Miami, Florida- We’ve officially made it! Welcome to Pitbull Stadium for this weekend’s FHSAA Football State Championships!
Tonight’s (December 11), our opening primetime matchup between the Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders and the Chaminade Madonna Lions of Class 1A went as many expected it would.
Throughout the entirety of tonight’s contest, Chaminade just continued to apply pressure staying dominant offensively. Moments into the game, Chaminade found the end zone first as Derrek Cooper broke off a 52 yard rushing touchdown (7-0, 9:58 1). Cooper, a talented 5-Star two way player in the class of 2026, punched right through the hole, turning on the jets. Once Cooper got to the second level, nobody was close to tackling him, especially in space.
The ‘Nade Boyz would go onto extend their lead as Tyler Chance found 4-Star WR and recent Penn State signee Koby Howard for a 27 yard score, bringing us to a 14-0 lead (7:00 2nd).
As the second half began, Chance would toss his second touchdown pass of the night, hitting 4-Star Wideout Denairius Gray for a 20 yard score, capping off the longest scoring drive of the night (84 yards). Gray would finish tonight’s game as Chaminade’s leading receiver, totaling 5 Receptions for 76 yards and a Receiving Touchdown.
Moments later, Leonzay Merzius would recover a loose ball, returning it for another Chaminade touchdown, this time in way of a scoop and score (28-0, 2:36 3).
Clearwater Central Catholic would go onto score their first points of the night, as Keo Jenkins fought his way for a 1 yard touchdown rush. On the following drive, ‘Nade responded as Chance found dual sport phenom WR Jasen Lopez for a 8 yard score. (35-7, 4:45 4th).
Finally, Chaminade Madonna iced this game as Camari Hall broke off a 30 yard rushing touchdown with just under three minutes remaining. (42-7). As the clock began to wind away, the Chaminade sideline began to line up in single file formation, securing yet another State Championship for one of South Florida’s blue bloods.
Chaminade’s electric Broward County squad reigned supreme once again, totaling just under 400 yards of total offense (205 Passing, 174 Rushing). Defensively, Chaminade won the turnover battle, forcing three fumbles and picking off another three balls.
Thursday Slate:
2A State Finals: Cocoa v Gadsden County- 12:30 P.M. Kickoff
5A State Finals: St. Thomas Aquinas v Lakeland- 7:30 P.M. Kickoff
