Well, it took St. Thomas Aquinas less than five minutes to show they could replace a quarterback an three starting receivers last Saturday at the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series in Columbus, Ohio.

The Raiders, who were national champions last year, began the 2009 season in the same position, and while some wanted to doubt this football team, they showed the entire nation that repeating as the No. 1 team in the country is very much a possibility.

Having been around this team and its players for much of the summer, you could tell that St. Thomas would be a good football team, but there were far too many questions that needed to be answered before putting them in the same sentence as last year's team that simply ripped through the 15 game schedule and captured a second straight 5A title.

While there are numerous hurdles still to clear, with a home game in two weekes against Boyd Anderson and then a game on Oct. 2 with No. 2 national powerhouse Byrnes, S.C., there is a good feeling about this quality program after watching them take apart Ohio power Upper Arlington, 52-7.

The question going into the game was what would happen on the offensive side of the ball. Sure, we all knew that running backs Giovanni Bernard and James White were as good as you get, and the line with Brandon Linder was one of the strengths. But quarterback was a real concern. After losing Ryan Becker and Wesley Carroll, who piloted this offense for the past five years, the mystery of which signal caller would step up was something that even head coach George Smith was unsure of – as recent as last week.

Within the first five minutes of the game, junior Jake Ruduck, who has been with the program the past two years, answered the question – in a major way. This talented prospect quickly showed why I have been sold on him since last year. With his size and athletic ability, he just may be one of the most successful quarterbacks the school has produced.

Receiver was another position that many had pointed to. After losing Duron Carter (Ohio State), Dwayne Difton (UConn) and Gabe Holmes (Purdue), it was a matter of who would step up, and when juniors Rashad Green and Phil Dorsett, and seniors James Dolan and Lamarcus Joyner began to catch the ball, that question was put to rest.

Defensively, the Raiders were expected to dominate, and they certainly did. The first pass the Bears threw was picked off by Raiders defensive back Cody Riggs. Upper Arlington didn't attempt another toss until the second quarter and after two incompletions and their first completion, Keion Payne snared another interception for Aquinas.

On offensive, Bernard ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns, and White added 71 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Last season, the Raiders opened up their season in Cincinnati at the Herbstreit Series by beginning slowly before putting away Elder (Cincinnati) 35-24. This time around, their start was anything but slow.

On the very first series of the game, this team showed just how impressive they were as they took the opening kickoff and marched 85 yards in 11 plays before scoring on a 1-yard run by White, followed by the point-after kick by University of Tennessee bound Mike Palardy.

It didn't take this team long to set the tempo. Just over a later, the Raiders went up 14-0 after Riggs intercepted a Kyle Cassady pass at the Upper Arlington 19 and Bernard went in from the 3 two plays later.

St. Thomas went up 21-0 after the defense held Upper Arlington and Green returned a punt 24 yards , setting up a 39-yard run by Bernard. Rudock showed he how impressive he will be when he ran it in from 5-yards out and the Raiders were rolling at 28-0.

In winnings its 25th consecutive game, the Raiders did have some penalties that need to be cut down on, but overall, how could anyone have anything negative to say, in any form, after watching this team come out and completely dominate an Ohio State power at home!

St. Thomas will now enjoy this week off as they get ready for the Sept. 11 home opener against a talented Boyd Anderson team. A program that has gotten better over the summer, and understands that just to stay in the game with the Raiders, they will have to play completely mistake free football, which head coach Mark James and his team have not been able to do the past few years in big game.

It's opening week of the season and here is a look at some games to check out among BCAA teams:

Cardinal Gibbons at Taravella
Monarch at Douglas
Coconut Creek at Deerfield Beach
South Broward at Hallandale
Hollywood Hills at Miami Belen Jesuit
Boyd Anderson at Cypress Bay
Cooper City at McArthur
Piper at Coral Glades
Fort Lauderdale at Coral Springs
South Plantation at Everglades
Miramar at Miami Monsignor Pace
Northeast at Plantation
University School at Nova
Somerset Academy at Pompano Beach
West Broward at Western

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).