Treasure Coast hoping new and old tricks lead to success against St. Thomas Aquinas

Seizing opportunities and making the most of them have been what Treasure Coast's football team has done best through the first four weeks of the season.

Four victories all carrying significance in their own way have positioned the Titans to be a team to beat in Class 4S even with the season just at the midway point.

The opportunity that awaits Treasure Coast Friday night is one that will bring a lot of publicity with the Titans getting a shot at St. Thomas Aquinas, a 14-time state champion and winner of four straight state titles at Brian Piccolo Memorial Stadium.

For Treasure Coast head coach Irv Jones, the matchup is just another chance for his team to grow as they try to reach their potential.

"We expect nothing but the best from (St. Thomas Aquinas), with some of these new faces we've got, I don't think we're where we need to be at right now," Jones said. "As each week passes, we need to get better on offense and defense, we're still trying to figure out where everyone fits and see what we can and can't do. Hopefully this week, we just take another step at getting better."

More: TCPalm picks: Who will win in a week with huge tests for unbeaten teams?

A cat and mouse game

Last season at home, the Titans showed St. Thomas Aquinas they could stand tall after shutting the Raiders out in the first half for the first time in almost four years before eventually falling 21-7.

In that game, Treasure Coast had to try a few different things, throwing the ball off their single-wing looks to move the ball offensively against a veteran and talented Raider defense.

Through four games this season, the Titans have taken it a step further, putting the ball up with the right arm of Fort Pierce Central transfer Ahmar Atwell doing the job. It has made a big difference.

Atwell threw three in Treasure Coast's 67-28 thrashing of Tampa Jesuit, had a key touchdown pass in a 14-9 win over Seminole, and added three more touchdown passes last week in a 35-12 win over Martin County to begin District 12-4S play.

Knowing that St. Thomas Aquinas will be aware of Atwell and the offense that has featured the likes of junior Gabe Avin, senior George Roberts and junior Cam Harris in the passing game, Jones and the coaching staff will need to be prepared more than ever to make adjustments against the skill the Raiders possess defensively.

"We've got to be ready to make adjustments ourselves because you start looking at their defense and I think they may have one kid returning so we can see it on film but when we do stuff offensively, we don't see what they might do to us because nobody they're playing is lining up like us," Jones said. "It's almost like, it's playing a game within ourselves. We can't beat ourselves. It's always fun to me in these games when you can prepare and it's like playing chess within the game. We've got to be prepared as a staff to make those adjustments that need to be made offensively and defensively and I think we'll be OK."

What's waiting on the other side?

St. Thomas Aquinas will have familiar names from last year for the Titan coaching staff to prepare for.

Andrew Indorf threw for 298 yards filling in for injured starter Hezekiah Harris in last year's game. Thus far through four games, the junior has completed over 70% of his passes and has thrown six touchdowns against one interception.

Ohio State running back commit Jordan Lyle ran for only 25 yards on nine carries against the Titans last year, but through four games this season has run for 364 yards and five touchdowns and is joined in the backfield by UCF commit Stacy Gage.

Senior wide receivers Chance Robinson, a Miami commit, and James Madison II, a Missouri commit who caught two touchdowns against the Titans last season, are Indorf's top two targets, both off to strong starts this season.

Defensively, senior Kedrick Burley has led the way with five sacks and 11 tackles for a loss and junior Trevor Sommers has four sacks on the defensive line. Star sophomore Justice Fitzpatrick, the younger brother of Pittsburgh Steelers star Minkah Fitzpatrick, leads Aquinas in the secondary.

After a season-opening 20-7 loss to St. John Bosco out of California that snapped the Raiders' 27-game win streak, St. Thomas Aquinas blew out Fort Myers 49-0, controversially knocked off Cocoa 37-36 with a late field goal from Francesco Pileggi, and dusted off Western 48-22 last Thursday.

More: Referees association apologizes to Cocoa football for 'egregious' errors, suspends crew

Sticking to the script

All of the work Treasure Coast has put into the season has circled back to limiting self-inflicting moments, which is a staple of the Titans under Jones.

Avenging losses to Osceola, Jesuit and Seminole from last season's identical start to their schedule had the Titans flying high into last week's District 12-4S opener.

The 35-12 win over Martin County could have been the performance that displeased Jones the most with procedural penalties and mental errors popping up.

Hoping that his kids will have learned from those miscues, Jones has tried to downplay the magnitude of the moment awaiting, but in past years, Treasure Coast has done well handling success.

To kick off the 2021 season, the Titans took out nationally ranked American Heritage-Plantation that sparked their first-ever state semifinal appearance.

With another huge game waiting the following week at Cocoa, Jones is hopeful his kids don't get lured too much into one game and remember that the little things that they can control in every game have been why the Titans have been as successful as they have to start 2023.

"If you're a competitor and you want to compete, hey go out and compete," Jones said. "I just look for us to play Treasure Coast football, let's play versus us and let the chips fall where they may."

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Treasure Coast chasing another big win at St. Thomas Aquinas