Chaminade moves a step closer to state history following rout of Cardinal Newman

All week long, the scuttle had been that perhaps West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman, having its best season in program history under new head coach Jack Daniels, just might be the team that could possibly push No. 5 nationally-ranked Chaminade-Madonna.

So much for the scuttle.

Three hours after they took the field, the Crusaders, a team that had outscored its opponents by a combined 496-88 and boasted a gaudy 11-0 record along with a No. 11 state ranking (regardless of classification) coming in, got hit with a reality check.

The Lions, after a sluggish start that actually saw them trailing 2-0 after the first quarter, turned on the jets and rolled to a lopsided 49-16 victory in a Region 4-1M final at Chaminade.

The win advances Chaminade to next week’s state semifinal round and the news got even better for the Lions after the game. That when they learned that top-seeded Jacksonville Trinity Christian had gotten upset in its regional final.

The Lions, now 11-0 and winners of 22 straight games, will now host No. 4 seed Miami True North Academy in a 1M state semifinal on Friday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m. and will be heavy favorites to advance to their seventh straight state championship game on Dec. 8 in Tallahassee.

Should they win, the Lions, who have won four state titles in the last five seasons, would become the second team in state history to play in seven consecutive title games matching Belle Glade Glades Day which did it between 1982 and 1988.

“A little bit sloppy play early on but at the end of the day, we got it together and went out there and did what we had to do,” Chaminade coach Dameon Jones said. “Coach Jack (Daniels) is doing a wonderful job over there with that program and knew they would come out ready to try and challenge us early and they did.”

Jones referred to his team’s sluggish first quarter in which, following a botched opening kickoff when the Lions kick returner caught the ball as it was going out of bounds and stepped out on the one yard line, Cardinal Newman recorded a safety on the game’s first play. That’s when Davion Gause, from the wildcat shotgun formation, took the snap couldn’t get out of the end zone.

Chaminade’s second possession didn’t end well either. A quick three-and-out after taking over at its own seven. Things finally got turned in the right direction when the Lions flipped the field by partially blocking a Newman punt near the end of the first quarter. Chaminade then took advantage of the short field and marched 46 yards in eight plays with Gause going over from two yards out on the first play of the second quarter.

Quarterback Cedrick Bailey then started to get things cranked when, following back-to-back three-and-outs by his defense, tossed a pair of touchdown passes. The first one was 39 yards to Jeremiah Smith, the second 40 yards to Duane Thomas 2:33 before halftime. Sandwiched in between was a 44 yard sprint up the middle to the end zone by Gause and the Lions had everything under control by halftime with a comfortable 28-9 advantage.

“Even though we started out slow, we’ve got that fight in us and always felt like we would be okay,” said Bailey, who finished his night 16-of-22 for 230 yards and the three touchdowns. “Then we had that big second quarter and knew we’d be okay after that. We knew coming in they were a good team but we picked them apart because we watched film all week and had a good game plan. That’s just Chaminade, this is what we do.”

The Crusaders actually hung tough in the third quarter not allowing Chaminade to score but simply could not dent the scoreboard with any points themselves.

That was thanks to a Chaminade defense that was suffocating the entire game. Led by defensive end Wayne Peart, the Lions defensive line harassed Newman quarterback Luke Warnock all night long, sacking him six times and rushing his throws with pressure the rest of the time.

“We managed to get a good push on their offensive line all night and really got good pressure on their quarterback,” said Peart, who had three of the six sacks. “Even when we didn’t get to him, we could tell that he was rushing his throws. We knew all about them coming in undefeated and all but we know who we are and what we can do on the field and everybody saw that out there tonight.”

Cardinal Newman actually had a chance to make it a two-score game on the first play of the fourth quarter but a 40-yard field goal attempt went wide right.

The Lions then shifted into overdrive. A 47-yard run by Bailey set them up at the Newman 17 and two plays later, playing from the wildcat position, Gause actually tossed a high pass to the corner of the end zone that Smith went up and got for a score.

On the next play after the ensuing kickoff, Jeno Julius picked off Warnock on a tipped pass and returned it 23 yards to the end zone to make it 42-9.

This story was originally published November 26, 2022 at 1:13 AM.