The Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas Raiders will play in a state championship game for the 17th time this Friday evening. The Raiders have won 9  state championships and will be looking for a 3peat in 2016. Last week in the Class 7A semifinals, St. Thomas trounced the Venice Indians 46-8 to earn the right to defend their spot as reigning Class 7A champions.
The school with the task of taking down powerhouse St. Thomas goes to the Tampa Plant Panthers. Plant punched its ticket to Orlando by defeating the Jacksonville Robert E. Lee Generals 27-19 at home last week.
Plant is no stranger to state championship football, the Panthers have won four state championships since 2006 and have finished as state runner up once during that span.