Reid ran for 338 yards on 13 carries, including a pair of 80-yard, second-half touchdown runs, and scored all four Aquinas touchdowns.
Perhaps Reid's biggest score came on his 11th carry of the night. Columbus had just tied the game at 24 on a 25-yard
Jacob Fernandez field goal before the senior running back made another house call on the Raiders' first play from scrimmage with 6:40 left in the contest.
St. Thomas Aquinas running back Tyler Reid had a career night with 338 yard, including the game-decider in the fourth quarter as the No. 1 Raiders held off No. 6 Columbus 31-24. (PHOTO: Jeff Klein)
On the night, Reid scored on runs of 63, 80 and 80 yards. He also caught a 3-yard scoring pass from
Blake Calixte.
St. Thomas Aquinas, which climbed to No. 1 in this week's MaxPreps Top 25, were up against a hot Columbus squad which had knocked off previous No. 1
Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.) last week and was trying to knock off the nation's top team for the second week in a row.
After Reid's final score, Columbus had more than six minutes and all three timeouts to use in pursuit of the tie. But the Aquinas defense held firm, not allowing the Explorers to pass midfield and ultimately forcing a punt.
Reid provided a 13-yard first-down run that put things away.
St. Thomas Aquinas scored first on the night as Reid took his third carry 63 yards for a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
The
teams traded possessions before Columbus missed a 50-yard field
goal. The Raiders answered with the Calixte-to-Reid hookup.
Columbus
answered with a 13-play drive that ended with a 2-yard pass
from
Kai Moore to
Tony Brown III that cut the lead to 14-7 before St.
Thomas Aquinas finished the half with a 25-yard field goal to take the
10-point lead into the locker room.
