ORLANDO — Plant High's pristine run drew comparisons to the 2006 team that capped off an undefeated season with the school's first state title.
Everything aligned. The Panthers were home throughout the playoffs, just like in 2006. Even the date of the state championship game was the same as that magical season a decade ago.
Still, the Panthers went into Friday night's Class 7A title game as heavy underdogs. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (12-2) was ranked 10th in the nation by MaxPreps.
Plant (13-1) ended up being mere foils in the Raiders' quest for a third straight championship. St. Thomas Aquinas racked up yards, piled on points and cruised to a 45-6 victory in a game that was over by halftime.
The Raiders, who won their 10th overall title, have been the Panthers' biggest nemesis — at least when it comes to state title games. Plant's only losses in the state championship were both against St. Thomas Aquinas.
At practice this week, Plant coach Robert Weiner talked to his players about how powerful the Raiders were. He reminded them of the Panthers' 2006 team that beat nationally-ranked Miami Booker T. Washington in the playoffs that year. Weiner mentioned how role players came up with big plays a decade ago. Weiner told them they could do it again.
The start of the game was promising. Plant (13-1) forced Aquinas to punt. Led by quarterback Dane Frantzen, the Panthers drove into Raiders' territory. The drive ended on a Frantzen interception.
St. Thomas Aquinas turned that turnover into points as Florida commit Jake Allen hit West Virginia commit Michael Harley on a 24-yard touchdown.
The mistakes continued for Plant. A mishandled snap on a punt led to another Raiders score as Allen hit Joshua Palmer, a Syracuse recruit, on a 28-yard pass to make it 14-0 in the first.
Aquinas added to its lead in the second quarter on Illinois commit Michael Epstein's 1-yard touchdown run on fourth down.
Trailing 21-0, the Panthers had their best drive of the night. Frantzen hit Whop Philyor on a 50-yard screen pass. That set up Frantzen's 1-yard rushing touchdown. The extra point was blocked.
The Raiders responded as Marco Salani connected on a 22-yard field goal. Frantzen (11-of-26, 109 yards passing) threw another pick in the final two minutes of the first half. Allen made them pay, throwing an 18-touchdown pass to Jordan Merrell for a 31-6 halftime lead.
It was the most points the Panthers had allowed all season.
Big leads are something Aquinas specialized in throughout the postseason. The Raiders won their previous four playoffs games by a combined 168-18. They had halftime leads of 20 points or more in each one.
"St. Thomas Aquinas is a tremendous team and to beat a team like that you have to make plays," Weiner said. "We didn't; they did. And they made a ton of them."
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Explore all your optionsAllen finished with 329 yards passing and five touchdowns.
"It's hard to talk about right now," Frantzen said. "Obviously we wanted to go out on top, and we didn't have the game we wanted to have. But if you looked at our guys at the beginning of the season, no one would have thought we would have made it this far.
"I'm just so proud of what we were able to do."