Delray Beach, FL.- Welcome to the Elite 8 ladies and gentlemen.

Tonight (November 29), we’ve got a high powered high school football matchup that holds national implications as #7 St Thomas Aquinas travels to Delray Beach to face off against #32 Atlantic for the FHSAA 5A Regional Finals. Leading into this matchup, it’s blatantly obvious that tonight’s game has the potential to be one of the top head to heads across the State.

This week’s edition of the “New Era Prep Game of the Week” features two of the most complete teams to touch the field. Both squads possess high flying, explosive offenses that are fortified by a lights out, suffocating defense.

Let’s break this one down:

St. Thomas Aquinas

As I assume most know by now, St. Thomas Aquinas is perennially one of the nation’s premier programs, constantly defeating the best of the best, while churning out elite talent prepared for the next level. Aquinas enters tonight’s game 9-3, paving their way for another State run. Offensively, the Raiders are led by QB Andrew Indorf (’25), who’s recorded just over 2,000 yards and 26 touchdowns on the year. The senior quarterback is one of the top dual threats in Broward County, using his legs to record another 164 yards and 6 scores. Indorf isn’t the only rushing threat inside the backfield, as classmate Cedric Wyche II has stepped into the role of a true workhorse back, recording 593 yards and 8 TD’s on an incredible 8.6 yards per carry.

STA does an incredible job balancing out the offense, as the Raiders are just as lethal in the air as they are on the ground. Aquinas boasts four receivers that currently hold 25+ catches and 300 + yards on the year. The elite four-horsemen receiver rotation of Julius Jones, Ah’Mari Stevens, Branden Hoch and Cameron Roberts are a matchup nightmare. All season, Indorf has done an excellent job at picking apart matchups and zones, finding his hot hand on the day.

Defensively, St. Thomas boasts the no fly zone secondary. The Raiders’ secondary is fortified by the elite play of DB Justice Fitzpatrick (’26.) Fitzpatrick is another member of the long list of elite shutdown corners to come out of Broward County. This season, Justice has allowed minimal targets, recording 27 TOT, 4 PBU’s and 1 INT.

Atlantic

Let’s talk about tonight’s gracious hosts, the Atlantic Eagles. The Eagles are one of the top squads in Palm Beach, standing at 11-1 on the year. Offensively, the Eagles are led by standout senior QB Lincoln Graf. Graf, a four year starter at Atlantic, has recorded 3,150 yards and 35 passing touchdowns, alongside 370 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns in 2025. With Atlantic having such elite QB play, the Eagles receiver trio of Teddy Hoffmann, James Jones and Kemari Walcott have exploded onto the scene. Hoffmann, who’s played like the best receiver in South Florida all season, enters tonight’s game sitting just under 1,000 receiving yards and 19 scores. Atlantic also features an elite backfield tandem of DeAndre Desinor and Dylan Ellie. Entering tonight, Desinor sits just under 1,000 offensive yards (992) plus 11 end zone trips.

Defensively, the Eagles have fielded an absolutely suffocating defense. Atlantic’s front seven is fortified by the elite senior season of EDGE Kelvin McCray. McCray holds 76 TOT, 32 TFL and 15 Sacks. Moving into the middle of the field, Atlantic boasts the hard hitting linebacker duo of Sam Bryant and Moise Paul. Bryant enters tonights game with 72 TOT, 17 TFL, 2 Sacks and 1 INT, while Paul holds 71 TOT, 12 TFL 4 Sacks.

Analysis

Tonight’s matchup comes down to the battle of wills. Who’s going to hit, get hit and keep getting up. I project a high flying offensive attack from both sides. Both Atlantic and STA heavily rely on their passing offense, and both QB’s have shown more comfortability when the passing attack is rolling. Being able to get playmakers the ball is priority number one, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see different schemes than usual to try to confuse the defenses.

Be prepared for at least one fake trick play tonight. In a game as tight as this one, you’re going to need to steal possessions in order to stay alive. One of the biggest advantages for Atlantic tonight may be the community of Delray Beach. Atlantic is a team that always brings a turnout to home games, now adding a matchup vs a national power house, let’s just say tickets are long gone.

This is going to be an absolute thrilling game, and I can’t wait to see what’s to come. As always tune into New Era Prep company social media accounts for live updates for all things South Florida High School Football.