Explosive plays highlight Chaminade’s lopsided victory against Cardinal Gibbons

How the season started for Chaminade-Madonna compared to the way it finished has been night and day.

The Lions overcame a couple of early losses, as well as a rash of injuries, and still managed to run off eight consecutive wins, while cementing themselves as a strong contender for another state championship.

On Friday night, despite missing five starters, Chaminade continued to push forward. The Lions did so in convincing fashion with a 62-17 drumming of Cardinal Gibbons.

Receiver Jasen “J-Roc” Lopez scored three touchdowns, including opening the scoring with a 55-yard punt return, and Camari Hall rushed for a pair of touchdowns. Derrek Cooper rushed for a touchdown in the first half as well, on an 8-yard play.

Quarterback Bekkem Kritza threw three touchdown passes, and the Lions were pretty much unstoppable.

“We talked about it all week,” Chaminade coach Dameon Jones said. “If we came out and executed, it would be this type of game. But it was predicated on how sound and disciplined we were.”

The Lions (8-2) have simply been rolling since losing their first two games to St. John Bosco (Calif.), 34-27, and Blanche Ely, 35-34, in overtime.

In the last two games, the Lions have outscored their opposition, 118-17.

Along the way, the Lions have dealt with a massive amount of injuries. Kritza is the third different starting quarterback, and the Penn State commit, just transferred into the program after opening the season at Miami Central.

Kritza was on target all night with his array of offensive weapons.

The emergence of Lopez as a bon-a-fide star has been a huge factor in the Lions primed again for another title run.

The junior opened the scoring with his 55-yard punt return. In the first half, he added a 51-yard touchdown reception, and his third TD came on a 15-yard pass from Kritza with less than eight seconds to go in the first half.

That scoring play made it 42-10 at intermission.

“Being able to come over here and make a statement, and have an impact on this team, and helping us win is really big for me,” said Lopez, who played last year at True North Classical Academy in Miami.

Even though the Lions have posted some lopsided scores, it hasn’t been easy patching the roster together.

Against Gibbons (5-3), the Lions had receivers Koby Howard and Denairius Gray out with injuries.

“Next man up, mentality,” Jones said.

The good news for the Lions is, they will get two weeks off before the playoffs begin. Friday marked the end of their regular season.

Based on all the injuries, Jones welcomes the breather.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Jones said. “We haven’t had a bye week all year. I’m fine with that.”

For Gibbons (5-3), the loss doesn’t factor much in the Chiefs’ Class 2A playoff picture. Next week, they wrap up the regular season at Miramar.

Against Chaminade, the Chiefs received a 46-yard field goal from Brent Fardette to make the score 7-3.

But Gibbons wasn’t able to keep pace with Chaminade’s quick-strike offense.

Jayden Torres threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Trent Dubuc before halftime, trimming Chaminade’s lead to 35-10.

But Lopez’s touchdown in the closing seconds made it 42-10 at halftime.

Chaminade made it a running clock game in the third quarter on Kyle Washington’s 83-yard touchdown reception.

Gibbons’ final touchdown came on a pass play that nearly was intercepted, but the ball deflected high in the air, and Tyler Jackson grabbed it and dashed into the end zone to complete a 17-yard scoring play.

Jaquari Lewis scored Chaminade’s final touchdown on a short run, giving the Lions a season-high 62 points.

From the opening two losses to eight straight wins over many state title caliber opponents has been an impressive turnaround.

“I feel like the coaches really stepped up,” Lopez said. “We started focusing more on our game plan as we went through the season. We practiced harder. We started playing harder. Every team comes out, and we play with a target on our chest. I just feel like we started playing with that. Ever since that Ely game, we’ve gotten better ever since.”