Chaminade-Madonna survives upset bid by Coconut Creek to keep national title hopes alive
A nervous murmur swept across Coconut Creek’s sideline at Don Conkel Stadium. Strategy, was in some ways, an afterthought for the Cougars in the final minute of their thriller with Chaminade-Madonna on Friday. Players huddled into circles for group prayer. Coaches were worried about scraping out just every yard they needed to keep their potential game-tying drive alive.
Another fourth-down conversion and another timely penalty put Coconut Creek just 35 yards away from a game-tying touchdown, and a real shot at an upset of the top team in South Florida. There’s a reason, though, the Lions are the No. 3 team in the nation, according to MaxPreps. The Cougars made one last mistake, Curtis Janvier hauled in his fourth interception of the season and Chaminade-Madonna escaped with a 35-27 win at Coconut Creek.
“We’ve been in dogfights all year, so we ain’t never wavered,” Lions coach Dameon Jones said. “I wasn’t worried at the end of it. I just wanted to get it over.”
Chaminade-Madonna (6-0) won the game and kept its national championship aspirations alive, but the Cougars (4-2) made the statement.
The Lions never trailed and, as they often have this year, raced out to a 21-0 lead in the first half. Star quarterback Cedrick Bailey linked up with superstar wide receivers Joshisa Trader and Jeremiah Smith for a pair of first-half touchdowns and Chaminade-Madonna athlete Jaquari Lewis, who handled much of the workload at running back with star running back Davion Gause injured, ran for another score with 4:59 left in the second quarter to put the Lions up 21-0.
Coconut Creek never went away, though, and Chaminade-Madonna was just sloppy enough to let the Cougars hang around. Coconut Creek quarterback James Hayes hit a bomb to Cougars wide receiver Djovani Dominique for a 69-yard touchdown right before halftime to cut the Lions’ lead to 21-7, and then Coconut Creek got the ball to start the second half and went right down the field for another touchdown, with Hayes hitting Cougars wide receiver Eirik Simmons for a 23-yard score on fourth down to make it 21-14.
The next two possessions were the reminder of why Chaminade-Madonna is the powerhouse it is right now.
After they ended the first half with back-to-back turnovers on downs, the Lions responded to Coconut Creek’s punch by converting three straight third downs on their first possession of the second half, with Trader hauling in a 34-yard touchdown on third-and-5 to end the drive and push Chaminade-Madonna’s lead back to 28-14. The Lions then forced a three-and-out and scored again, with Chaminade-Madonna running back Arwin Jackson finding the end zone to get the lead back to 35-14.
Even down by three touchdowns again, the Cougars didn’t fade.
“Even when our back was against the wall, we’ve just got to keep staying,” Coconut Creek coach Johnnie Sloan said. “We never wavered on what we can do. We just believe.”
The near-comeback began with an interception returned 50 yards for a touchdown by Cougars linebacker Damaine Wilson after a busted double pass by the Lions.
Next, Coconut Creek went 66 yards on 11 plays, converting a pair of fourth downs, and clawed within eight points with 6:35 left.
Still, Chaminade-Madonna couldn’t quite put away the Cougars. The Lions committed another turnover on downs on their next drive, giving the ball to Coconut Creek right around midfield with 1:53 left.
The Cougars converted another fourth down -- they had six of them, including one on a penalty -- and then Chaminade-Madonna got whistled for defensive pass interference, pushing Coconut Creek all the way down to the Lions’ 35-yard line.
Jones called the officiating “the worst” he had seen in nearly two decades of coaching, but he never worried his team would lose.
Janvier made the play Chaminade-Madonna needed to stay perfect. The Cougars just missed out on an all-time upset, but it wasn’t even the only goal going into the weekend.
“My goal even putting them on the schedule, I’m preparing for a playoff game, a St. Thomas, say, third round of the playoffs, so I need to be battle tested before I get there,” Sloan said. “This is my battle.”
Sloan’s opinion about his team didn’t change this week. He believes Coconut Creek is a state championship contender.
Other people might now, too.
“They showed y’all,” Sloan said. “I already knew they could. We’re good.”