Blanche Ely is 0-5 against St. Thomas Aquinas since October of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Blanche Ely Tigers will head out on the road to face off against the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders at 7:00 p.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
Two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Blanche Ely walked away with it. They blew past Dillard 35-12. The win 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.
Another reason for the win was Blanche Ely's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for nine sacks. Leading the way was Joshua Lloyd and his two sacks.
Meanwhile, St. Thomas Aquinas had already won nine in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 35.3 points), and they went ahead and made it ten on Friday. They claimed a resounding 63-6 win over Plantation at home. Given St. Thomas Aquinas' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked third, while Plantation is ranked 124th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Among those leading the charge was Jordan Lyle, who rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries. James Madison II also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
Blanche Ely's victory was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 9-2. Those victories were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 35.5 points per game. As for St. Thomas Aquinas, their win bumped their record up to 10-1.
Blanche Ely was dealt a bruising 35-7 loss at the hands of St. Thomas Aquinas in their previous matchup back in November of 2022. Can Blanche Ely avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
