For the St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders, this Friday night is special for a number of reasons.

As the unbeaten and No. 1 Raiders get set to take on their nemesis, the Lakeland Dreadnaughts in the 5A state football finals at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, the 7:00 kickoff will have new meaning to players, coaches and fans.

For the fourth straight year, and the first time in Broward County history, the state of Florida is playing for a mythical, but so coveted national title. A win by the 14-0 Raiders and the celebration will begin, but this game will not be easy.

Lakeland has been down the road before, and while both teams are unbeaten, the motivation here is plain and simple. Losing is NOT a option. Very few teams ever have the opportunity to be in this situation, and whether they use the past losses to Lakeland to get them more pumped up or not really means little.

What will be determined on the football field will be a second state title, and most importantly, a national title, which is determined by many who never watched any other teams play. Still, it is the only measuring stick they have to rate high school football teams, and by the luck of being on national TV in Ohio in the first game of the season, the Raiders received the right exposure needed. That's why this Friday night means just about everything to these players, coaches and alumni who have been proud of what head coach George Smith and his team have accomplished.

By beating Largo at home last Friday night, the countdown began as thousands of fans will head to Orlando for a matchup that has everyone watching. Teams from across the country who still have a chance to slide in to that No. 1 spot will be rooting against the Raiders, but anyone who has watched this program play during the past 15 weeks cannot take away the fact that this is a machine.

If the Raiders keep the mistakes at a minimum and play the game that brought them to this game, this will be over by halftime. Lakeland is good, but has played way too many close games against average competition. St. Thomas is loaded on both sides of the ball with college prospects starting and serving as backup. That means that nearly 36 top-flight prospects would have to have a bad game all at once to for this to even be a close contest, and if you've watched this program as many times as I have, you will understand that there will be no letdowns.

This is a team that averages over 40 points per game with game-breakers in every direction. They run the ball, catch as well as anyone and have a line that dominates the action up front.

Defensively, this is a unit that has flown way beneath the radar screen. Because the Raiders score so many points, the defense usually gets lost in the shuffle, and by yielding the opposition to just 9 points per game, this is where the game will be won. The defensive speed will harass the young Lakeland team, which has only lost two games in the past four years.

While Coach Smith downplays the dominance of his football team, the key word here is confidence. The Raiders have to be as confident as anyone in the nation after putting together a year in which they outscored the opposition, 639-110! They also blew threw all four opponents in the playoffs, setting up this game with a team that has dashed the Raiders' hopes through the years.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS    
While Lakeland barely got past Pensacola Pine Forest, 22-21 in its Class 5A semifinal game, St. Thomas Aquinas handled its business by beating Largo 35-14.

Junior Giovanni Bernard rushed for a game-high 171 yards, senior Ryan Becker threw for 148 yards and three touchdowns and St. Thomas never trailed in front of a home crowd of nearly 4,000.

The Raiders will head to the Orlando Citrus Bowl for their 5A title match up against Lakeland, which beat them in the championship game in 1996, 2004, 2005 and, most relevant to the current group, 2006 -- 45-42 in double overtime.

After Largo went three-and-out on its first possession, punter/quarterback Ryan Eppes botched an 18-yard punt, and the Raiders took over at Largo's 41-yard line. Fourteen seconds and two plays later, junior James White ran it in from 13 yards out to give St. Thomas a 7-0 lead.

The Raiders then used two critical interceptions to break Largo's back and go into halftime with a three-score lead.

The first came at the start of the second quarter on a pick by Cody Riggs, which led to a 20-yard touchdown pass from Becker to Duran Carter for a 14-0 lead.

You can reach Larry Blustein via e-mail at FloridaKids1@hotmail.com. He can also be heard every Thursday night (9-10) on the Miami Dolphins High School Gridiron Report on WQAM (560 AM).