It's official.

The St. Thomas Aquinas football team is a National Champion.

The Raiders earned the distinction by ESPN Rise Fab 50 Poll and PrepNation's final National Prep Poll, following Friday's 56-7 victory over nationally ranked Lakeland for the Class 5A state championship. St. Thomas (15-0) finished with back-to-back state championships and 24 consecutive victories

"They were so balanced and very impressive," PrepNation founder and Publisher Jamie DeMoney said. "I've been doing the poll for 10 years and they were as impressive as any team I have seen."

Click here to read more of this story from the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Miami Northwestern, which goes for its third consecutive Class 6A state championship tonight against Seminole, is scheduled to drop to 5A for the 2009 and 2010 seasons based on the realignment plan unveiled by the Florida High School Activities Association this month.

But the Bulls don't want to go anywhere.

"We plan on staying in 6A," Billy Rolle, Northwestern's coach, said earlier this week. "We're looking to seek whatever we have to do to stay in the highest classification."

Speculation is that a number of Miami schools tentatively set to drop in classification will file requests to play up before final districts are announced in January. That could include Miami Central — which dealt Northwestern its only loss in three seasons this year. The Rockets fall from 6A to 4A based on enrollment, but may ask to be reclassified to 5A or 6A.

A number of perennial state powers could be on the move. Tampa Plant, which won the 4A title in 2006 and plays for another today, moves up to 5A.

Belle Glade Glades Central, which has won one state title in 4A and four in 3A, was placed in 2A but may ask to move back up.

Teams dropping from 5A to 4A in the plan include two of this year's 5A semifinalists, Largo (12-1) and Pensacola Pine Forest (12-1), along with Daytona Beach Mainland and Fort Lauderdale Dillard.

This year's 3A final four all drop, with state champ Cocoa, runner-up Godby and Dade City Pasco going to 2A, and Miami Monsignor Pace falling to 2B.

The 2A final four, including champ Jacksonville Bolles (14-0) and Madison County (11-1), drop to 2B.

 

The ending was fitting on an afternoon where miscues and two fast, aggressive defenses turned the Class 3A state championship game into almost three hours of futility for the guys trying to get points on the scoreboard.

 Anthony Session, a Cocoa linebacker, shot through a gap to block an extra-point try and pave the way for the Tigers (14-1) to win 7-6 in overtime over Tallahassee Godby (12-3) at the Citrus Bowl.

 Regulation ended in a 0-0 tie for the first time in the history of Florida High School Athletic Association championship games. After Godby scored but failed on its PAT, Cocoa tied the game on a 5-yard run up the middle by Anthony Wilson and won it on a successful extra-point kick by sophomore Cody Bell.

 Bell, who missed wide on field-goal tries of 34, 27 and 31 yards and was short on a 42-yard attempt, joined Session as heroes of a game where all the highly touted offensive playmakers were shut down.

 Cocoa managed only 152 yards on 57 plays. Godby turned the ball over four times and ruined a first-and-goal opportunity from the 2 in the fourth quarter with a 14-yard loss on a botched shotgun snap and a 15-yard penalty.

 Godby quarterback A.J. Graham, the state passing leader with 3,850 yards, was 20 of 35 for 218 yards but threw four interceptions. Three were picked off by E.J. Johnson.

 But Graham lofted a fade to wideout Willie Downs (7 catches, 82 yards) for a 10-yard TD on the second play of overtime. That gave Godby a 6-0 lead before Session broke through blockers to bat Billy Mueller's conversion kick with his right forearm.

 "I used my speed and cut through," he said. "Defense stepped up the whole game."

 Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas (15-0) put a fantastic finishing touch on state and national championships with a 56-7 romp past Lakeland (14-1) in Friday night's Class 5A state title game at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

 A paid crowd of 9,038 watched the Raiders jump out to a 21-0 lead on their seventh offensive play of the game and never look back.

 Aquinas, a consensus No. 1 in national polls, led 49-7 going into the fourth quarter, turning on the automatic running clock for "mercy rule" routs.
 The Raiders captured their fifth state title and dealt Lakeland its first loss in seven championship game appearances.

 "To be the No. 1 team in the nation, they played like it tonight," said Lakeland Coach Bill Castle, whose 2005 and 2006 title teams were ranked No. 1 nationally. "They just have one heck of a football team."

 Aquinas averaged 9.9 yards per play and set the tone by scoring on the second play of the game on a 53-yard pass from Ryan Becker to Gabrison Holmes.

 After stopping Lakeland cold on a fourth and less-than-a-yard try, the Raiders made it 14-0 when junior running back James White bolted straight up the middle for a 45-yard TD run.

 Another 56-yard breakaway run by Giovanni Bernard (8 carries, 104 yards) set up a quarterback sneak by Becker for a 21-0 lead. And the Raiders made it 28-0 with three minutes, 12 seconds to go in the first quarter when linebacker Conor O'Neil intercepted a pass and chugged 20 yards to the end zone.

 O'Neil also had 7 tackles, 4 assists and a fumble recovery.

 The margin of victory was the biggest for a final since Venice set records with a 77-14 win over Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer in the 2000 5A title game.

 It was also the most points allowed and worst loss in postseason play for six-time state champion Lakeland, which has a 50-16 playoff record. It surpassed the differential in a 55-21 regional loss to Sarasota Riverview in 1993.
 

Miami Northwestern, St. Thomas Aquinas, Tampa Plant and Tallahassee Godby.

Those are your projected winners of the final state football titles to be awarded in 2008, according to the Laz Index.