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Raiders Cramp Packers' Style In 5A Semifinals

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By LEE DIEKEMPER, Tribune correspondent

Published: December 8, 2007

LARGO - Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas used its quick-strike offense in the second half to overcome Largo's smashmouth running game for a 35-13 win in the Class 5A state semifinals before 4,300 fans at Packers Stadium.

The Raiders (13-1) used a surprising strong defense in the second half that began to wear down Largo in the final minutes, giving the ball back to its lethal offense.

But the Raiders may have had an assist from Mother Nature.

Leading 21-13 after scoring on its first two possessions of the second half, highlighted by a one-play, 58-yard scoring drive on a Ryan Becker to Giovanni Bernard hook-up, it appeared the Packers were back to their old tricks with bruising running back Brynn Harvey.

Having racked up 91 yards on 16 carries in the first half, Harvey, on Largo's second possession of the second half, had just run for a first down on an 11-yard rumble when he stayed on the ground with cramps. It was Largo's worst nightmare. The main cog in its offense would only carry the ball five more times the rest of the game despite playing through the pain.

When asked after the game how close to 100 percent he was, Harvey replied, "I was good."

But he wasn't and Raiders coach George Smith noticed it.

"Harvey was cramping up and I'm sure that's why he wasn't used much in the second half," Smith said

He wasn't the only one beset by cramps. So too were the other two main Packers weapons, quarterback Leonard Johnson and wide receiver Reggie McCray.

Largo gave St. Thomas Aquinas a short field after a short punt. Jeremiah Harden ran for 7 yards on first down followed on the next play by his 13-yard TD run that all but put the game out of reach.

"Toward the end they got a little tired so we had to rack up the points on the scoreboard," Harden said.

"I think we did wear them down toward the end," Becker said. "They had great speed on defense, but we had size on the offensive line. So we started pounding them and pounding them and eventually it began wearing them down."

Largo coach Rick Rodriguez wasn't ready to blame the collapse on health.

"Once you get to a game of this magnitude, there's no excuse," Rodriguez said. Instead, he re-edited the Raiders superior depth in using two squads while the Packers had most of their starters going both ways.

"We were rolling in the first half."

The evening wasn't a complete loss for the Packers. Harvey ran for 135 yards, setting the Pinellas County single-season rushing record with 2,572 yards. The old record was held by his former teammate and current Ole Miss wide receiver Dexter McCluster.

"It's good to have the record, but it's not good to have a loss in the semifinals," Harvey said. "It hurts real bad."

L-Harvey 15 run (Marroquin kick)

A-Kennedy 2 run (Palardy kick)

A-Bernard 58 pass from Becker (Palardy kick)

A-Carter 19 pass from Becker (Palardy kick)

A-Hardin 13 run (Palardy kick)

A-Becker 2 run (Palardy kick)

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