The Chaminade-Madonna Lions redeemed themselves on Saturday as they edged the Oxbridge Academy Thunderwolves 31-28 in the Class 3A state championship game at Camping World Stadium in Orlando. The Lions, who captured their first state title since 2005, made it to state finals for the second straight year.
Chaminade-Madonna(11-2) wasted no time and scored on their first possession. Running back Shaun Shivers ended the six-play, 59-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown run at 9:29 of the first quarter.
Oxbridge Academy(10-2), who played in their first FHSAA championship game in school history, answered back to tie the game 7-7 at the 3:53 mark. Quarterback Gio Richardson sneaked in with a touchdown run from one yard away to complete the 12-play, 66-yard drive.
The Lions responded during their following possession on the third play to regain the lead 14-7 with 2:09 left in the first. Quarterback Daelen Menard connected a 44-yard touchdown pass to wide Akeem Hayes on the right side.
In the second quarter, the Thunderwolves reached the end zone on their next drive that took ten plays for 80 yards. Richardson tossed a swing pass to running back James Meeks and he scored from 20 yards out at 9:22.
Chaminade-Madonna scored on their third consecutive possession with 7:15 remaining in the second. Shivers rushed for his second touchdown of the contest with a two-yard run around the left end to cap a four-play, 55-yard drive.
The second half began with Oxbridge Academy getting all the way to the Lions 11-yard line and lost the ball on downs almost five minutes into the third quarter. The Lions capitalized on it eight plays later when wide receiver Xavier Williams caught a 55-yard touchdown pass from Menard and increased their gap to 28-14 at the 3:49 mark.
The Thunderwolves again got into the red zone by the end of the third quarter. Their possession ended as Lions defensive back James Williams intercepted a pass at his own two-yard line 21 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Oxbridge Academy got good field positioning to begin their next possession. Tight end Herman McCray caught a 17-yard pass up the middle from Richardson for the score on a five-play, 48-yard drive with 7:53 left in the fourth and trailed 28-21.
Following another Chaminade-Madonna punt, the Thunderwolves marched down the field that included a 30-yard pass to wide receiver Jordan Cash to the Lions 19-yard line. Wide receiver De' John King made a 16-yard touchdown reception on fourth down to tie the contest 28-28 with 3:27 remaining in tbe fourth quarter.
The Lions came back in the final minutes of the game with their rushing attack and entered deep into Thunderwolves territory. Daniel Longman kicked a 19-yard field goal with four seconds remaining to get the victory.
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