December 16, 2024
by Josh Zedner
Pitbull Stadium, Miami, Fla.
Florida Man Sports is back with coverage of the South Florida high school football season. Well, we’ve been on a little hiatus here but we made it to the end. It is time for the FHSAA State Championship Games. The best of the best have made it to the top of the mountain and it is time to crown champions in all of the divisions.
1A: Chaminade-Madonna vs. Clearwater Central Catholic
“Lions Tear Through Marauders”
We kick off with the 1A Finals. The matchup: The Clearwater Central Catholic Marauders and the Chaminade-Madonna Lions. Both teams came into the game at 12-2. And what better place to do it than South Dade Kia Field at Pitbull Stadium. DALE!
Chaminade began the game with the ball. It appeared things were going to get out of hand early. 2025 QB and Penn State commit Bekkem Kritza had a first down completion to 2025 RB and Appalachian State commit Jaquari “Trigg” Lewis. Then the ball was given to the bellcow 2026 ATH Derrek Cooper and he chugged his way to a first down, and then an easy burst down the sideline into the endzone to give the Lions an early lead.
Clearwater, without their injured signal caller 2025 ATH and Illinois commit Jershaun Newton (the younger brother of 2024 Washington Commanders 2nd round pick Jer’Zhan “Johnny” Newton, an All-American DL and Big Ten DPOY at Illinois), turned to 2027 QB Khayse Barrett, and the run-first Marauders ground-and-pounded their way down the field. Barrett, 2025 DL/FB Keo Jenkins and 2025 RB and Indiana commit Sean Cuono each had first-down totes on the opening drive. But the Chaminade defense was up for the task at the end of the day. 2026 LB Jaiden Roper made multiple plays, including a TFL. 2025 DL and Miami commit Donta Simpson Jr. had a TFL of his own. And as Clearwater made their way down the field, 2025 DL and Middle Tennessee commit Anthony Smith forced a fumble that was recovered by 2025 DB and Chattanooga commit Kelly Sejour Jr.
There was a lot more defense where that came from. Clearwater held down the Chaminade offense for a while. 2025 LB Johnny Richardson (on multiple occasions), 2025 DB Jesse Wilkins (TFL), and 2025 ATH Gregory Thomas were making plays for the Marauders, forcing punts. While on Chaminade’s side, Sejour Jr. made a couple of more plays, including a nice interception when Clearwater was driving. 2025 DB Izziek Chandler also made a play which forced a punt.
2027 QB Tyler Chance entered the game for an ailing Kritza. Chance had an immediate first down connection with 2026 WR and Auburn commit Denairius Gray. Then, Chance found 2025 WR and Penn State commit Koby Howard for an easy touchdown to make the score 14-0. Once again, the rough-nosed Marauders looked to respond. Cuono and Barrett each ran for a couple of tough first downs, and Barrett connected with Jenkins for a first on a screen pass. But once again, Chaminade’s defense was up to the task. Smith and 2025 DL and FIU commit Matthew Pointer made key plays to stall the drive. Smith eventually recovered an aborted snap.
More defense continued for both teams. Jenkins and 2026 DL Tyrique Harris forced a Chaminade punt. Chandler picked off Barrett on an ill-advised pass. And 2026 DB Jsai Smith broke up a pass at the end of the half that eventually led to a turnover-on-downs.
After a Clearwater three-and-out to begin the half, Chaminade put their foot on the gas. Chance connected with Gray once again. 2027 RB Arwin Jackson ran for a couple of first downs. Chance flipped it underhand under pressure to Jackson for another first down. And eventually Chance connected with Gray in the back of the endzone on a play where the receiver made a stunning one-handed catch. The tough-nosed Barrett was as brutalizing as ever on the next Marauders drive, running for three rumbling first-down designed QB runs. But on yet another dropped ball in the backfield, 2026 DB Leonzay Merzius scooped the ball up and made a mad dash to the endzone to put the game out of reach at 28-0.
