Saint Thomas Aquinas passes Manatee

Manatee's Jalen Bryant scores on a TD pass from Andrew Heidel in a Class 5A semifinal game against St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday night.

BRADENTON – The visiting St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders needed all of their championship skills to advance to their sixth straight state title game on Friday night.

The five-time defending state champions received a 27-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass from quarterback Andrew Indorf, the Raiders’ only TD of the game, to secure a 16-13 victory over the host Manatee Hurricanes in a quarterfinal class semifinal game 5A at Joe Kinnan Field at Hawkins Stadium.

The win advanced the Raiders (11-3) to the 5A championship game. STA will face Lakeland, a 34-33 semifinal winner over Niceville, on Thursday at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium on the campus of Florida International University at 7:30 p.m. The Hurricanes (10-2) were trying to play in their first state title game since 2011, when they won the crown under head coach Joe Kinnan.

On Friday night, a 59-yard TD run from running back KeiShawn Smith in the first quarter and a 36-yard scoring pass from Andrew Heidel in the second quarter to Jalen Bryant gave Manatee a 13-9 lead at the end of the third period leadership lay. The Raiders, who scored 571 points in their last 13 games, managed just three Nicholas Romero field goals despite entering the Hurricane’s red zone three times.

But faced with a third-and-13 from his own 27, Heidel tried to hit one of his receivers with a short inside slant. But Raider cornerback Zayden Gamble read the play perfectly and went inside to intercept the ball – Heidel’s fourth pick of the year.

The Raiders took over at the Hurricane 27 and wasted no time after the turnover. Indorf, who has offers from Wagner and North Carolina A&T, found tight end Cameron Roberts on the Manatee seam for the 27-yard TD. With 10 minutes left in the fourth period, the Raiders had their first lead at 16-13 since they took a 3-0 lead in the first period. The 27-yard completion was Indorf’s longest of the evening (20 of 30, 183 yards).

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