No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas outlasts No. 16 Bingham in Geico Showcase

Video: Marco Salani 2016 senior highlights
See the Raiders kicker in action this season, ahead of his big night against Bingham.

No. 6 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) put a bow on the high school football season by fending off No. 16 Bingham (South Jordan, Utah) Friday night in the Geico Showcase, 33-25.

Just about everything went right for the Raiders (13-2) in the first half at The Star in Frisco, Texas. Two field goals from Marco Salani and a 40-yard scoring pass from Jake Allen to Mike Harley forged a 13-0 lead before the biggest play of the half came. With Bingham mere feet from getting to the end zone, Tyler Dunning took a fumble back 99 yards for a score to make it 20-0. He had another fumble recovery in the half as well.

Salani tacked on another field goal, from 43 yards out, to make it 23-0 at the half.

The Utah 5A champions (14-1) showed a ton of fight in the fourth quarter. The Miners got a 6-yard scoring run from Matt Degn and then used some trickery to get to 30-12 on a 47-yard halfback pass from Amoni Kaili to Dax Milne. Those came after STA scored to open the half on a 11-yard run from Daniel Carter to make it 30-0, and yet another Salani field goal came later to make it 33-12.

Bingham fought even more, and definitely made a game of it. The Miners scored to make it 33-18, then Milne recovered an onside kick and the team tallied a 46-yard scoring pass on the next play from Degn to Brayden Cosper.

But 33-25 was as close as the Miners would get. Another onside kick didn't work out and the Raiders ran out the clock.

It was a big win on a neutral field against a very quality opponent for the Raiders. Now the only question is how it will affect the final Xcellent 25 National Football Rankings Presented by the Army National Guard.