The St. Thomas Aquinas football team is no stranger to making history.

The No. 11 nationally ranked team has piled up three national championships, 16 state championships, and won a state-record six straight state titles.

And on Wednesday night, they became undefeated in Great Britain.

The Raiders (6-1) capitalized on two turnovers in the second half and held off the host NFL Academy International All-Star School 41-38 in London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Mason Mallory completed 19 of 26 passes for three TDs and one interception to pace the Raiders while Julius Jones had four catches for 140 yards and two scores, including a 68-yarder.

Additionally, Virgil Lemons carried 15 times for 105 yards and two touchdowns as St. Thomas Aquinas held off a late rally.

“This was the experience of a lifetime. It was unbelievable,” said St. Thomas Aquinas coach Roger Harriott. “It was a cultural experience that was priceless. The kids did a great job of representing the school, the Archdiocese of Miami, South Florida, the United States, and, more importantly than anything else, God.

“We are extremely proud of how they conducted themselves, and we were grateful for the opportunity to help evolve football globally,” he continued. “We are thankful to help elevate the game for years to come. The guys fought hard and beat a really good football team.”

The game marked the third year in a row that Nike and the NFL have sponsored a top American high school football team to play the NFL Academy in London, England. Not only was there a game, but there was much more in a cultural exchange and life experience for the players. They also hosted a youth football camp on Tuesday at Aylward Academy in addition to taking in the sights.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which hosted Sunday’s NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns, is also home to Premier League soccer matches.

“The whole team is blessed,” Mallory said. “Not a lot of people get to travel out of the country with their teammates and best friends and do something like this. It got a little ugly sometimes, but we were able to pull it out at the end. Getting the win just put a cherry on top of the whole experience we had this week.”

Jones agreed: “This was really great. It is something I am going to remember for the rest of my life. I got to see things and the architecture, and things I learn in history class, and when we went to the Chapel at St. Paul Cathedral, I got emotional.”

The matchup was made possible through a partnership between the National Football League and Nike.

The London-based Academy is part of the NFL’s elite player development program that boasts 68 individuals from 20 different countries on its roster. The NFL also has an academy located on Australia’s Gold Coast.

A contingent of 108 school administrators, coaches, and players boarded a red-eye commercial flight on Saturday, following the Raiders’ 63-0 District 15-5A win over Hollywood Hills.

The NFL Academy seized a 7-0 lead as quarterback Viktor LaChambre scampered 24 yards for the score to cap a three-play, 88-yard drive. Running back Andrew Gamon ripped off a 64-yard run to the Raiders’ 24-yard line, and after an incompletion, LaChambre found the end zone.

St. Thomas Aquinas answered with a four-play, 67-yard drive capped by a 32-yard scoring toss from Mallory to Jones. The Raiders made it 14-7 as they capitalized on a short punt and moved 44 yards for the score with 16 seconds left in the first quarter on a 2-yard run by Lemons

The NFL Academy closed the gap to 14-10 on a 27-yard field goal by Bobby Bridges with nine minutes remaining in the second quarter.

After an exchange of red-zone turnovers by both teams, St. Thomas Aquinas extended the lead to 21-10 with just 15 seconds left in the first half on a 68-yard TD pass from Mallory to Jones.

St. Thomas Aquinas capitalized on a long kickoff return by Justice Winslow and a personal foul penalty, which gave the Raiders the ball on the NFL Academy 17-yard line. Three plays later, Mallory then hit Shavis Linder on a 13-yard TD pass to extend the lead to 28-10 with 10:30 remaining.

LaChambre pulled the NFL Academy within 28-17 with a 29-yard TD pass to Luca Wolf on a 4th-and-10 play with 7:52 left in the third quarter. On the Raiders’ next play, Mallory gave up a pick-six to Jayden Smith, who returned the ball 31 yards for the touchdown with 7:35 remaining in the third to cut it to 28-23.

The NFL Academy, however, then fumbled on back-to-back drives, leading to 13 Raiders points, starting with a 56-yard fumble return by Chase Goodrich for a 34-23 lead with 4:34 left in the third.

The Raiders got all the insurance scoring they needed following a fumble recovery by Wyatt Smith. Lemons scored on a 4-yard run, his second touchdown, with 11:21 left in the game to stretch the advantage to 41-23.

LaChambre found Wolf a second time, this time from 8 yards out with 7:59 to go in the contest, and LaChambre then hit Devon Myrie for the 2-point conversion to make it 41-31.

The NFL Academy closed out the scoring on a 26-yard scoring toss from back-up QB Bridges to Vili Haapasalo with 1:14 to go in the game. St. Thomas Aquinas’ Justice Fitzpatrick recovered the onside kick, and Mallory took a knee to run out the clock for St. Thomas Aquinas.

Defensive back Donovan Adras had a key forced fumble that led to a Raiders touchdown in the fourth quarter. He was a terror spearheading the defense and racked up double-digit tackles.

“We knew some of their formations, but they threw a lot of different things at us,” Adras said. “They did some motions, and different schemes like an NFL team, but through it all, we bent, but never broke. The best part was doing the camp and seeing all of the kids smiling and being happy playing football, just like I was when I was their age. It made me emotional a little bit.”

“We got a chance to talk to the players from the Academy,” Adras added. “They had different people from all over the world, and we got to find out about their cultures. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Lemons, a junior, said the seniors on the team spoke to the players and reminded them they were representing Christ and the United States.

“This was big,” Lemons added. “It was a great chance for us to see what the rest of the world is like.”

Originally Published: October 8, 2025 at 5:40 PM EDT