In a rare occurrence ’Noles suffer setback

Defending 8A champs’ defeat is just their 2nd in last 33 games

SANFORD — The unbeaten streak ended Friday for the defending Class 8A state champions.

Seminole (5-1) stumbled down the stretch in a matchup of two of the state’s top teams, which resulted in a 26-23 loss to visiting South Florida power Hollywood Chaminade-Madonna (4-1).

The ’Noles, the area’s No. 1-ranked program in the Sentinel Super 16, entered the contest as winners of 17 games in a row and 31 of 32 over the past four seasons.

“When you win so many games in a row, sometimes you kind of take it for granted,” Seminole coach Eric Lodge said. “We want to schedule really good opponents like this so that if we have to stub our toe and learn that lesson, we do it now and not when we’re late in the playoffs.”

Chaminade, winner of three consecutive Class 3A state titles from 2017-19 and the state runnes-up in 2016 and 2020, is ranked No. 7 in Florida by the MaxPreps’ all-class computer poll. Seminole ranked 11th.

“It’s a hard pill to swallow because we’ve been so successful for so many years, but we’ve got to play good teams like this to get us ready for the playoffs in November and December,” said senior linebacker Lucas Fonseca. “We came out firing on all cylinders, then as we got tired that caused us to have mental mistakes and for them to have big plays.”

Fonseca intercepted a pass with 5 minutes, 41 seconds to go in the third quarter, giving the ’Noles the ball in the red zone following a short return. Junior wideout Darren “Goldie” Lawrence, a Florida Gators commit, hauled in a TD pass from Luke Rucker on fourth down and ran in the two-point conversion for Seminole’s first lead since the first quarter at 23-19.

But the ’Noles turned the ball over on downs and fumbled it away on consecutive possessions in the red zone. The fumble came on fourth down after senior Jhavon McIntyre picked off a pass at the 50-yard line and returned it to the 9.

The Lions eventually took advantage of the miscues. Zaquan Patterson caught a thirddown toss from sophomore QB

Cedrick Bailey and turned it into a 47-yard gain along the visiting sideline. Two plays later, Bailey connected with senior standout Brian Dilworth in the end zone to help Chaminade retain the advantage.

Senior running back Donta Whack broke loose for a 17-yard carry and Lawrence caught a pass on fourth down on Seminole’s final drive, which stalled on downs after 10 plays at Chaminade’s 26 with 49 seconds left.

Whack finished with 71 yards on 22 carries and Lawrence caught four passes for 30 yards for an offense that was limited to less than 150 yards.

Chaminade entered with several Division I prospects on the roster, including UCF commit Jamaal Johnson at defensive end and Ohio State commit Ryan Turner at defensive back.

“When you play a really good opponent and two teams are evenly matched, the ball can bounce one way or another,” Lodge said. “Those little plays, they’re the difference in a game against a team that’s just like you.”

Seminole intercepted two passes and forced a fumble, the latter of which helped to build a 15-0 lead in the first quarter.

Senior receiver Deandre Cameron capped a 12-play drive with a short TD run and Lawrence rushed for the two-point conversion. Six plays later, sophomore linebacker Jordyn Perkins forced a fumble on a pass behind the line of scrimmage and UCF commit Kameron Moore returned the ball to the 1. Rucker scored on a 2-yard keeper up the middle with 1:54 to go in the quarter.

Chaminade answered with 19 points in the second quarter while leaning on sophomore running back Davion Gause, who finished with a game-high 34 carries for 146 yards. Gause surpassed 100 yards and reached the end zone twice in the first half.

The second TD came two plays after Bailey scrambled for a 32-yard gain to put the Lions near the goal line with less than a minute to go.

Lodge kept the message simple when analyzing the outcome.

“The goal is to win a state championship, not to go undefeated,” he said. “We’re going to keep playing teams like this and work toward our goal of putting rings on our fingers.”