Gibbons’ DuBuc, Chaminade’s Jones are Broward’s 5A-Ind. Co-Football Coaches of the Year
Broward County’s two newest football dynasties stayed on a roll in 2021.
Chaminade-Madonna bounced back after its 2020 title loss to win its fourth Class 3A championship in five years. Cardinal Gibbons went back to back in Class 4A and won its third state title in four years. With their ongoing runs of excellence, the Lions and Chiefs now both sit in the top five in state championships for Broward schools.
With their teams both on a roll, Chaminade-Madonna’s Dameon Jones and Cardinal Gibbons’ Matt DuBuc are the Miami Herald’s Co-Coaches of the Year for Broward County in Classes 5A-Independent.
Jones’ Lions now have six state titles after they won a pair without him in the 2000s. DuBuc’s Chiefs now have three and they had never won a championship before getting over the hump in 2018.
At Cardinal Gibbons, three of the Chiefs’ most important defensive anchors -- star linebackers R Mason Thomas and Tray Brown, and cornerback Isaiah Farris -- were part of all three championships, but Cardinal Gibbons had to replace some of its best players from 2020, including Brody Palhegyi, who won two 4A titles as the starting quarterback.
Star quarterback Dylan Rizk, however, transferred in from Delray Beach American Heritage and kept the Chiefs’ machine humming, even leading a 19-point comeback against Gulliver Prep in the Region 4-4A championship.
“Who could’ve replaced Brody Palhegyi? Well, you get another quarterback in and he does a good job,” DuBuc said. “Part of it is the system that we run and the program that we have.”
At Chaminade-Madonna, the 2021 season was all about erasing the memories from the year before.
The Lions were on the verge of making history by winning four straight state titles in 2020 before Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy scored 18 points in the fourth quarter in Tallahassee to stun Chaminade-Madonna. The Lions walked out of Doak Campbell Stadium shellshocked and had to replace their starting quarterback, their workhorse running back and multiple all-county performers on defense.
All they did was come back even better in 2021 to finish the year as the No. 24 team in the nation, according to MaxPreps, with a win against Gulliver and another against Buford in Georgia, plus a victory in the GEICO State Champions Bowl Series.
“We absolutely take pride in that, especially being a 3A school. People always try to say, Hey, you guys play in 3A, and this and that,” Jones said. “What can you say now?”
As they look ahead to 2022, Cardinal Gibbons and Chaminade-Madonna both know they’ll have targets on their backs, and important pieces to replace again.
The Chiefs will finally have to replace Thomas and Brown, plus star defensive lineman Ahmad Moten, No. 1 wide receiver Davon Kiser and three starters on their offensive line. The Lions will have to replace star cornerbacks Ryan Turner and Brian Dilworth, plus star defensive ends Kenyatta Jackson and Jamaal Johnson, who were the Herald’s Co-Defensive Players of the Year for Broward in 5A-Indepenent.
Both have earned the benefit of the doubt. The expectation will be nothing less than competing for a state championship because it’s what they both do every year now.
“This time around it’ll be Mason Thomas and Tray Brown,” DuBuc said. “Somebody steps in there and does a good job.”
