Instant Classic

Since the matchups for Florida high school football championship games aren't decided until the semifinals are played one week earlier, TV guys who are asked to provide play-by-play have precious little time to prepare. And since the Florida High School Athletic Association doesn't ask the finalists to provide official rosters and updated stats until the Monday before the FHSAA Finals, this TV guy pretty much had his hair on fire for all of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday last week before jetting down to Dolphin Stadium to call four championship games in twenty-four hours. So a note to parents, players, alumni, and friends of the eight schools involved - if you watched one of the two games we televised live, or plan to watch any of those four games on tape-delay this holiday season, and you happen to hear me butcher some kid's name, please accept my apologies. We did the best we could with the resources we had available.

Secondly, I heard a rumor that some of the Sun Sports viewers who caught my act with Brady Ackerman during our live telecast of the Class 4A championship game between Tampa's Plant High School and Nease High School from Ponte Vedra Beach may have misunderstood a nugget I threw out. According to the FHSAA's records, the last high school from the city of Tampa to win a state football championship was Blake High in 1969. If you expand the parameters to include "greater Tampa" or the "Tampa Bay area," you've got Bradenton Southeast winning back-to-back titles in 1993 and '94. Armwood High in Seffner also went back-to-back with championships in 2003 and '04, but I've never considered Seffner to be "greater Tampa," even though the two burgs are only 13 miles apart. I guess I draw the line at Interstate 75. Still, I did mention Armwood's titles, and all of the above points, on the air during that 4A game on Saturday, but some of it may have been lost in translation. Rest assured, every point I made was grounded in research. A lot of it. With hair on fire.

Now that we've got that out of the way, I come to my point: the Class 5A championship game on Friday night between Lakeland High School and Ft. Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas was the best football game I have ever witnessed, at any level. Ever. Period.

For those who missed it - and the highlights were all over "SportsCenter" and ESPNews the following day, so I can't imagine how that's possible - the Lakeland Dreadnaughts beat the Raiders of STA in double overtime, marking the third straight year that these two programs have met in the state final, with the same result - three consecutive titles for Lakeland, considered by many to be the top high school football program in the country. But the final score of 45-42 doesn't do the game justice. I'm not sure anything can do this game justice.

As my friend John Buccigross said on SportsCenter that night, "the people who saw this game will be talking about it for the rest of their lives."

Here's the recap, for those who haven't seen it yet:

Lakeland led 21-0 to start the final period, as Florida prospect Chris Rainey scored twice on rushing touchdowns, the second a scintillating 73-yard dash at the beginning of the second quarter. St. Thomas Aquinas didn't get on the board - didn't get on the freaking board - until 6:07 in the 4th, when Jeremiah Harden plunged in from a yard out. 21-7, Lakeland.

With 4:21 left, another future Gator, Paul Wilson, carried the rock for a 4-yard score to make it 28-7. In the booth, Brady and I started ruminating on the impact of Lakeland's third straight title and 45-game winning streak, both of which seemed inevitable. Only natural. 28-7 with less than five minutes left.

What a stupid I am.

On the first play of the next possession, Harden goes 72 yards for another Aquinas touchdown, burning only 18 seconds off the clock. 28-14. Lakeland gets the ball back and requires only three plays to extend the lead back to 21, as Rainey does it again, this time from 55 yards out.

I should mention, at this point, that Rainey is unbelievable. He's two gears faster than anyone on the field. I should also mention that Brady and I were shaking our heads at the knowledge that remote controls were being flipped all over Florida. If the live audience on FSN Florida matched the attitudes of many fans in the seats at Dolphin Stadium - the ones who were glumly inching toward the exits at this point - it was a sure thing. 35-14, 2:25 left.

Now, it gets insane.

STA runs the ensuing kickoff back 51 yards to give themselves excellent field position at the Lakeland 23. Five plays later, Aquinas QB Wesley Carroll - the kid who hurt his shoulder in the playoffs and supposedly hasn't thrown a ball in practice in two weeks - barrels into the end zone to make it 35-21. One minute and 47 seconds on the clock.

Did I mention that St. Thomas Aquinas had no time outs? Oh.

They line up for the onsides kick, which never works. It NEVER WORKS. Only it works, because Aquinas's kicker, Wesley Byrum, is really, really good at it. Tommy Tuberville should seriously enjoy his work at Auburn next season.

The Raiders then march 43 yards in three plays - burning all of 19 seconds off the clock - before Harden goes in again at 1:28. 35-28. Lakeland is dazed. Brady and I are hyperventilating.

Aquinas lines up for ANOTHER onsides kick, which NEVER WORKS. It sure as hell can't work again, I know that.

Bingo. I am hopping up and down in the press box. Brady is speechless. St. Thomas Aquinas has the ball, again, with less than 90 seconds to play and a one-touchdown deficit.

Wesley Carroll, who is channeling Brett Favre at this point, drives his team 31 yards in four plays, aided by a personal foul against Lakeland. Leonard Hankerson tippy-toes the sideline for a TD catch. We're tied at 35.

That's 35 points scored by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourth quarter. Correction - that's 35 points scored by St. Thomas Aquinas in eight minutes and 49 seconds. With two onsides kicks and three touchdowns from Jeremiah Harden. In eight minutes and 49 seconds.

Overtime. Over-freaking-time.

Aquinas scores first - Harden again, his 4th of the night, holy cripes - and takes its first lead of the game. Lakeland answers, finally, with a Jamar Taylor TD. 42-42. Double overtime.

The Raiders defense holds, limiting the Dreadnaughts to a field goal. 45-42.

The final play of the game is one that will be analyzed, and questioned, forever. St. Thomas Aquinas head coach George Smith, 30 years on campus, a man who has won three state titles but has lost 6 times in the championship game, makes a fateful decision on fourth-and-one.

Go for it. Harden again.

Not this time.

Harden is stopped at the goal line, and the celebration begins for the Dreadnaughts. Lakeland's third straight title, all against Aquinas. Coach Smith is now 3-7 in state title games.

Brady and I are exhausted. My father-in-law called me the next day to compliment us on the broadcast, saying that we were professional when appropriate, and completely lost our marbles when appropriate. How could we not? It was the best football game I have ever seen.

Play-by-play assignments can be a real slog. The research required to make it sound "smooth" is mind-numbingly tedious, and the information is often incredibly difficult to come by, especially for high school teams. The travel sucks, sometimes. You don't sleep much. Studio work is much more controlled, with plenty of time to ease into the show.

But weekends like this remind me why I love live games so much. I've been to almost every NBA arena, several MLB ballparks, the Indy 500, the Boston Marathon, you name it - Friday night in Miami was one of the most exciting, breathtaking, absurdly wonderful sporting events I have ever had the fortune to witness.

Simply put, it was the best football game I have ever seen. Ever. Period.