HAPPY 25TH ANNIVERSARY
1983 CLASS 3A STATE CHAMPIONS
One of the most difficult things for any athletic team to do, at any level of competition, is to win back-to back championship titles…to repeat! The 1983 Titusville Terriers football team did just that, winning a 2nd consecutive 3A state title with a 28-21 victory over Palatka High School in late December at historic Draa Field.
This 2008 football season marks the “25th Anniversary” of that remarkable and memorable feat.
The 1983 squad, again under head coach Al Werneke, had the unenviable task of following the 1982 team and their unforgettable accomplishments. There was tremendous pressure on both the players and the coaches to perform similar heroics. And what heroics they did perform. Titusville’s awesome defense was led by linebacker Anthony Mills (Space Coast Defensive Player of the Year) with 116 tackles and 8 interceptions and defensive tackle Sheldon Powell’s 81 stops and an incredible 14 quarterback sacks. The Terrier defense was the difference in the 4 playoff games, allowing only 27 points scored and recording two shutouts.
To the 1983 Terrier offense, field position was of little concern…..seventeen times that season Titusville scored a touchdown from 50 yards out or more! Led by junior quarterback Anthony Mitchell (Space Coast Offensive Player of the Year), senior fullback Darryll Gaymon (1369 yards rushing), junior halfback Wayne Williams (1004 yards rushing), and senior halfback Mike Cadore (1130 yards rushing and receiving), the Terrier’s gained over 5000 yards in total offense for a second consecutive season. Simply remarkable!
The 1983 team was blessed with talent! How much? Well, a school record 13 players were selected to the 1983 FLORIDA SPORTSWRITERS ASSOCIATION 3A ALL-STATE teams. We’re proud of that, very proud. But probably something that we are even more proud of is that from those 1982 and 1983 state championship teams, 19 THS athletes received college scholarships and 14 of those young men received their college degrees.
To all the players, the coaches, the THS faculty and staff, and to the many, many Terrier fans of that 1983 season, I wish you a “Happy 25th Anniversary”, a warm and sincere thank you, and my hope that God’s blessings will remain upon you, wherever you are today.
Dale Mays
Titusville Football
1976-1998
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The following are news articles from THS's Sectional Playoff game against St. Thomas Aquinas and can be found on the St Thomas Aquinas football web site:
TITUSVILLE ENDS ST. THOMAS’ STATE TITLE HOPES 33-7
St. Thomas 7, Titusville 33
TITUSVILLE -- Titusville High was the 1982 state Class 3A football champion and, judging by what it did to St. Thomas Friday night, probably will repeat this year.
With quarterback Anthony Mitchell running the triple-option offense to near perfection, Titusville rolled up 306 yards rushing against St. Thomas en route to a 33-7 victory over the Raiders in state semifinal play.
The loss ended St. Thomas’ bid to become the first Broward County team in a decade to reach a state football final. It was also the first loss after 11 consecutive wins for St. Thomas.
The game was never in doubt. All four Titusville backs picked apart the Raiders’ defense. What they lacked in power through the line they made up for on the outside with speed and quickness. St. Thomas defenders missed tackles, but the Terriers’ speed played a key role as Mitchell and halfbacks Wayne Williams and Mike Cadore reversed directions repeatedly to elude tacklers.
“We just didn’t play aggressively enough on defense,” St. Thomas linebacker Ken Green said. “We worked all week on defensing the wishbone. Sometimes what we did worked, but other times it didn’t. Titusville was a good ball club. Not the most physical we faced all year, but just a good team.”
Mitchell picked up 101 yards and scooted 77 yards for a first-period touchdown. He also passed 11 yards to Pat Sullivan for a second-period touchdown.
St. Thomas was unable to untrack its usually strong ground game. Most of its yardage came in the air as quarterback Chris Cashman completed 13 of 27 passes for 226 yards and one touchdown. It was a Cashman pass to Michael Irvin for 38 yards that accounted for the Raiders’ touchdown with 2:37 left in the third quarter.
Irvin was double and triple teamed, but he managed to catch eight passes for 153 yards. (note - Michael Irvin would later play for the Dallas Cowboys and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame)
“I knew I caught a lot of passes, but there was a couple more I should have caught,” Irvin said. “I had a chance to make a catch in the end zone in the first quarter and I missed it.”
“Our lines just got beat off the ball,” Raiders Coach George Smith said. “Titusville got the big lead on us in the second quarter. We felt we could come back in the second half but that was just a good ball club. But my kids never quit.”
The Raiders had a chance to jump on top after the opening kickoff.
The Terrier’s Cadore fumbled on the Titusville 20 with St. Thomas’ Dave Bryant recovering.
