No. 19 Booker T. Washington stuns No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas with late interception

Video: No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas goes down in dramatic fashion

With 14 state titles and three national championships between them, you knew St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) vs. Booker T. Washington (Miami) could be a game for the ages in South Florida on Friday night.

It was. And then some.

No. 19 Booker T. continued its mercurial early-season rise on the national stage by rallying in dramatic fashion in the fourth quarter and knocking off No. 1 Aquinas, 27-23, at Traz Powell Stadium.

View MaxPreps live play-by-play scoring of Aquinas/Booker T.

Daniel Richardson's 18-yard pass to Sharod Johnson with 2:26 left in regulation put the Tornadoes (1-0) ahead to stay. Johnson was close to being called out of bounds on the left side of the end zone on the play. Following a 40-minute lightning delay, their try for the 2-point conversion failed. Aquinas (0-1), drove back down the field in the final seconds and appeared to have regained the lead on a Jake Allen to Trevon Grimes 22-yarder but Grimes was ruled to have been stopped inches short of the goal line. On first-and-inches, Booker T. Washington intercepted an Allen pass to clinch it.

Aquinas, which crushed Booker T. a year ago by a 35-3 score, was seemingly in control in the final five minutes of regulation, in possession of the ball and in the lead (23-21). But Rishard Dames' interception of an Allen pass set up Booker T. for the game-winning 27-yard drive.

The Tornadoes, unranked in some polls early in the preseason, dominated nationally ranked Plantation American Heritage in a preseason game a week ago, serving notice that the four-time defending FHSAA Class 4A champs should be taken seriously.

Point taken.

Marco Salani kicked three field goals for Aquinas. The Raiders also received a boost from running back and Illinois commit Mike Epstein, who missed all of the 2015 season with a knee injury.

View the MaxPreps Florida High School Football Scoreboard for Aug 26