As the game winded down, Jenkins powered in for a Clearwater touchdown. Chance delivered yet another touchdown, this time to the shifty 2026 WR Jasen “JRoc” Lopez. 2025 ATH and Middle Tennessee commit Camari Hall finished the scoring off with a late rushing touchdown. And 2027 S John Gay put the clock at 0’s with a game-ending interception.
The Chaminade-Madonna Lions are once again state champions for the 4th year in a row. This is truly an incredible football program. The only expectation is winning titles and they just continue to do that. Stockpiling talent is what they do best, and they will likely only get better by adding more of these studs in the portal. But for now, what they have on offense is incredible too, with Chance potentially leading the Lions for two more seasons after tonight. Jackson, Lopez, and Gray will all be back next year as well. This team is once again bound to be favorites for another state title. What an incredible program.
As for Clearwater Central Catholic, they showed flashes and a whole lot of toughness tonight. But in the end, they came up well short against this stacked Chaminade program for the second year in a row. With Barrett coming back next year, the passing offense will look to improve. But boy do they have a hell of an athlete in that kid. He is tough as nails and doesn’t care about putting his body in rough places. Clearwater may be losing a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, but this team has a lot of moxie. They will have Harris and Smith back next year on defense to headline that side of the ball. But they could really use some improvements on offense, specifically on the boundary at receiver. Perhaps 2026 WRs Brendan Wright and Yorel Stewart, who showed flashes tonight, can show some dynamic ability and growth in their senior seasons.
FINAL SCORE: Chaminade-Madonna beats Clearwater Central Catholic 42-7
Florida Man Sports Player of the Game: Chaminade 2027 QB Tyler Chance, 3 TDs
7A: Venice vs. Lake Mary
“Indians Dice Through Rams”
As for the Class 7A finals between the Venice Indians and the Lake Mary Rams, this game was expected to be a shootout of potentially epic proportions. Lake Mary came into this matchup at 12-2, with a state semifinal revenge win against Dr. Phillips, avenging a loss from earlier this season. Venice has been outstanding this season, at 13-1, with wins over the likes of Miami Northwestern, Bishop Verot, Cocoa, and Clearwater Central Catholic. Venice beat Columbus by a slim margin last week in a dynamic showdown.
As the game got kicked off, Venice started with the ball. After a couple of early first-down conversions by 2025 ATH and Ole Miss commit Winston Watkins and 2025 RB and Louisville commit Jamarice “Gata” Wilder, the Indians drive stalled out after a couple of quality defensive plays by 2025 S Jack Lorenz and 2025 LB Levi Monzon. Lake Mary got a couple of first downs through the legs of 2026 QB and Notre Dame commit Noah Grubbs and 2025 RB/WR Parker Perales, but after a deflected pass by 2026 DE Asharri Charles, 2025 DB Kyni Brantley made a nice interception to put Venice in prime position.
2025 QB and Northern Iowa commit Jayce Nixon made a connection with 2025 WR and Dartmouth commit Ryan Matulevich for a first down on the ensuing drive, but after a PBU by Lorenz and a TFL by 2025 LB Luke Prieto, Venice was forced to kick a field goal. It was missed wide left. The Indians continued to play quality defense on their end as well, with 2026 DB Layne Kisovic delivering a PBU and 2025 DE and USF commit Eli Jones delivering pressure to force a three-and-out for the Rams.
Venice finally broke through on the next drive. Nixon tossed a first-down dart to 2025 WR Malakai Corbett, and Wilder got his legs churning for another first down. Wilder eventually cruised into the endzone to give the Indians the first lead of the game. After a couple of punts, a missed field goal by Lake Mary, and a turnover-on-downs by Venice, Grubbs found security in his top target, 2025 WR Chase Hinshaw. Grubbs found Hinshaw for a first down, and then for an easy touchdown for the Rams. The extra point was missed though, and Lake Mary remained down by 1.
