Champagnat Lions ‘get over the top’ and win third Class 2A state football title
Nearly a year to the day after having to settle for runner-up medals amid tears and disappointment in the state championship game in Orlando, the Champagnat Catholic football team found out how the other half lives on Thursday night.
The long trek upstate to Tallahassee proved to be quite rewarding for the Lions as they defeated Lakeland Victory Christian 35-14 in the Class 2A state championship game at Gene Cox Stadium.
This time, there would be water and Gatorade baths for head coach Hector Clavijo, championship medals to be handed out to the players and a nice big championship trophy amid a wild celebration as the program won its third state title.
“All I could remember was how awful we all felt a year ago after that loss,” said senior wide receiver and Georgia Tech commit Malik Rutherford, referring to the 28-20 title game loss to Tallahassee North Florida Christian. “It was a long, hard journey to get all the way back to this game and then find a way to get over the top but we did that tonight and what a way to close things out.”
Leading 18-7 at the half, Champagnat (10-3) pretty much ended the issue early in the second half thanks to a pair of Victory Christian miscues.
First came an ill-fated fake punt by the Storm (11-2) on their first possession that gave the Lions the ball at the VC 40. That led to a 28-yard Eathan Moncada field goal.
The ensuing kickoff was a squib kick that was mishandled by a Victory Christian player and Champy’s Everett Bradley recovered at the Storm 43. Eight plays later, on a third-and-22 from the Victory Christian 26, quarterback Rylie Aguila dropped back and lofted a perfect throw to Johnquai Lewis in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown to make it 28-7 with 3:42 left in the third.
“I think that was the dagger,” said Lewis. “That was a big moment because it looked like they had us stopped and then Rylie laid it out there perfect for me and you could just kind of see their (Storm players) heads drop after that.”
Victory Christian running back Cornelius Shaw, who came into the game with 2,007 yards on the season, was the key player to stop all night. The Lions did, holding him to 113 yards on 27 carries. His 16-yard touchdown with five minutes left cut the Lion lead to 14.
But a failed onside kick gave the Lions a short field, and Calvin Montgomery scored from 1-yard out with 1:48 left to wrap up the scoring and begin the celebrating on the Lions’ sideline.
“Just an amazing group of kids,” said Clavijo. “To battle all the way back from the disappointment of last year to get back here and get it done says a lot about their heart and character. It also pays testimony to the really difficult schedule we played all season. That had us ready for these four playoff games.”
Things didn’t start well for Clavijo and his team as the Lions not only squandered opening field position at the VC 30 thanks to a 45-yard kickoff return by Justin Payoute with a four-and-out but then watched the Storm drive 70 yards to take a 7-0 lead.
The worst part was that Champagnat had stopped them but a Victory Christian short punt hit William Jeudy in the back of the legs and the Storm recovered at the 23. One play later, VC quarterback Jeremiah Byrd executed a perfect read-option play and bolted around the left side for a score. In an important possession as the Lions needed to answer Victory’s score, they did so by driving 53 yards in eight plays, with Aguila finding Donovan Jones in the left flat for a 10-yard catch and run score.
Even a lousy break turned in the Lions’ favor. Moncada had to leave the game on the extra point because he didn’t have his mouthpiece in and had to sit out one play. That forced Clavijo to go for two. They converted when Bradley barely cleared the goal line on a run up the middle to make it 8-7.
Two possessions later, that lead became 15-7 when Aguila scrambled to his right and was about to take off running when he found Rutherford running wide open behind the Storm secondary. Rutherford reeled in the throw, juked VC defensive back William Nunez and was off to the end zone for a 69-yard score with 7:58 left in the second.
The Lions tacked on one more score when, after a Victory Christian misuce when their punter kicked it into his own man giving Champy the ball at the VC 24, Moncade drilled a 28-yard field goal with 2:08 left giving his team an 18-7 lead at the break.
This story was originally published December 5, 2019 at 10:28 PM.