But the Raiders saw their scoring bid fail with Titusville recovered a St. Thomas fumble four plays later.
That was the only scoring opportunity the Raiders had in the half.
Titusville scored first on a 77 yard keeper by Mitchell with 2:33 left in the first period. The extra point kick failed.
Titusville didn’t score again in the first period, but shredded the St. Thomas defense for three scores in the second-quarter on drives of 65, 56 and 10 yards.
The third second-quarter touchdown came after a Cashman screen pass was intercepted by defensive back Anthony Mills on the Raiders 20-yard line.
Mitchell, continuing to run the triple option, passed for 11 yards to tight end Sullivan to cap the 65-yard drive. Wayne Williams ran 10 yards for the second touchdown in the period and Darryil Gaymon carried 1 yard for the third score to make it 27-0 at halftime.
Sun-Sentinel, December 10, 1983
source - http://aquinasfootball.homestead.com/files/Raider_Tradition/NewsArticles/1983/Game13C.html
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TITUSVILLE RIPS ST. THOMAS, 33-7
St. Thomas 7, Titusville 33
TITUSVILLE, Fla. -- St. Thomas Aquinas High’s football team met some All-World creatures during its visit to the Space Coast Friday night.
Playing like they were shot off the launching pad at the Kennedy Space Center, Titusville’s Terriers manhandled Aquinas for a 33-7 state semifinal victory at Draa Field.
“They have a terrific team and what great speed,” Aquinas receiver Michael Irvin said. “If there was any team we had to lose to, I’m glad it was Titusville. They should win state.”
And they probably will, against Palatka next Friday. The Raiders, meanwhile, will be home, having finished with a 11-1 record and knowing their No. 1 ranking in the final state poll couldn’t earn them Broward’s first state title since 1973.
Titusville (11-2) had a 387-191 edge in yardage and blew the game open with 21 second-quarter points for a 27-0 halftime lead.
“They outplayed us,” Aquinas Coach George Smith said. “Their offensive and defensive lines played very well. I was surprised the way they came off the ball.”
The surprises came early. Titusville quarterback Anthony Mitchell ran 77 yards around the right end for a touchdown on the Terriers’ fourth play, and Titusville scored on three of its next four possessions. All Aquinas could muster was a 39-yard TD pass from Chris Cashman to Irvin in the third quarter, but Titusville’s wishbone ground down the clock to squelch any comeback hopes.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was how easy the Terriers made it look against a team that has bullied Broward teams for year.
“We play a little football up here,” Titusville Coach Al Werneke said. “And we have a pretty excellent football team.”
St. Thomas’ best shot to turn the momentum around came on the opening kickoff, when Dave Bryant recovered a Mike Cadore fumble at the Titusville 19. But four plays later, Greg Kemp fumbled and Bobby Ives recovered to set up Mitchell’s touchdown.
“We didn’t capitalize on the break, and we didn’t get any else’s the rest of the game,” Smith said.
Aquinas also couldn’t handle Titusville’s wishbone, as evidenced when the Terriers drove from its 35 to the Aquinas 13 solely on running plays. Aquinas cheated up to cover the run, and Mitchell hit tight end Patrick Sullivan for an 11-yard TD.
“I guess they forgot we could throw the ball,” Werneke said.
An interception by Anthony Mills at the St. Thomas 10 just seconds later set up fullback Darryl Gaymon’s 10-yard TD to make it 14-0. St. Thomas had the ball for three plays and punted, and Mitchell completed two passes for 5 yards to set up Gaymon’s second TD, a launching-pad leap over the line for a yard and a 27-0 lead.
Wayne Williams completed the scoring with a one-yard run in the fourth quarter.
“I’m so damn proud of these guys,” Smith said. “We tried as hard as we could, but that wasn’t good enough.”
Miami Herald, December 10, 1983
source http://aquinasfootball.homestead.com/files/Raider_Tradition/NewsArticles/1983/Game13D.html
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ST. THOMAS FACES BIG TITUSVILLE HURDLE
It has been a full decade since a Broward County high school football team has made it into a state championship game.
But that could all be forgotten if St. Thomas can get past one big hurdle tonight in Titusville.
It is a big hurdle, too -- mainly because Titusville has been there before and the Raiders have not. The Terriers won the Class 3A state championship last year. St. Thomas has been in the playoffs the last four years, but had never advanced past the first round, until this year.
“It is as tough as any team we’ll ever meet,” said St. Thomas Coach George Smith Thursday after concluding his workouts with his unbeaten (11-0), top-ranked team.
To Smith and his team, the team’s record and the state poll mean nothing at this stage.
