Chaminade-Madonna cruises past Miami Edison in regional finals, move closer to ’4-peat’
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When you’ve raised the bar as high as Chaminade-Madonna has, living up to such a lofty standard could be a challenge.
The one thing Lions coach Dameon Jones makes sure doesn’t set in is complacency.
“We make practice very hard on a regular basis, just for this,” Jones said. “So they know. It’s not like we just chill in practice. We make practice very hard. So practice is always going to be harder than the game for us.”
That was again the case this week as Chaminade-Madonna breezed by Miami Edison, 49-6, in their Class 1A regional final.
Winners of three straight state titles, the Lions are driven to make it four in a row.
For the second time this season, Chaminade had a comfortable win against Edison. On Sept. 12, the Lions won the first meeting, 56-19, also at home.
Up next for Chaminade is a state semifinal showdown at home against Jacksonville Trinity Christian next Friday.
“We’re climbing the ladder on gelling,” Jones said. “We haven’t gelled all the way yet. Hopefully we gel at the right time. I think we’re on our way to getting there.”
The Lions (11-2) used a group effort to roll off their 11th straight win.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway for Chaminade in its latest blowout is the number of players that saw action. Depth could be critical to whether the Lions make it a four-peat.
All season, they’ve dealt with injuries.
One of the standouts on Friday was quarterback Tyler Chance, who saw substantial time coming off the bench.
Entering in the second quarter, Chance threw two touchdown passes and guided the Lions effectively.
Entering the season, Chance won the starting job, but he suffered a right leg injury in the third game.
“For me personally, I just came off an injury, so I’m still trying to get back, and prepare,” Chance said. “For my teammates, everybody played tonight. Everybody executed. It was a good day.”
In recent weeks, Bekkem Kritza became the starter after transferring in from Miami Central.
Kritza, a Penn State commit, has done a masterful job leading the offense in the short period of time he’s been with the school.
In the first quarter Friday, Kritza connected with Jasen Lopez on a 15-yard touchdown pass play that gave the Lions a 14-3 lead.
“You always want depth, so that’s good for now and the future,” Jones said. “It was a good thing getting everybody in.”
If there was a downside for the Lions performance, it was it took almost the entire first quarter to get things going.
Edison controlled the play the first eight minutes behind quarterback Emmanuel Poitier Jr. and running back Sterling Joseph.
The Raiders (8-5) actually opened the scoring on Javier Granville’s 30-yard field goal with 4:48 left in the opening quarter.
The lead, however, was short lived. It lasted all of 18 seconds.
Camari Hall returned the ensuing kickoff to the Lions’ 40. On first down, Hall broke loose on a 60-yard touchdown, and Chaminade never looked back. Noah Sidan’s extra point made it 7-3.
Trailing 14-3, the Raiders had a chance to chip back. They had first and goal at the three. But Chaminade’s Peter Pierre made a huge tackle for a 3-yard loss, and Edison settled for a 23-yard Granville field goal.
The Lions seized control in the second quarter. Arwin Jackson had a 14-yard touchdown run, padding the lead to 21-6. And Bryant Junius came up with a huge defensive play, intercepting Poitier and scoring on a 25-yard return.
The Lions made it a running-clock game when Chance hooked up with Denairius Gray on a 40-yard touchdown pass with six seconds left in the first half, making it 42-6.
With the clock moving the entire second half, Edison controlled the ball the all of third quarter, but didn’t score.
In the fourth quarter, the Lions capped the scoring on Chance’s 3-yard scoring pass to Trystan Bejerano.
“We started clicking because we started believing in each other,” Chance said. “Everyone is doing their job, and now it’s all coming together.”