Mistakes squander resilient effort by Champagnat’s defense in 2A state title game loss
Champagnat faced its share of potent offenses on its path back to the state finals.
And the Lions’ young defense made multiple stops necessary to keep the Class 2A state championship game close on Thursday night against Jacksonville Trinity Christian.
Too many mistakes stemming from inexperience, however, and the Conquerors’ backfield tandem of Treyaun Webb and Darnell Rogers proved too much in a 41-23 loss to Trinity Christian.
Champagnat (10-3) had its hopes of winning three consecutive state titles disappear thanks largely to Webb and Rogers each running for 173 yards and combining for five of Trinity Christian’s six touchdowns.
But two turnovers and a special teams breakdown put the Lions’ defense on short fields and gave Trinity Christian enough opportunities to break the game open.
“We got a ton of young guys. We started 14 underclassmen this season,” Champagnat coach Hector Clavijo said. “Obviously, we wanted to win, but I’m not going to take away anything from them.”
Webb, a five-star senior recruit, was an Oklahoma commit until last week when he decommitted after Lincoln Riley left to USC. Webb had nearly 100 yards as the first quarter ended.
Rogers, a highly-rated sophomore who set up several times from the wildcat position, carried the ball 18 times.
Champagnat limited Webb during the second quarter and forced a key turnover when Antron Williams jarred the ball loose from quarterback Colin Hurley allowing senior Jamaal Simms to recover.
On Trinity Christian’s ensuing drive in Lions’ territory, Champagnat’s defense forced a loss on downs which kept the deficit at 14-7 at the half.
But the Lions gave up a 48-yard return on the opening kickoff of the second half which led to a 12-yard touchdown run by Webb.
Champagnat then fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, setting up the Conquerors inside the Lions’ 30. This time, Champagnat’s defense held again forcing a three and out and holding Trinity’s edge to 21-7.
After the Lions cut the deficit to 27-15 with 7:44 to go in the fourth, they held Trinity Christian and forced a punt. But Champagnat’s offense was stopped on down near midfield, and Rogers’ 1-yard touchdown run put the Conquerors ahead by 19 points.
Clavijo lamented the fact that Champagnat just didn’t have a way to mimic such rushing talent in practice to properly prepare his team.
“They fought and they fought. We started off slow. It’s hard to simulate that in practice,” Clavijo said. “It’s hard to simulate a five-star running back and six 6-3, 250-pound guys. You can’t. It took a couple of reps to get us going. Once we did, we kept it to 14-7 at halftime and we were in it.
“But then they come in and score and we fumble the next kickoff and spot them 14 points. You can’t do that against a good team like this. We had to limit mistakes and keep it close. If we did that, we could have won it at the end.”
All isn’t lost for Champagnat, which figures to enter the 2022 season once again as one of the favorites to win the 2A title.
The Lions return six starters on defense including Williams, which sets a solid foundation for next season.
“We have a great core and a great group of guys. We just need to get them more experience,” Clavijo said. “That’s what happened to us tonight. They had dudes but they had experience. It is what it is. But we fought. That’s what I wanted to see was the fight. And we came a long way this year since week 1 (loss to Northwestern).”
This story was originally published December 10, 2021 at 1:16 AM.