Chaminade-Madonna’s national title hopes crushed by powerhouse Bishop Gorman
A day after one South Florida powerhouse made a case for a national title, another saw its chances obliterated three time zones away.
Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna’s trip to Las Vegas couldn’t have gone worse on Saturday as the Lions were crushed 49-14 by host Bishop Gorman, which staked its own claim to be the highest-ranked team in the nation.
The Gaels (14-1), ranked No. 4 nationally by MaxPreps, ran for 317 yards and scored six times on the ground, building a 28-0 lead by halftime in the annual Geico State Champions Bowl Series.
Chaminade (13-1), ranked No. 5 by MaxPreps and No. 2 by High School Football America, had its 25-game winning streak snapped and suffered its worst loss in over a decade.
It’s unclear what effect the result will have on Miami Central, which is ranked No. 1 nationally by HSFA and No. 3 by MaxPreps after wrapping up a 14-0 season on Friday night with a win over Plantation American Heritage - also a top 10 team in both polls.
Bishop Gorman’s lone defeat this season came against California powerhouse Mater Dei, currently ranked No. 2 by MaxPreps and one spot behind No. 1 St. John Bosco.
The Rockets hope its enough and that the Gaels’ lopsided win doesn’t sway the pollsters to favor the trio of west coast teams in the contention.
The Gaels didn’t look rusty at all despite having been off for a month since their state championship game and not having several key players due to injuries and commitments to play other sports.
Bishop Gorman had no trouble winning the game up front, which allowed Elija Lofton to feast with over 150 yards and five touchdowns overall, four of which were rushing.
Gorman used the four-star junior tight end recruit primarily out of the backfield along with Micah Kaapana, who also ran for over 150 yards.
The Lions, who beat Arizona’s Highland High in last year’s event, struggled to establish much of a consistent running game as Davion Gause was held to under 100 yards.
Chaminade had little time to get ready for the trip after playing in the Class 1M state final on Dec. 8 and then traveling to the west coast.
Quarterback Cedrick Bailey threw two touchdown passes, but struggled to maintain much rhythm throughout the game.
Class 4S state championship - Lakeland 21, Venice 14: Quarterback Zachary Pleuss scored from 6 yards out with 2:13 left in the third quarter to snap a 14-14 tie and secure the Dreadnaughts the state title. Saturday afternoon at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.
The win was state title number eight for Lakeland and legendary coach Bill Castle who, now in his 47th year at the helm, became the state’s all-time winningest coach earlier this season with 474 career wins.
Besides the go-ahead touchdown, the biggest play in the game might’ve been the final play of the first half. After Pleuss was tackled inbounds at the Venice eight and the clocking ticking down inside of 10 seconds and Lakeland with no timeouts, Venice got fooled into thinking he was going to ground the ball to stop the clock.
But instead he dropped back and tossed the ball to a wide open Omari Mixon in the corner of the end zone as time expired forging a 14-14 halftime tie.
Venice’s best chance to tie it came midway through the fourth quarter when the Indians (9-4) reached the Lakeland 15. On fourth-and-six Keyon Sears took an end-around and came up inches short of the line to gain.
Venice never touched the ball again as Lakeland, which finished a perfect 14-0, then took the ball and went on a monster 14-play, 88-yard drive to drain the remaining time.
BILL DALEY
This story was originally published December 17, 2022 at 7:57 PM.
