Tallahassee, FL — On 4th and 7 from the Chaminade-Madonna 26-yard line, Trinity Christian stared at destiny or defeat with 52 seconds left down by five points. Ja’Cory Jordan threw it up to his best receiver Marcus Burke toward the end zone and the senior caught an uncontested ball for the go-ahead score. Junior cornerback Brian Dilworth fell down on the scoring play and nearly intercepted the football on the previous play that would have given his team a fourth straight state title.
The Conquerors would execute on the two-point conversion and would run the ‘Philly Special’ play where Burke would get the ball on a reverse and throw it back to the quarterback Jordan for the two-pointer.
Chaminade would get the ball back with 48 seconds left, but would fail to get past the 50-yard line. On 4th and 13 with 8 seconds left Jaylon Tolbert would get sacked by junior linebacker Jonathan Goddard as time expired.
Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy returns to the 3A class in 2020 and wins its eighth state title defeating Chaminade-Madonna 25-22. Trinity Christian wins its first state title since 2016.
WATCH THIS: Ja’Cory Jordan to Marcus Burke @TC_Jax_Football championship play. #Hotbedworld pic.twitter.com/xCU6hI5179
— Football Hotbed (@FootballHotbed) December 17, 2020
In 2017, Trinity Christian jumped to Class 5A leaving the door open for a team to take the reigns as the 3A juggernaut. In the last five years, no team arguably has been more dominant than the Lions of Chaminade-Madonna. The college preparatory school has been the gold standard in Class 3A winning three straight titles and appearing in the last five state title games. The last championship game Chaminade did not win, a 24-13 loss to Jacksonville Trinity Christian Academy. That win for the Conquerors was the last of four straight titles before making the move from 3A to 5A. Trinity Christian has won seven state titles prior to 2020 and last lost in the state title game in 2009 to American Heritage 30-20.
Chaminade was dominant in the first half and jumped out to a 16-0 lead. A botched punt leading to a safety and a two-yard touchdown run by Miami Hurricanes signee Thaddius Franklin put the Lions up 9-0 in the second quarter. Franklin suffered a hamstring injury in the regional semifinals against Calvary Christian Fort Lauderdale and seemed 100 percent healthy for this game. Franklin rushed for 106 yards and scored two touchdowns.
The Conquerors were able to stop Franklin on a fourth and one and took over on downs with about 2:56 left in the half. For the first time in the game, Trinity was able to generate some offense with runs from senior athlete Kaleb Killian on the ground to make it into Lion territory. Chaminade would shift the momentum quickly however as junior linebacker Dylan Reid stripped the football away from Jordan and ran down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown with 1:49 left in the half.
On the ensuing drive, Trinity worked their way into Lion territory but junior safety Charles Williams, who had two interceptions in last year’s championship game, snatched another in the end zone to preserve the first-half shutout for Chaminade-Madonna. The Lions would take the lead into halftime holding the Conquerors to negative five yards rushing.
The second half would be much different.
On the first drive, Trinity would drive into the Lions red zone and Killian would run in for their first score of the game on a fourth down from the one-yard line. The Conquerors were able to stop Chaminade to three and outs on their first two possessions in the second half.
A 29-yard catch by Burke. a Florida Gators commit, with under three minutes to go in the third quarter would be the first legitimate signs of life from the passing game.
Burke had seven catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns. Trinity would drive to the Chaminade one-yard line but was denied on three straight runs and would settle for a field goal to make it a 16-10 game.
Burke would make another big play on the next Trinity drive. Jordan threw a perfect deep ball to Burke down the sideline for a 51-yard touchdown with about seven minutes to go in the game for a Conquerors touchdown. The score would help Trinity take the lead for the first time in the game at 17-16.
Chaminade’s ensuing possession would be a heavy dose of the running game from Franklin and freshman Davion Gause. Franklin would finish off the drive, punching it in from one yard out to take a 22-17 lead (Two-point conversion failed).
Trinity Christian denied Chaminade of its fourth straight title which would have tied the FHSAA record for most consecutive championships in the history of Florida high school football.
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