Chaminade completes one of its more resilient state championship runs with dominant win
When it was over, there initially wasn’t the euphoric celebration typical of teams that just won a state championship.
After all, it wasn’t nearly the first time for Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna.
But this season and the journey to get to this year’s triumph was anything but typical for the Lions.
Overcoming an 0-2 start, the loss of key players including starting quarterbacks to injuries, and players playing positions they weren’t accustomed to, lined their path to Pitbull Stadium on Wednesday night.
But once the medals were placed around their necks and the championship trophy presented to them following a 42-7 victory over Clearwater Central Catholic, the Lions exhaled, smiled and started whooping and yelling together in a festive atmosphere.
“We never took this opportunity for granted,” said senior defensive back and Chattanooga signee Kelly Sejour Jr., who recovered a fumble and had an interception. “Just to be one of the ones that God chose to be in this situation four times back-to-back feels amazing.”
Chaminade (13-2) won its fourth consecutive state championship, marking its longest run of consecutive state titles in school history. It was the Lions’ seventh state title in the past eight seasons during a state-record run of nine consecutive state finals appearances. Chaminade also won its ninth state title overall, which is second all-time among Broward County teams behind Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, which is vying for its 16th championship this week.
All of it came after a season-opening loss to California’s St. John Bosco and an upset loss to Pompano Beach Blanche Ely in overtime which took the Lions out of the national title picture.
The Lions followed that with a pivotal 48-45 win over Class 4A state finalist Plantation American Heritage and picked up wins over playoff teams such as Miami Edison, Miami Norland, Davie Western, Coconut Creek Monarch, Aquinas and Fort Lauderdale Cardinal Gibbons.
“These are the types of kids I want, the ones that handle adversity,” Chaminade coach Dameon Jones said. “It’s not always gonna be peaches and cream. It’s like at the college level, it’s becoming a business so at the end of the day, you have to handle adversity and take care of business.”
For Jones, it’s his seventh state title, which ties him with former Aquinas coach George Smith for the second-most in Broward history and tied also with former Lakeland coach Bill Castle and former Miami Central and Northwestern coach Roland Smith for fourth all-time in state history.
The Lions defeated the Marauders (12-3) in the state final for the third consecutive season in blowout fashion.
After beating Clearwater Central Catholic 48-14 in 2022 and 56-0 last season, many expected a similar outcome. That belief grew more after the Marauders entered Wednesday’s game without starting quarterback and Illinois signee Jershaun Newton, who was lost to an injury in last week’s state semifinal win over West Palm Beach Cardinal Newman.
But backup quarterback Khayse Barrett did a solid job early on of keeping the Marauders in it and finished with 123 yards rushing on 13 attempts.
The reason Chaminade turned it into another laugher?
Turnovers. Six of them.
Sejour Jr. set the tone with his fumble recovery in the second quarter and when he picked off Barrett later in the half.
“It was a great way to go out with a bang my senior year and I’m just thankful,” Sejour Jr. said. “One thing I learned about this team is we could overcome adversity. Everyone was strong-minded during the season and kept their eyes on the goal.”
The first takeaway led to a 27-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Chance to Koby Howard, a Penn State signee who returned from injury in last week’s state semifinal, to give Chaminade a 14-0 lead at the half.
The mistakes mounted for Clearwater Central Catholic in the second half. After driving into Chaminade territory and trying to slice into a 21-0 deficit, Nasir Hutchinson fumbled and junior cornerback Leonzay Merzius scooped it up and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown effectively ending any hopes of a Marauders comeback.
“Those turnovers saved us since we started off slow on offense,” Jones said. “It’s been like that all season, we started slow, but we just got better week to week. I’m just proud of all those kids. That 0-2 start brought us together and they got past adversity and made sure we got over the hump.”
Junior Derrek Cooper opened the game’s scoring when he broke loose for a 52-yard touchdown run with 9:58 left in the first quarter. Chaminade’s offense sputtered though as it rotated between starter Bekkem Kritza and Chance. It was Chance who was able to establish some rhythm midway through the contest and completed 15 of 20 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
His last scoring toss - an 8-yarder to Jasen “J-Roc” Lopez - gave the Lions a 35-7 edge with 4:45 to go in the fourth just before Camari Hall broke loose for a 30-yard touchdown two minutes later to prompt a running clock.
“This is very special,” Lopez said. “Coach Jones reminded us every day. He kept saying ‘Ely’ and that motivated us every day. It’s great for me being my first and for the guys who have been here, it’s a four-peat. It’s very special.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 10:01 AM.
