FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA – It was exciting. It was exhausting. And it ended with a thrilling finale.
It also wasn’t the cleanest performance in high school football, as both teams combined to commit more than 40 penalties.
But in the end, St. John Bosco (California) prevailed 34-27 against Chaminade-Madonna in the final of the Broward County National Football Showcase in St. Thomas Aquinas late Saturday evening.
On a night where two nationally ranked schools competed, SBLive was there and now offers our five takeaways.
If Chaminade-Madonna had scored a touchdown in the final minute, what would they have done next? Kick the PAT or go for two?
Quick refresher. On fourth down at the 15-yard line, Chaminade’s last play was an incomplete pass from quarterback Tyler Chance to receiver Denairius Gray (Auburn recruit).
Gray attempted a diving tackle in the left corner of the end zone.
If the Lions had scored, coach Dameon Jones would have had to decide whether to either kick the extra point to tie the game at 34-34 and take the game into overtime, or go for the win and a 2-point conversion.
“I wanted two,” Jones said. “The way the bodies were falling, I wanted two. Whatever it was, it would come.”
After falling behind by a touchdown in the second half, the Braves showed why they are one of the top five teams in the nation, taking the lead for good in the fourth quarter against a tough opponent like Chaminade on Maliq Blackwell-Allen’s 71-yard touchdown run.
The long run came on the first play after the Braves defense forced a punt from Chaminade.
Quarterback Matai Fuiava had a busy night with passes, including a pass to Daniel Odom in the second half.
In a back-and-forth game, Bosco managed to score when everything was on the line.
“I don’t think people realize how difficult and challenging this is, especially the first game,” said Braves manager Jason Negro. “It was two heavyweights battling all night long.”
It’s no secret, there are a lot of new faces and a lot of talent at the Lions.
At the start of the game, Jones had not yet publicly announced who the starting quarterback would be: Tyler Chance or Zac Katz.
The quarterback position was secured by Cedrick Bailey in recent years. But now he is at North Carolina State.
On Saturday, Chance played on the first series and Katz also played, but Jones stuck with Chance in the first half and Chance stayed with him for the rest of the game.
The sophomore finished 27 of 40 attempts and managed 266 yards and three touchdowns.
“They came to play,” Chance said. “We’re Chaminade and we have a target on our backs. We’re not coming out of this result feeling good.”
A year ago, the Lions’ receiver corps, which included Jeremiah Smith and Joshisa Trader, was considered the best in the country.
Even though those two stars are now in college, Chaminade-Madonna’s pass-catching unit may still be the best in the country.
The unit includes new additions such as Koby Howard and Jabari Brady.
Jasen Lopez, a junior, is a key part of the roster. Lopez, also a standout basketball player, transferred from True North Classical.
In Saturday’s loss, Lopez made an impression with 10 catches for 114 yards.
The running back supported Derrek Cooper, who rushed for 78 yards on 16 carries. Howard is one of the state’s most versatile players. The newcomer from Penn State rushed for 66 yards on five carries and had four catches for 41 yards.
“We worked hard all summer, spring and fall,” Lopez said. “We came here to do what we do best. Our defense made a couple of stops for us at the end and we couldn’t convert. But we have a full season ahead of us and we’re excited about it.”
Mistakes happen. Especially in the first game of the season.
Still, few could have predicted that two established programs like Bosco and Chaminade would be involved in such a volatile game.
When the dust settled, Bosco had 14 penalties for 155 yards and Chaminade had 12 penalties for 110 yards.
“They made a lot of mistakes, and so did we,” Negro said. “We got penalties. We couldn’t line up properly. What we did well was protect the ball.”
In addition, there were repeated stoppages as players developed cramps due to the high humidity, and the game ended after midnight ET.
“That’s what I wanted to see from a young group, if they were going to compete under the lights,” Jones said. “A lot of them had never been in that environment before. And they did. They came out and fought and fought. But we have a lot of stuff we need to clean up and do better. But this is the first game of the season. As you would expect.”
