1A Final: Chaminade Wins Fourth Straight

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MIAMI – </strong>Chaminade-Madonna parlayed six Clearwater Central Catholic turnovers into a 42-7 win in the 1A state championship game at Pitbull Stadium on the campus of Florida International University Wednesday night.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CCC (12-3), who lost to this team a year ago 56-0, played much better and would have been the game if it weren't for those costly turnovers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In their record ninth consecutive trip to the finals, head coach <strong>Dameon Jones</strong> and his team won for the seventh time in nine years and fourth straight as they continued to show why they are among the best in the country.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“This never gets old at all,” said Jones. “Each year there are new players who are experiencing this feeling and that is the best thing about winning these titles.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the first half, head coach <strong>Chris Harvey</strong> and CCC dominated the time of possession, but trailed 14-0 when they gave the ball up four times on turnovers.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lions took a 7-0 lead with 10:10 left in the first quarter when national junior standout <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1247419' first='Derrek' last='Cooper']</strong> took off on a 52-yard run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lions (13-2) extended the lead in the second quarter when sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1692844' first='Tyler' last='Chance']</strong> found Penn State signee <strong>Kobe Howard</strong> from 27 yards out for a 14-0 lead with 7:00 left.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chaminade came out in the second half and quickly took control – with a 20-yard scoring strike from Chance to standout junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1247533' first='Denairius' last='Gray']</strong> with 5:32 left.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lion extended their lead to 28-0 when <strong>Khayse Barrett</strong> and the Marauders turned the ball over for the fifth time in the game as junior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1249157' first='Leonzay' last='Merzius']</strong> scooped up a fumble and went 78 yards for a 28-0 advantage with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CCC finally got on the board in the fourth quarter with 9:02 left when senior <strong>Keo Jenkins </strong>took it in from the one – cutting the lead to 28-7, but Chaminade was not finished.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>When Chance found star junior receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1247487' first='Jasen' last='Lopez']</strong> from eight yards out it extended the lead to 35-7 with 4:45 left. It was Chance's third TD pass of the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Lions ended the scoring with 2:58 when senior running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='834277' first='Camari' last='Hall']</strong> ran it in from 30 yards out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“This was a lot of fun – my first state title,” said Chance. “This was a team effort on both sides of the ball.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>STATISTICALLY SPEAKING</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Chaminade finished with 19 first downs and CCC ended with 16. The Marauders ran for 177 yards and the Lions had 162. The Lions had the best of the passing game with 205 yards and a total of 367. The Marauders threw for 98 yards and 275 total yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Individually, Barrett led all rushers with 123 yards on 13 carries and Indiana signee <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='829341' first='Sean' last='Cuono']</strong> carried 19 times for 46 yards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cooper had 92 yards, sophomore <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='417666' first='Arwin' last='Jackson']</strong> (33) and Hall (31).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bennett finished 10 of 18 for 98 yards. He was intercepted three times. Chance was 15 of 20 for 192 yards and three scores.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Yorel Stewart</strong> caught 5 balls for 50 yards and <strong>Brendan Wright</strong> came up with three catches for 36 yards. Gray led the way for Chaminade with 5 catches for 78 yards, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='826614' first='Kyle' last='Washington']</strong> (4-34) and Lopez (4-30).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Defensively, <strong>Johnny Richardson </strong>had eight tackles, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1224164' first='Gregory' last='Thomas']</strong> and <strong>Gedontae Rich</strong> each had seven for CCC.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jaiden Roper</strong> led the way with 10 tackles, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='827365' first='Anthony' last='Smith']</strong> had 7 with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1219053' first='R.J.' last='Alphonse']</strong> had six, Miami signee <strong>Donta Simpson</strong> had five tackles as did <strong>Kelly Sejour Jr.,</strong> who had a fumble recovery and an interception. Merzius had that one fumble recovery and return.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In addition to Sejour's interception, the Lions also had one from <strong>Izziek Chandler</strong> and <strong>John Gay</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Statewide Coverage Daily. https://prepredzone.com/florida/</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>You Can Contact Larry Blustein with prospect or team information at: Floridakids1@aol.com.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>COACHES, PLAYERS: Do You Have A Subscription? Contact us for a savings code so you can see what everyone has been talking about! <a href="mailto:Floridakids1@aol.com">Floridakids1@aol.com</a>.</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->