Chaminade remains undefeated with victory over Dillard, but win ‘not dominant enough’

Chaminade-Madonna scored eight touchdowns in a convincing 55-20 win over Dillard on Friday night at Otis Gray Jr. Memorial Stadium.

But Miami commit Zaquan Patterson thought the victory should have been more lopsided.

“Pretty dominant [win], not dominant enough,” Patterson said. “I don’t think they should have been able to get as many points as they did.”

Still, Chaminade is 7-0 and star wide receivers Joshisa “Jojo” Trader and Jeremiah Smith lived up to their lofty expectations once again, combining for three touchdowns and a pair of two-point conversions.

Trader opened the scoring with a six-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter and had another right before halftime. Smith then snagged the two-point conversion to give Chaminade a 35-14 lead at the break.

But Dillard hung around for much of the first half. After both teams traded punts to start the game, the Panthers responded to Trader’s touchdown reception with a 68-yard touchdown drive of their own to tie it at six.

And when the Lions went up by double digits, Dillard used several chunk plays to eventually find the end zone and narrow the gap to 21-14 early in the second quarter. It seemed as if Chaminade would have to survive an upset bid for the second week in a row, after escaping Coconut Creek with a 35-27 victory.

However, the Lions found their rhythm and outscored Dillard 34-6 the rest of the way.

“We haven’t played a good game yet,” Chaminade head coach Dameon Jones said. “So, we have a lot of stuff to improve on, but I just like that we’re fighting. We go down fighting every game, play our hardest.”

One way the Lions can improve is by getting healthy. Jones said five or six starters were out on Friday and that it showed. And while Patterson was critical of the defense against Dillard, it had the only two turnovers of the game — both interceptions that led to touchdowns.

“We pride ourselves on making turnovers,” Patterson said. “We’re a defense that believes that defense wins championships, so right now we’ve [had] four weeks straight with two interceptions. We’re doing real good.”

Chaminade’s rushing attack was also on full display against Dillard. The Lions retook a 14-6 lead thanks to running back Arwin Jackson’s 40-yard touchdown, and he had a 13-yard score in the third quarter. As a team, Chaminade finished with five rushing touchdowns.

Lions quarterback Cedrick Bailey appeared to have one of them — a 35-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter — but it was negated due to holding. After the play, Smith got chippy with a Dillard defender and had to be held back. Some coaches cleared the benches, and several minutes passed before the game resumed.

Chaminade received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and was pushed back, but ended up scoring a touchdown just a few plays later to take a commanding 27-14 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

The Lions have two weeks to rest up before they face Avant Garde Academy in Hollywood on Oct. 20. Dillard looks to rebound against Plantation at home next week.