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(1) St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders (3-0) vs. Arizona Centennial Coyotes (5-0)
Friday at Centennial (Peoria, Arizona), 7 p.m.
It’s St. Thomas Aquinas’ second national spotlight game of the year.
The Raiders took care of business at home against a very good California St. John Bosco team at the start of the season now they have to head west to take on an undefeated and very strong Centennial High team from Peoria, Arizona.
The Coyotes are a run-heavy team that relies on their big offensive line (which averages 6-foot-3, 290 pounds across) to win at the line of scrimmage and make running lanes for three-star senior running back and Boise State commit Zidane Thomas.
Through Centennial’s first five games, Thomas has rushed for a team-high 781 yards and nine touchdowns. He’s not a blazing fast back, but he can separate from defenders. His strength lies in his balance and vision – as he gets a lot of yards after first contact because he’s hard to bring down.
St. Thomas Aquinas, which climbed to the No. 1 spot in this week’s Hotbed Top 20 Poll, did itself a huge favor by playing a makeup game on Sept. 25. Just like everyone else, the Raiders were off for two weeks and they were looking at that number stretching out to three weeks had they not got in that game against Stranahan.
Looking at this matchup, I see a very familiar theme at play: a solid, team from another state that has its fair share of talented football players that will ultimately be overwhelmed by the overall speed and athleticism of the South Florida team.
While Centennial’s O-Line has the beef, I highly doubt they’ve gone up against a defensive front seven that has athletes like Nik Bonitto, Anthony Solomon and Rocky Shelton.
Bonitto made me look like a genius when I called for him to have a big game against St. John Bosco and he went out and recorded three sacks. I could easily see something like that happening again.
Also, players like Dejmi Dumervil-Jean (6-foot-6, 350 pounds) and Tyler Steen (6-foot-6, 280 pounds) will have to “root in”, use their lower body strength to hold up at the point of attack and keep linebackers Shelton and Solomon free to attack ball carriers.
Offensively, I think Aquinas must make plays through the air. Elijah Moore, Tavares Kelly, and Teriq Phillips should be able to win their one-on-one matchups more often than not and create big throwing windows for Curt Casteel.
Raiders put together a solid overall performance and bring home a victory.
Bald Prediction = St. Thomas Aquinas win 31-17
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