A Record Setting Night
By Rudy Rodriguez-Chomat
Sept. 5, 2002

            It wasn't the Tyrone Moss show this time, but the Ely Tigers show as the Tigers came together as a team and shut down St. Thomas Aquinas to end the Raiders three-year Broward County winning streak.

            Behind Moss' 139 yards rushing on 22 carries and 2 TD runs, Ely opened a 17-3 lead in the 3rd quarter after a 3-3 tie at the half, but the score was not indicative of the control the Tigers had of the game from the opening kickoff.

            Behind the offensive line wall led by Andrew Bain and Cyrim Wimbs, the Tigers over powered the Raiders smaller defensive line and pounded the ball from the onset with Moss following the two giants on the right side.

            Although Moss didn't have the monster numbers he usually does versus other opponents, he pounded the ball in the first half under a torrential rain that made the ball very slick causing numerous fumbles on both sides of the ball including one by Moss on the Aquinas 3-yard line when he was about to score.

            "I really didn't care about yards or touchdowns because I just wanted to win this game and beat St. Thomas," Moss said, who also broke the touchdown and yardage records in Broward County.

            Although Ely came in ranked #1 in the Class 5A state rankings, there were questions on whether or not they could pull out the big game, but they proved all the naysayers wrong with a total dismantling of the Raiders.

            "I think some of those people had the right to say that," Ely coach Steve Davis said. "In the last few years, we have come up short and have lost games a lot of people thought we should have won. This win lifts the psyche of this time because we know we can beat one of the elite teams in the state"

            Linebackers Clint Session and Johnathan Edwards keyed the defensive onslaught on Aquinas holding them to 3 points through the first 59 minutes of the game. Edwards had a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception in the first half alone.

            The Raiders scored a touchdown in the final minute of the game making it somewhat interesting in the end when the Tigers had virtually cleared their bend, but Ely recovered the onside kick and ran the final minute out to claim the victory.

            First game jitters though clearly plagued Aquinas quarterback Chris Carr as he felt the heat of the Tigers defensive line constantly in his backfield every time he dropped back to throw, even though at times they weren't there.

            "We are a young team and made a bunch of errors," Aquinas coach George Smith said. "I think a lot of the mistakes are fixable, but if we don't learn from them, it's going to be a long year."

            Either way, Ely is the king of the hill right now.