Preview: St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders vs. Blanche Ely Tigers
St. Thomas Aquinas is 5-0 against Blanche Ely since October of 2015, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders will look to defend their home field against the Blanche Ely Tigers at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but St. Thomas Aquinas had no problem doing just that on Friday. They claimed a resounding 63-6 victory over Plantation at home. The win was familiar territory for St. Thomas Aquinas who now have ten in a row.
Among those leading the charge was Jordan Lyle, who rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. Andrew Indorf was another key contributor, throwing for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
The team's defense also helped out by holding Plantation to a paltry 184 yards. A big part of that defensive dominance came down to St. Thomas Aquinas' ability to keep the quarterback under pressure: the team laid the passer out 11 times before it was all said and done. It was a group effort, with three picking up two apiece.
Meanwhile, Blanche Ely was not the first on the board last Friday, but they got there more often. They put the hurt on Dillard with a sharp 35-12 victory. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Blanche Ely.
Blanche Ely found their leader in underclassman Omari Mcneal, who rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 113 yards and a touchdown.
St. Thomas Aquinas pushed their record up to 10-1 with that victory, which was their eighth straight at home. It's not like the team was facing easy opposition over that stretch either, as it included 10-1 Cocoa and 8-2 Treasure Coast (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 61.3% over those games). As for Blanche Ely, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season.
Everything came up roses for St. Thomas Aquinas against Blanche Ely in their previous meeting back in November of 2022 as the squad secured a 35-7 win. Does St. Thomas Aquinas have another victory up their sleeve, or will Blanche Ely turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
