St. Thomas Aquinas' Rocco Casullo Talks About 2011 Season on NHSCA Sports Hour

by Jeff Fisher
Florida High School Football Huddle

Rocco Casullo has big shoes to fill, and he talked about that on Sunday's NHSCA Sports Hour.

Spring practice began Monday for Casullo, who is getting ready for his first season as the head coach of national power St. Thomas Aquinas.  He talked about following in the footsteps of the legendary George Smith, who resigned earlier this year after leading the Raiders to six state titles and two "mythical" national titles.

The real test for Casullo will come in the first three weeks of the season when the Raiders play Alabama-power Prattville, Cypress Bay (2010 Florida semifinalist) and De La Salle (2010 California Champ) on back-to-back-to-back weekends.

My interview with Casullo will be posted later this week at www.artistfirst.com/nhsca.htm.

Here's a look at the 2011 St. Thomas Aquinas schedule...

8/27 - @ Prattville (AL)
9/9 - Cypress Bay
9/23 - De La Salle (CA)
9/30 - @ McArthur
10/6 - Miramar
10/14 - South Broward
10/21 - Nova
10/28 - @ Plantation
11/4 - Cooper City
11/11 - @Deerfield Beach

St. Thomas Aquinas and De La Salle Set to Meet on ESPN

by Jeff Fisher

Florida High School Football Huddle

They've been two of the best high school football programs in their respective states for a long time...now De La Salle (Concord, CA) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) will square-off on the field for bragging rights.  And, ESPN will be there to capture the action and give a national audience a look at the California/Florida bragging rights battle.

ESPN officials have announced they will televise the September 23rd match-up live on one of their networks.  Last year STA won Florida's 5A championship; De La Salle, which is riding a 25-game win streak, won California's Open Division title.

Of course that 25-game win streak doesn't hold a candle to the Spartans' national record 151-game win streak that was set between 1992-2003.

Maybe the only disappointment about the game is that long-time Raider head coach George Smith won't be guiding his team.  Smith announced earlier this year that he had decided to retire.  If the legendary Smith, who led Aquinas to six state titles, hadn't stepped-down, the game would have matched two of high school football's best.  De La Salle's Bob Ladouceur owns a 372-23-3 record since he took over in Concord in 1979.

"Playing a great program like St. Thomas Aquinas is a positive opportunity. Win or lose, they'll make us a better team. It should be an exciting game," said Ladouceur in a news release.

Former defensive coordinator Rocco Casullo will take over for Smith, but it was the former coach who spoke about the match-up in the ESPN news release saying "To have the chance to play a program like De La Salle is a great challenge for our program and to us a great thing for high school football in both states. It should be an outstanding game for both schools, both states and fans of high school football nationwide."

George Smith Retires as St. Thomas Aquinas Football Coach

by Jeff Fisher

Florida High School Football Huddle

The man who built St. Thomas Aquinas (Ft. Lauderdale) into a Florida and national high school football power is stepping down after 34 years of coaching.

George Smith's number are mind boggling...a career record of 361-66 for an incredible winning percentage of .845, six state championships and two "mythical" national championships.  Then there are the hundred of kids he sent into the college ranks, plus 30 former players who made it to the NFL.

The school has announced that defensive coordinator Rocco Casullo is the Raiders new head coach.