Chaminade suffers lopsided loss against national powerhouse; NW loses opener

The Chaminade-Madonna Lions found themselves in an unfamiliar position on Saturday night.

Winners of four straight state championships, Chaminade is used to having its way with opponents.

The script was flipped on the Lions on Saturday night against national-power, St. Frances Academy (Baltimore).

The Panthers, ranked in the top five in the country, used a power running game to overwhelm the Lions, 42-13, in the finale of the Broward County National Football Showcase played at St. Thomas Aquinas.

Chaminade last faced a running clock working against them, when the Lions lost at Bishop Gorman, 49-14, in 2022.

Chaminade fell behind by two touchdowns early, and after closing the gap to seven points in the second quarter, were unable to contain St. Frances high-powered offense.

Quarterback Jae’Oyn Williams threw two touchdown passes – both to Jesse Legree – and rushed for another in the lopsided contest.

In the second quarter, Chaminade scored on 25-yard reception by Jasen Lopez from freshman, Malik Leonard, in the second quarter.

On the last play from scrimmage, Denairus Gray, caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Chance.

The Lions used multiple quarterbacks, Leonard and Chance, a junior, who was a key contributor in the 2024 state title game.

St. Frances opened the scoring at 4:46 of the first quarter on Sa’nir Brooks’ 40-yard touchdown run.

It was a sign that St. Frances was able to move to the ball on the ground, which it did effectively all night.

A chance for the Panthers to add more points early was thwarted by the Lions when linebacker Bryant Julius recovered a fumble, caused by RJ Alphonse near midfield.

Leonard, a lefty passer with a ton of potential, made some terrific throws. But the freshman also threw a costly interception, which was returned for a touchdown.

St. Frances defensive back, Khmari Bing, picked the ball off and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown. The pick-six by the Maryland commit gave the Panthers a 14-0 lead at 10:02 of the second quarter.

Leonard immediately redeemed himself. On the next drive, Chaminade got on the board with Leonard threading the needle on a pass to Lopez. The Florida State commit weaved through defenders for a 25-yard scoring pass, closing the gap to 14-7 with 6:48 before halftime.

Whatever momentum Chaminade had built after the Lopez score was immediately erased in the final six minutes of the second quarter.

Williams, a force running and passing, drove the Panthers down the field. Williams powered his way into the end zone from seven yards to make it 21-7 after Judah Niv’s third point after.

Chaminade then went with Chance at quarterback, and he drove to St. Frances’ 34 before turning the ball over on fourth down.

Taking over with 1:28, Williams guided the Panthers to their fourth touchdown of the first half. The quarterback had runs of 17 and 14 yards, moving the ball to the Lions’ 36.

The Lions defense stepped up, forcing three straight incomplete passes. But on fourth down, Williams hooked up with Legree for a 36-yard scoring pass.

Chaminade found itself down 28-7 at the half.

In the third quarter, it was more of the same.

St. Frances took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards on nine plays. The Panthers stuck with the ground game, with Brooks carrying four times for 53 yards on the drive.

Then on third down, Williams hooked up with Legree for 25-yards and a touchdown that made it 35-7.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Trey Wells intercepted a Chance pass, deep in Chaminade territory.

Samir Edwards caught a 30-yard touchdown pass.

MORE GAMES

Orange Lutheran (Ca.) 17, Miami Northwestern 13: Nicholas Lennear caught a 15-yard touchdown pass, but the Bulls (0-1) were never able to take a lead in a defensive struggle Saturday night at Traz Powell Stadium. Northwestern will look to bounce back on Friday when it hosts reigning Class 7A state champion Venice at Traz at 7:30.

Columbus 7, Southridge 0 (Suspended, 2nd quarter): The game was suspended with 3:30 remaining in the second quarter after multiple lightning delays on Saturday morning. It will be resumed at 4:30 p.m. on Monday at Columbus.

The Explorers struck for the only points in the matchup so far when senior running back Shawn James ran for a 5-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

Southridge’s defense limited any more damage after forcing two turnovers including an interception by safety Jean Calixte.

ANDRE FERNANDEZ

This story was originally published August 24, 2025 at 8:29 AM.