Chaminade-Madonna enters state football championship with chance at historic four-peat
Chaminade-Madonna never dared utter the words throughout this season, at least not as a collective.
The elusive “four-peat” — achieved only five times in Florida High School Athletic Association history — was inherent in the Lions’ preseason goals. They wanted to win a state championship, but, above all, they just wanted to play. They never talked about what winning a fourth consecutive title would mean because the goals were always more immediate.
“Our main goal was just trying to get back to the game,” coach Dameon Jones said.
In the offseason, they just wanted to get through the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and start workouts. In the preseason, they just wanted to stay healthy and get to Game 1. As the season went, they were always more concerned with not contracting the coronavirus so they could get to Friday and play their next game.
Now, it’s here. Chaminade-Madonna’s day-by-day approach has them on the brink. If they beat Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Class 3A championship in Tallahassee, the Lions will join the exclusive list.
So far, only Miami Central, Booker T. Washington, Tallahassee North Florida Christian, Live Oak Suwanee and, coincidentally, Trinity Christian Academy have won four in a row. Chaminade-Madonna can become the latest, the third from South Florida and Broward County’s first.
This run has been different than the Lions’ last. In 2019, Chaminade-Madonna rode Thad Franklin as far as he could take them. The Lions’ passing attack was lackluster, so they asked their star running back to do virtually everything. In the 3A championship, Franklin, who plans to sign with the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday, carried the ball 47 times and set a new title game record with 333 rushing yards.
“Last year,we leaned on him heavy because we didn’t have a choice,” Jones said. “Last year it was by any means necessary.”
Franklin has only played one snap in Chaminade-Madonna’s last two games, though, as he recovers from a hamstring injury and Jones isn’t sure about his availability for Wednesday. In Franklin’s stead, freshman Davion Gause has run for 223 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries, and sophomore Jonathan Harris has 186 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries.
The run game is still the foundation, but the Lions have a dynamic, fast-improving quarterback, too. Jaylon Tolbert, who’s orally committed to the FCS Howard Bison, has gone 33 of 46 for 568 yards and five touchdowns in four playoff games in his first season at Chaminade-Madonna.
“I feel like he’s gotten a lot better, I feel like he’s gotten more comfortable in understanding the system and he’s as good as advertised,” Jones said. “People haven’t been able to — and they haven’t been — load the box like they have in the past because he’s given us a balance with that.”
