BRADENTON — One day, it could go down as the greatest defensive play in Manatee High football history.

Why? Because it’s the play that buried the nation’s top-ranked team, Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, and all but sealed Manatee’s first trip to the state championship game since 1993.

It was the first play of the fourth quarter, and Raiders quarterback Jacob Rudock dropped back to pass from his own 19-yard line.

Evans threw a pass in the direction of two receivers, but Canes defensive back Davian Evans stepped in front of the pass, picked it off and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.

It was Evans’ first interception this season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

With that, the Canes held a commanding 14-point lead and hung on for a stunning 28-20 victory Friday over undefeated Aquinas in the Class 5A state semifinals at a packed Hawkins Stadium at Joe Kinnan Field.

The loss snapped the Raiders’ 37-game winning streak.

“My responsibility was to jam the receiver and stay in the flats,” the senior cornerback said, “and I saw the quarterback’s eyes go, and I broke on the ball and took it to the house.”

And he broke Aquinas’ back.

Entering Friday’s game, the Raiders (13-1) were averaging 326.2 total yards of offense a game. The Canes (13-1) held Aquinas to just 252 yards. The Raiders managed only 56 yards rushing.

Without any running lanes, Aquinas was forced to throw, making the No. 1 team in the nation one-dimensional.

“Manatee had a good game plan,” Raiders coach George Thomas said. “(Manatee) played physical, and they played great. You have to give them a lot of credit for us not being able to do some of the things we wanted to do. The interception took a lot out of us.”

Aquinas had more miscues.

The Raiders missed a 30-yard field goal on their opening drive of the second half. Then, after Rudock connected with wide receiver Phillip Dorsett for a 25-yard touchdown with eight minutes to play, Evans raced around the left end to block the extra point, keeping the Canes’ lead at eight.

Rudock hooked up with Dorsett again on another 25-yard scoring pass with 2:12 to play, but the game was already out of reach.

“We had a lot of heart and never gave up,” Manatee junior defensive lineman Quinton Pompey said. “We were ready. They are just like every other team to us. We were just ready to play them.”

Evans said Aquinas seemed overconfident entering the game, and the Raiders showed that before kickoff when they stomped at the 50-yard line, a sign of disrespect to the Manatee players and fans.

“You don’t come in this stadium and dance all over our stadium,” Canes defensive line coach Steve Gulash said. “They didn’t realize the giant they woke up when they jumped on our field. My guys up front dominated, supposedly (against) Under Armour players of the year and all of this and all of that. We came out with something to prove as young men and as players and refused to be blocked.”

And with that, the nation’s No. 1 team is no more.