After that touchdown, the sledding got quite tough for Lake Mary. 2027 RB Dorian “Macho” Irving-Jones started to get his legs going as well with a first-down carry. And then, Nixon made a connection with Corbett for a long catch-and-run touchdown that brought the lead back out to 8. After a pass breakup by Winnie Watkins on the defensive end, the do-it-all versatile athlete was ready to return punts too. And on his next PR attempt, off a bounce, the ball landed in his hands and about 60 yards later, was on the floor of the endzone. With blazing speed, Watkins skirted past Rams defenders and made multiple moves to get the Venice lead out to 21-6.
More defense from Venice. 2025 LB and Air Force commit Landon Marsters broke up a Grubbs pass. After Wilder ran for another first down, 2025 K/P and Florida State commit Brunno Reus drilled a long one to put the Indians up by 18. 2025 LB Ben Zarkiewicz made a textbook read on a Grubbs pass to the flats to pick it off and put Venice in advantageous territory again. Nixon connected with Matulevich for another first down, and then Wilder with good moves cruised into the endzone to put this game nearly out of reach at 31-6 at the half.
With Venice looking to put the game away early in the second half, Nixon threw an errant pass that was picked off by 2025 LB Nolan McClanahan. Grubbs then threw a jump ball that was brought down by Hinshaw in the endzone to cut the lead down to 18. But this was essentially the last response by the Rams. Watkins and Wilder just took over after this. Watkins juked out defenders for a couple of first downs on the next drive. Then it was Wilder’s turn to rumble like a bronze bomber. Irving-Jones added a first-down run to complement the two stars. Wilder then cruised into the endzone for his 3rd touchdown of the afternoon to put this one out of reach at 38-13 in the middle of the 3rd quarter.
But do you think Watkins was done there? Because he wasn’t. He started taking Wildcat snaps in the backfield in addition to the exceptional work he was doing at WR and CB. He ran in for two touchdowns of his own to add to the earlier punt return touchdown. He is a special and dynamic athlete. Ole Miss is getting a good one with him, and it’ll be scary to envision how Lane Kiffin intends to utilize the ultra-versatile Watkins, along with Monarch’s 2025 ATH Samari Reed who is a similar do-it-all type player. Grubbs threw a late touchdown to 2025 WR Tyree Witherspoon as a consolation score for Lake Mary. The final score was 52-19, in favor of the Venice Indians.
Wow, this was an impressive performance by Venice. They really put on quite the show in this State Championship final. Coach John Peacock did an incredible job with the development and recruitment of this team and it paid off in a big way with this comfortable championship victory. Watkins and Wilder are both absolute stars who could realistically be immediate contributors at their respective colleges. This team will have to do a lot of replacement hunting on both sides of the ball, starting at the QB position, but they have some bookends with Irving-Jones and Charles coming back next year to give them some returning talent in the hunt for another state title.
As for the Lake Mary Rams, a fantastic season comes to an end in a crushing fashion. With a signal caller like Grubbs, this team is sure to be in the hunt once again next year, but he looked very inconsistent at best in this final performance of the season. This was a rough one for them. Running back and wide receiver rooms will have to be replenished, as well as a plethora of defensive positions as well.
FINAL SCORE: Venice beats Lake Mary 52-19
Florida Man Sports Co-Players of the Game:
2025 ATH Winston Watkins Jr, 3 TDs (2 rush, 1 PR)
2025 RB Jamarice “Gata” Wilder, 3 TDs
This was such an incredible season, and I would like to thank everyone who reads these articles for showing support and love throughout this entire process. We’ll be back very soon.
Till next time,
Josh Zedner
Florida Man Sports
We’re out.
About Josh Zedner:
Joshua Zedner is a beat writer covering high school football for Florida Man Sports. A native of Miami Beach, he attended Florida International University before finishing his undergraduate Business Administration degree at the University of Florida. Josh is an avid Miami sports fan, and he also writes a music review blog as a passion project under the @AlbumAnalysisWithZ handle on Instagram.
