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(1) St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders vs. California St. John Bosco Braves
Friday at St. Thomas Aquinas, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Once again, St. Thomas Aquinas is one of the best teams in the country.
The Raiders have a loaded roster and they have a smooth operator at the controls in head coach Roger Harriott.
Looking at St. Thomas this past week, when it manufactured a 39-0 win over Fort Lauderdale Dillard in its kickoff classic, the Raiders didn’t appear to be firing on all cylinders. Most will say, “they won 39-0”, but looking beyond the score and watching the game – one would see where Aquinas was still working out some kinks.
Credit Dillard, but there was still room to tighten the screws if you’re a Raiders fan.
Hopefully Harriott used that game as a sharpening tool this week because coming to town is a St. John Bosco team – from Bellflower, California – which is also a nationally-ranked powerhouse with a talented roster.
The Braves’ offense put up video game numbers in 2016 – averaging nearly 285 rushing and 205 passing yards per game. Bosco almost had three players rush for 1,000 yards as well as having a 1,000-yard receiver.
Leading the whole thing is three-star dual-threat quarterback Re-Al Mitchell. Mitchell, who’s committed to Iowa State, threw for 2,932 yards and 30 touchdowns while rushing for 1,058 yards and another 15 touchdowns. Also, 6-foot-1, 210-pound running back Demetrious Flowers, who ran for 954 yards in 2016, rarely goes down on first contact and has a nose for the endzone.
Mitchell will certainly test the Aquinas defense with his speed, but that’s where the Raiders will have the ultimate advantage – team speed.
Aquinas’ defensive line – Nik Bonitto, Tyler Steen, D’Andre Ragin – will have to be stout at the point of attack so that the linebackers can run free and bottle up Mitchell when he tries to break the pocket.
On the flip side, the Raiders need to establish their run game early and use it to open up clearer passing lanes for Curt Casteel – since he’ll be going up against a St. John Bosco secondary that was called “the best in California”.
Rain may be a factor, so every point – especially extra points and field goals – will be paramount.
Bald Prediction = St. Thomas Aquinas wins 23-21
