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Lakeland Falls In State Championships

Tribune photo by JIM REED

Lakeland's Aaron Truedell gets stopped by St. Thomas Aquinas in the State Championship game.

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TBO.com

Published: December 19, 2008

If there was any doubt that Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas was worthy of being the nation's top-ranked team, it proved it in just two plays Friday night in the Class 5A state championship football game at the Citrus Bowl.

Gabrison Holmes' 53-yard touchdown reception set the tone as St. Thomas Aquinas crushed Lakeland, 56-7 , to finish the season 15-0.

Holmes' TD was part of a 28-point first quarter in which it took just eight offensive plays to score three touchdowns. On its second possession, James White capped off a four-play drive with a 45-yard TD run. After Giovanni Bernard's 57-yard run set up Ryan Becker's 1-yard score made it 21-0, Aquinas' defense got into the scoring act.

Connor O'Neill's 20-yard interception return of an errant pass by Lakeland's Jarred Haggins made it 28-0.

Aquinas added another touchdown just before halftime on Dwayne Difton's 12-yard reception.

Lakeland (14-1) got on the scoreboard 23 seconds into the third quarter when Haggins and wide receiver Javares McRoy connected on an 86-yard scoring pass.

However, Aquinas answered that touchdown a minute later and by the fourth quarter, a running clock was used.

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