come out here with a better mindset. Personally I came out a little slow, soft, sloppy — it could’ve been picked up from the beginning. It’s not a sexy dub, but it’s a dub.”
Chaminade-Madonna’s Tromon Isaac Jr. stars in loss
The flood gates seemed to be creaking after the Lions started the second half with a highlight reel touchdown in the form of a 28-yard one-handed catch from Tromon Isaac Jr. in coverage. Isaac Jr. was exceptional in the win, catching six passes for around 150 yards.
The Lions had the PAT blocked, a special teams miscue that would not only come back to haunt them, but foreshadow what was to come for Chaminade-Madonna.
With Cody Conness in at quarterback for St. Thomas Aquinas, the Raiders found some rhythm. They marched down and scored on an 8-yard screen pass to Ryan Mathis, retaking the lead 21-20.
An empty Chaminade-Madonna possession set the stage for a dagger from the Raiders, which got three chances from inside the 2-yard line to put the game away with 6 minutes left to play. Instead, the Lions defensive front stood tall at the goal line, stopping the Raiders at the 1-yard line.
St. Thomas Aquinas makes one last play to seal victory
Quinn was surgical on the Lions’ last possession. He marched the Lions downfield with well-placed passes to the boundary or kept the ball for big gains up the middle. He got Chaminade-Madonna down to the Raider 22-yard line but miscommunication from the sideline saw a delay of game that moved the attempt back.
The distance never mattered in the end, because Wyatt Smith (Ohio State commit) got a paw on the ball at the line of scrimmage, blocking the go-ahead look.
“(I was thinking) this is the hardest that I have to come off the ball,” Smith said of the block. “We’ve got to burn the ship. There’s no coming back from that.”
Quinn finished 18-of-30 passing with around 70 rushing yards, a touchdown pass, two rushing touchdowns and an interception. Linebacker Ka’ron Holcombe added three tackles for loss.
Conness finished 6-of-12 passing for the Raiders, including what ended up being the game-deciding score.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: St. Thomas Aquinas survives Chaminade-Madonna with blocked filed goal
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