Manatee High School’s football playoff run ends with home loss to St. Thomas Aquinas

Thirteen years after their last state championship, the Manatee Hurricanes were poised to play for another one.

But starting running back KeiShawn Smith left Friday night’s Class 5A state semifinal against Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas with an elbow injury in the third quarter.

And a second turnover came in the fourth quarter, resulting in a Raiders’ touchdown en route to a 16-13 victory over Manatee at Joe Kinnan Field at Hawkins Stadium in Bradenton.

Despite the two second-half setbacks, the Canes (10-2) had a chance in their final possession to tie or grab the lead. But the 12-play drive stalled at the STA 30 yard line with Manatee turning the ball over on downs.

Aquinas ran out the clock from there.

“KeiShawn’s a great back, we need him in a crunch time like that — but no excuses — we still had chances,” Manatee head coach Jacquez Green said. “We moved the ball down the field, then made the penalty that gave us a first down and then couldn’t get them in the end.”

Aquinas faces Lakeland in next Friday’s state championship game at South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium in Miami. The Dreadnaughts beat Niceville, 34-33, in triple overtime to advance to their third straight state title game.

Meanwhile, Aquinas will aim to add to its state record 15 state championships.

On Friday at Hawkins Stadium, Manatee’s defense stymied the Raiders in a bend, but not break fashion for three quarters. The Hurricanes forced four field goal attempts on the first five STA possessions. The Raiders cashed those attempts into nine points.

Despite STA chewing up tons of clock throughout the game, Manatee had a 13-6 lead at halftime. The Hurricanes only ran 15 plays in the first half, but scored two touchdowns — including their first two drives.

Smith and quarterback Andrew Heidel keyed the offense with Smith exploding around the Raiders’ defense for a 59-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and Heidel connecting with Jalen Bryant for a 36-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter.

But Bryant fumbled late in the second quarter and Heidel, an Army commit, threw an interception in the fourth quarter.

The pick set up Andrew Indorf’s 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cameron Roberts just seven seconds after the possession change.

“You can’t turn the ball over against a good team like that,” Green said.

Aquinas started the game by recovering an onside kick. Green said that killed the first half since they only had 15 plays.

“Can’t score points when your offense isn’t on the field,” he said.