With shot at redemption, Chaminade wants to ‘rehash that feeling’ of 2020 disappointment
For more than 11 months, Dameon Jones tried not to bring up how Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna’s 2020 season ended.
He knew his Lions hadn’t forgotten, of course — they had a chance to make history with a fourth consecutive state title, only to blow a 16-point lead in the Class 3A championship — but it couldn’t be the only thing to define them.
“The thing this year,” the coach said, “is just get that bad taste out your mouth.”
Still, once the playoffs arrived last month and Chaminade-Madonna entered them as the massive favorite in 3A, Jones finally addressed it.
A blown two-touchdown lead in the title game was everything the Lions (10-1) aren’t about. They have won 53 of their last 62 games, including three of the last four 3A championships, and they were miserable when they lost in the final minute to Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy.
A year later, they’re heading back to Tallahassee for the 3A title game with a chance at redemption Friday when they face Tampa Berkeley Prep at 7 p.m. at Gene Cox Stadium.
Jones doesn’t want them to forget how it felt for them to make the long drive back to Hollywood with a runner-up trophy last year.
“As soon as the playoffs started, I brought it up,” he said. “I brought it up and I reminded people how they felt after the game with people crying, and mad and disappointed. I wanted them to rehash that feeling.”
Chaminade-Madonna’s redemption tour has gone off without nary a hitch and this might just be the Lions’ best team ever.
They have beaten Davie Western, Miami Columbus, Miami Gulliver Prep, Miami Edison, West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman, Sanford Seminole, St. Petersburg Lakewood and Tallahassee Florida State University — all top-100 teams in Florida, according to MaxPreps. They went up to Georgia and beat Buford. Their only loss came in September when Plantation American Heritage pulled out a rain-soaked win in the final minute.
Chaminade-Madonna enters its season finale sitting just outside the national top 25 and could finish ranked if it topples Berkeley Prep (12-0) this weekend.
“It motivated them because they had a bad taste in their mouths,” Jones said. “You always need try to figure out what was wrong, what can you do better? What do I need to do better as a coach to make your team better?”
It always helps, of course, to have the sheer level of talent the Lions do. Star defensive end Kenyatta Jackson, who orally committed to the Ohio State Buckeyes in October, has 65 tackles, four tackles for loss and 15 sacks, and won the Gatorade Player of the Year award for Florida on Monday. Jamaal Johnson, their other star defensive end, also has 65 tackles, plus three tackles for loss and 17 sacks, and has been orally committed to the UCF Knights since June.
Together, they form the foundation of a defense allowing just 9.5 points per game, including only three total points in three postseason games.
“[Jackson] and Jamaal Johnson feed off each other, and they push each other and they just make each other better,” Jones said. “Those two are probably going to be the best defensive ends that come through Chaminade.”
Offensively, running back Davion Gause has stepped right into the workhorse role vacated by former running back Thaddius Franklin Jr., who now plays for the Miami Hurricanes, by running for 1,454 and 15 touchdowns on 208 carries, and quarterback Cedrick Bailey has been solid in his first season as a full-time starter, going 107 of 183 for 1,729 yards, 15 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Chaminade-Madonna’s greatest strength, however, might be its secondary and no one took the title-game loss harder than the Lions’ defensive backs.
Star cornerback Brian Dilworth said in August he “had nightmares” about the potential interception he dropped on Trinity Christian Academy’s final drive at Doak Campbell Stadium last year. Ryan Turner, their other star cornerback and another Ohio State commit, watched Trinity Christian’s game-winning drive from the sideline as he battled leg cramps.
The Conquerors took the lead for good on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 48 seconds left and Chaminade-Madonna’s stacked secondary, which also now includes safeties Jeremiah McGill and Zaquan Patterson, knows it could’ve ended the game and captured a bit of history.
No Broward County team has ever won four straight state championships, but only one has ever even won more than five. With a win Friday, Chaminade-Madonna can claim its sixth, breaking a tie with Plantation American Heritage for the second most in Broward history.
All the Lions have to do is make sure this year ends differently.
This story was originally published December 9, 2021 at 4:12 PM.
