_{December 12th, 2025}
by Josh Zedner
Miami, Fla. | “Raiders Break Through Dreadnaughts”

Florida Man Sports is back with more coverage of the South Florida high school football season! We continue on with our coverage of the state finals. Tonight we had the 5A finals between the Lakeland Dreadnaughts and the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders. Lakeland comes in at a 12-2 record, and off of a blowout W against Ponte Vedra. St. Thomas has been dominant all season long, winning 14 straight after a season opening loss to Mater Dei, blowing teams out, and having no trouble through their first 4 games of the playoffs.

The Raiders started off this game with the ball. After a nice early PBU by 2027 DB Ahmaad Watts, St. Thomas got a couple of first downs through their signal caller, 2026 QB Mason Mallory. He had a scrambling 1st, then a completion on a seam to 2027 WR Julius Jones. The Dreadnaught defense stood up though, after another PBU by Watts and one for 2027 DB Jordan Young. 2026 K Johnny DiSalvatore knocked in a field goal to give St. Thomas an early lead.

Lakeland went 3 and out right away after some quality pressure from 2026 DE Shiloh Dent. On the other end, the Dreadnaughts were not giving in, as 2026 LB Ziggy Riley and 2026 DB Christopher Cresser (USF signee) made quality plays to force a punt. 2027 DL Wyatt Smith had a batted ball on defense for the Raiders to force another 3 and out.

When Mallory got the ball back, he completed a bomb to Jones, in which he was draped by his defender, drew the PI call, but somehow the receiver reached around his defender to make an incredible catch! One of the best all year. And it came at such a huge moment as well. 2027 DL Santana Harvey (TFL), 2027 DB Deonte Fielder (TFL), and 2027 DE Andrew Sapp all made plays to force DiSalvatore to kick another field goal.

Lakeland started their next possession with bad field position after some incredible kick coverage by the Raiders. 2027 ATH Kelin Hendrix finally got something going by using his speed, running out of the pocket for two first downs. He also delivered a first down pass to 2026 TE Jasper Hebel. But then Hendrix tried to go downfield, and the stout St. Thomas defense was ready to pounce. 2027 DB Jaden Carey snatched the ball out of the air to force the first turnover of the game.

2026 LB Zephaniah Rogers had a TFL that forced another punt for St. Thomas. Lakeland had some traction after another first down completion for Hendrix this time to 2027 WR Joseph Howard. And they got the running game going some more with 2026 LB Malik Morris (Florida signee) and 2028 RB Ahnarri Cooper. But the drive was stalled again after a TFL by 2026 LB Duke Daley and a combined sack by 2026 DE Daniel Norman (Oklahoma signee) and Dent.

Mallory showcased his accuracy on the next drive. He delivered two first downs to Jones, and a couple more to 2029 WR Sho Wright and 2028 WR Levi Thomas. DiSalvatore drilled another field goal to end the half. St. Thomas was up 9-0 at the half.

Lakeland’s opportunity to score was there for the taking in the second half. Hendrix found 2026 WR Jerry Thomas for a first down to kick off the 3rd. But once again, once Hendrix tried to go deep, it was trouble. He looked downfield, and the ball-hawking 2027 DB Zayden Gamble snagged it out of the air for the Raiders 2nd pick of the night. Riley made another play for Lakeland’s defense to force another field goal to make the score 12-0.

2026 LB Phillip Goodrich Jr. had a TFL to force yet another Lakeland punt. The punter dropped the ball, and St. Thomas finally had a chance to get into the endzone. But they were thwarted yet again by the Dreadnaught defense, led by Rogers. And DiSalvatore was forced to kick his 5th field goal of the game. A truly stout performance by the kicker, who was engineering all of the scoring for his team.

Lakeland had so many chances in this game. The defense was giving them every opportunity to get their noses into the contest. But the Raider defense was just as good, if not better. Norman and 2027 DT Chase Goodrich had sacks. As did Daley and Smith on a combination. Smith and Goodrich forced the 2nd of two straight turnovers on downs for the Dreadnaughts. Nothing was getting through this incredible defense.

Mallory finally broke through the Lakeland defense with an outside scramble that went for 60 plus yards and got St. Thomas inside the 5 yard line. Finally, the Raiders broke through for a touchdown when 2026 RB Jaden Desir crashed into the endzone to make the score 22-0. That was the final crushing blow for a Dreadnaught defense that played their hearts out in this game.

After a fumble recovery by the Raiders, 2026 RB Morris Choice scored one more touchdown to make the final tally of this game a 29-0 shutout victory for St. Thomas.

Congratulations to St. Thomas Aquinas for winning their 7th straight state title. The dominance of this program cannot be understated. They have been doing it for years, and it will likely only continue in the future. Yes, they will be losing plenty of guys from this outstanding team, including replacing Mallory. But they will be well stocked into the future with guys like Jones, Smith, Gamble and Carey all coming back next year. And this school is incredible at recruiting talent, year in, year out. And shout out to DiSalvatore for showing out in his final high school game kicking 5 FGs!

Lakeland comes up short yet again against St. Thomas. This is the second year in a row where the Dreadnaughts didn’t score a single point against the Raiders. They need to find a solution on offense, because the defense was incredible tonight. Hendrix is an incredible athlete, but unless he can figure out downfield passing, it might be best for Lakeland to look for alternatives at that spot. A consistent running game would be nice as well. They can still certainly compete at a high level and aim for championships every single year.

FINAL SCORE:
St. Thomas Aquinas beats Lakeland 29-0

Florida Man Sports Co-Players of the Game:

2026 K Johnny DiSalvatore (5 FGs)


About Josh Zedner:
Joshua Zedner is a beat writer covering high school football for Florida Man Sports. A native of Miami Beach, he attended Florida International University before finishing his undergraduate Business Administration degree at the University of Florida. Josh is an avid Miami sports fan, and he also writes a music review blog as a passion project under the @AlbumAnalysisWithZ handle on Instagram.