“That No. 1 ranking doesn’t mean anything until the very end,” Smith said. “we are taking the same approach for this game that we took when we traveled to Bartow. You do your best. Bartow was No. 1 then. Titusville is the defending state champion so we want to make a good showing. The coaching staff here is proud of these kids, win or lose. They have handled the work load all season and been successful. I feel and the coaching staff feels, that the team will do their darndest to win.”
The game itself should be a tight one.
Both teams have good offenses, although St. Thomas has at times struggled.
Titusville runs from the Wishbone, or triple option. It has speed in the backfield and a good line.
St. Thomas also has speed in the backfield with sophomore Slip Watkins expected to carry most of the running burden. In 11 games, the state’s 220-yard dash champion has rushed for 1,042 yards and nine touchdowns. He enjoyed one of his best games of the season last week in the Section 4-3A win over Northeast, rushing for 137 yards.
The Raiders have averaged 304.5 yards a game.
Titusville, with speedsters Darryl Gaymon, Wayne Williams and Mike Cadore, running behind quarterback Anthony Mitchell, has rushed for 3,800 yards in winning 10 of 12 games.
The Raiders’ strength is their passing game with quarterback Chris Cashman hoping to make connections with split end Michael Irvin, flanker Homer Hill and tight end Pat Murphy. Murphy is expected to return to action tonight after sitting out the last two weeks with an injury. Steve Zarra, the junior who did a brilliant job of filling in for Murphy, however, will not see any action due to an injury sustained this week in practice.
Reports on Titusville indicated that if it has a weakness on defense it is probably in the secondary. Two of the Terriers regulars are expected to be sidelined with injuries. Other than Zarra and guard Paul Bradley, the Raiders should be healthy.
Smith has indicated that he doesn’t plan on doing anything different in this game on offense. In fact, he has dropped quite a few things from the playbook.
“To stop them, we have to control the football,” Smith said. “So, we will run the things that got us here.”
The Raiders may be playing on the road, but there should be a heavy turnout of followers from Broward. At last count, 14 bus loads of fans were slated to make the 3½ hour trek to Draa Field in Titusville for the 8 P.M. kickoff.
“Line play, both on offense and defense, is the key,” Smith said.
“Our offensive line has done a good job all year and so has the defense.”
“We have gotten strong play from Jeff Mondron at end, our three linebackers, Rick Bendekovic, Ken Green and Mike Smith, and the secondary has done an outstanding job.”
Stopping the Titusville Wishbone offensive attack is the No. 1 priority of the Raiders defense. If it can stop it, it could be a big win for St. Thomas and Broward County, and the first time a local team has played in the state championship game since Chaminade in 1974.
The winner of the semifinal will meet either Palatka or Dade City, Pasco for the title Friday night for the championship. The game will likely be at St. Thomas.
Sun-Sentinel, December 9, 1983
source - http://aquinasfootball.homestead.com/files/Raider_Tradition/NewsArticles/1983/Game13B.html
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ST. THOMAS’ WISH: STOP TITUSVILLE FRIDAY
For St. Thomas, the only Broward County team left in the state high school football playoffs, this is “Stop the Wishbone” week.
The Raiders’ opponent in Friday night’s state Class 3A semifinal contest is Titusville, a team that won the Class 3A state championship a year ago with a devastating Wishbone offense -- and could do it again.
If the Raiders have any hope of dethroning the Terriers (10-2) and playing in their first state title game, they have to stop the triple-option formation Friday in Titusville (8 P.M.)
It is not an offensive formation the Raiders (11-0) have run into much this year, but they have seen it.
A lot of teams in the state have tried to stop the Terriers and the offense that has rolled up 3,800 yards on the ground. The two teams that beat Titusville this year, Bartow (18-8) and Winter Park (36-33), hit the Terriers early in the season.
Some of the Terriers’ opposing coaches feel they can be stopped. Others claim they cannot.
Here’s what they say:
•Paul Quinn, Bartow (his team beat Titusville 18-8, and lost 17-6 to St. Thomas): “We had a good defensive ball club and knew how to play the wishbone. Titusville does do real well running the Wishbone. It has good speed and a quarterback that can run. We have played both Titusville and St. Thomas and I believe St. Thomas can do a lot more things than Titusville. St. Thomas has more of a multiple-type offense. Defensively, St. Thomas is very good, too. We never were able to get decent field position on it. I feel the one that plays the good defense will win this one. If I was picking it, I’d go with St. Thomas.”
Sun-Sentinel, December 8, 1983
source - http://aquinasfootball.homestead.com/files/Raider_Tradition/NewsArticles/1983/Game13A.html