St. Thomas Aquinas 31, Osceola 0

Putting up a historical performance in the state finals is something most would associate with a positive experience; unless you were on the “wrong” end of a historically inept performance like the Osceola Kowboys were Friday night in front of 5,000 witnesses at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. St. Thomas Aquinas won their eighth state championship and their third in the last five years in comprehensively dominating fashion 31-0 holding the Kowboys to historically low numbers on offense.

So just how historic was tonight’s performance by the Raiders?
Osceola came into the finals averaging 354 yards per game and 37 points-per-game. They finished the night with SEVEN yards rushing on 34 attempts and completed the four quarters with just 38 total yards. That’s just 18 yards shy of the all-time record set in 1968 between Apalachicola and Moore Haven with twenty. Aquinas’ Defense also did not allow Osceola’s first, 1st down to arrive until 7 minutes were left in the first half. The Raiders Defense surrendered just 20 points TOTAL throughout their five rounds of games. Aquinas had FIVE running backs out-rush Osceola’s total team output.

Dynasty? Yeah, dynasty.
This was Aquinas’ 33rd playoff appearance and 15th state title appearance (second only to Bolles in both) and with their 14-1 record, the Raiders secured their 25th consecutive winning season; which is a state record.

Is that a grizzly bear, JJ Watt, or Optimus Prime?
Answer: all of the above. He’s only a junior, but STA’s Joey Bosa just might be the best defensive lineman in America, let alone the State of Florida. Bosa finished the night with seven tackles, a half-sack, 2 tackles-for-loses, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery which is actually kind of “average” for him, but watch him away from the ball and your head may spin even faster than his 6-4, 260lb frame does when he explodes out of his 3-pt stance. There isn’t a single position on the DL that he can’t play, he never takes plays off and Ohio State fans might as well count him as a resident of Columbus, Ohio already when he inevitably joins his brother Anthony.

All that praise, Bosa had to be the Defensive MVP right? RIGHT?
Nope. Meet Brandon Boyce. The 6-0, 245lb DT helped create massive amounts of havoc for the Raiders front-four and was the catalyst while Bosa was shedding double-teams. Boyce finished the game with 9 tackles, half-sack, 4.5 tackles-for-loss and a fumble recovery. He doesn’t get the love because he’s only 6-foot tall, but this young man has every bit the motor that Bosa has, the same core-strength and will have a career at a BCS school awaiting him as soon as coaches wake up and smell the Cuban coffee.

Let’s end on a positive…
For all of the issues that Osceola experienced tonight, they still return 9 starters on offense, and 4 starters on defense for the 2015 season. Let’s not kid ourselves; Osceola will be back and they will be just fine and twice as hungry following the piece of humble pie that was served by Aquinas. Bad nights happen to elite teams, and when matched-up versus opponents with momentum such as STA, that’s going to happen.

– Doug Pugh