Chaminade Climbs Out of 17-6 Hole to Shock American Heritage

Posted on September 6, 2025 by Brandon Odoi

Plantation, FL- On Tuesday Chaminade Madonna made an offensive coordinator change and elevated Tyler Tate to run its offense. On Friday, the Lions of Chaminade Madonna raced back from a 17-6 third quarter deficit to outlast nationally rated No. 7 American Heritage 28-24 on the road. 

Freshman quarterback Malik Leonard went 7 for 13 for 135 yards and threw a TD pass to senior Florida State pledge, Jason Lopez. Overall, the Lions were paced by three (3) Derrick Cooper rushing touchdowns as the five-star All-American back rushed for 72 yards on eleven carries. Cooper is currently committed to the University of Texas, dominated the game, especially in the second half when Chaminade needed him the most.

The game did not get off to a great start for Chaminade, especially early, as it was clear the transition to a new coordinator was a process. Nothing was more evident of this fact than the Lions choosing to call a timeout on the very first play of the game on offense.  The Patriots took advantage early as quarterback Dia Bell, a five-star Texas commit in his own right threw a touchdown pass to Jeffar ‘Coi’ Jean-Noel. The two would hook up again to push the lead to 14-6 as Chaminade had kicking game issues on its first score by Cooper. 

Heritage would later add a field goal by Johnathan Matei from 30 yards out to push the lead to 17-6 in the third quarter.  Chaminade would then begin to respond.  

After Derrick Cooper’s second touchdown of the day cutting the Heritage lead to 17-14, the Patriots would score again pushing their lead to ten points and seemed to be putting the game away. Bell hooked up with Jeffar ‘Coi’ Jean-Noel for their second touchdown collaboration of the game. 

From there, Chaminade scored 14 straight points.  Leonard hooked up with Lopez to bring the score to 24-21 and then Cooper put the game away with a touchdown run out of the wildcat.  Heritage had an opportunity to score (and seemingly did) but the Lions had an impressive goal line stand that lead to a 99-yard offensive sequence that ultimately gave Chaminade the victory. 

About Brandon Odoi

Brandon Odoi is a tenured journalist. He's covered youth football since 8th grade, high school football since 2009 and began covering college football in 2011 as a beat writer for the University of Miami Athletic programs. In 2011, he founded Football Hotbed a national multi-media platform for football across the country. He's a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and spent his first five years as a professional working at ABC Television Network, ending his career as a producer in Miami. He's married with two sons and a daughter and resides in South Florida.
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