He refused to wait his turn. Now Aquinas' Fitzpatrick is one of nation's best
He heeded warnings before he enrolled about how hard it was for freshmen to get on the field and was ready to be patient if he needed to be.
At the same time, Fitzpatrick had no plan to wait his turn.
'I chose myself to be the one to step up,' said Fitzpatrick, now a senior, a three-time state champion and one of the best players in all of Florida.
Fitzpatrick originally planned to keep playing wide receiver for the Raiders, but he saw a need in the secondary and stepped up. He was ready to be patient, but played so well that St. Thomas Aquinas couldn't keep him off of the field. He was always pegged as a potential future star, but his play as a freshman quickly solidified him as something truly special.
Now, Fitzpatrick is a top-50 prospect in the Class of 2026, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, and the highest ranked pure defender in South Florida for the 2026 recruiting class. The four-star cornerback—and younger brother of star Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick—orally committed to Georgia in June and boasts more than 40 scholarship offers, with Miami, Florida and Texas all still pushing to flip Fitzpatrick's commitment away from the Bulldogs.
As he gets set to begin his senior season with the Raiders, Fitzpatrick has a chance to finish off a historic career by guiding St. Thomas Aquinas to a record seventh straight state title and doing it as the undisputed leader of the state's most storied program.
'It's definitely been great,' said Fitzpatrick, who relocated with his family to the Miami metropolitan area after the Dolphins picked his older brother in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. 'I haven't had the traditional experience, I guess you'd say.'
Playing for the Raiders, especially as an underclassmen, is different than playing at most other high schools. In any given season, St. Thomas Aquinas will feature at least a dozen future FBS-level players in their starting lineup - there just isn't room for most freshmen and sophomores to get significant playing time, even if those freshmen and sophomores are future D-I players, too.
Fitzpatrick knew this—and embraced it. He quickly realized he wouldn't get on to the field as a receiver, but saw openings in the secondary. Finally, he decided to make the shift and the Raiders rewarded him—Fitzpatrick never played a single game on junior varsity.
Although playing time was sporadic as a freshman, Fitzpatrick still made a mark. In the Class 3M championship, Fitzpatrick grabbed his first interception and helped St. Thomas Aquinas beat Homestead for a fourth straight state title.
'First play of the game, they saw me, a little freshman,' the 6-foot-1, 185-pound corner said. 'They tried to throw it deep.'
Since then, Fitzpatrick has consistently been one of the best defensive backs in the country, earning first-team Junior All-American honors from MaxPreps last season.
His final season with the Raiders could be his best yet, with his older brother now just a short drive away after he returned to the Dolphins in the offseason.
Fitzpatrick has always leaned on his brother, despite the roughly 10-year age gap between the two.
When Minkah was playing in high school in New Jersey and going through his recruitment, Justice got a front-row seat to learn what the process would be like.
When Minkah landed with the Dolphins and the family moved to the Miami metro area, Justice got to lean on his older brother for advice and some coaching, just as he was starting to figure himself out as a football player, too. After the Dolphins traded Minkah to the Steelers in 2019, Justice had to save his training seasons with his older brother for the offseason, and move all their conversations to phone calls and FaceTime's.
No more. With his brother's help and three years of championship experience already behind him, Fitzpatrick is ready to be even better in his final year of high school.
'NFL players, they've got a lot of weight on them. I've got a lot of weight on me,' Fitzpatrick said. 'It's a lot easier to talk to someone face to face.'
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