Jake Ruddock avenged the loss last year that kept St. Thomas Aquinas from maybe being not only a state champion, but a national champion last year by leading the Raiders to a 23-7 win over defending Florida state champion Miramar on friday night. Even though he threw his first two interceptions of the year in the second half, his 1 yard touchdown run helped sealed what was a very tough game. Miramar is a powerhouse program that lost 8-9 starters from the championship team of last year. They held St. Thomas to a 27 yard fieldgoal in the second half. Ruddock is calm, cool and collected and is an impressive leader. The kid is extremely intelligent and reminds me of Stanzi for poise and control. He just knows how to win. If St. Thomas can win out with victories over Manatee and Bradenton or one of the other powerhouse teams in Florida, the number 6 in the nation Raiders may end up challenging for the National Championship. Jake will be a 4 star by the time he ends his career and would probably be there already if he had committed to one of the supposedly "Elite" programs instead of Iowa. We have our future QB in the fold and I will be anxious for him to be tutored by Vandenberg for a year or two.
