No. 5 St. Frances Academy blows past No. 7 Chaminade-Madonna 42-13 in impressive season-opening win

No. 5 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) knocked off No. 7 Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Fla.) 42-13 Saturday in the final game of the Broward County National Football Showcase at St. Thomas Aquinas.

The Panthers leaned on a dominant ground attack throughout the contest as they rushed for 210 yards in the first half and over 320 yards in the game. Junior Sa’Nir Brooks and senior Jaylen Burke each rushed for over 100 yards to pace the SFA backfield.

Brooks opened the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown scamper with just under five minutes to go in the first quarter. Chaminade-Madonna's freshman signal-caller Malik Leonard threw his first career interception with approximately 10 minutes to go in the second quarter. The interception was returned for a touchdown by Maryland commit Khmari Bing to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead.

Although the Lions showed some life with a scoring drive that resulted in a 27-yard touchdown reception by Florida State commit Jasen Lopez to cut the lead in half, the Baltimore powerhouse countered with two more scores before the half.

Virginia commit Jae'Oyn Williams paid off a long drive with a 6-yard touchdown run with just over two minutes to go in the second quarter before the senior signal-caller connected with three-star senior Jesse Legree on 4th down and 10 with 36 seconds remaining prior to the intermission. 

Legree added another touchdown reception on the opening drive of the second half. His scores went for 36 and 35 yards, respectively.

After losing their first two games last season, the Lions closed out the year with 13 consecutive victories en route to the No. 11 spot in the final 2024 MaxPreps Top 25 and their fourth straight state championship. St. Frances Academy finished the season ranked No. 8 in the final 2024 MaxPreps Top 25 in 2024 after winning six in a row to end the year.

St. Frances Academy (1-0) has the week off before traveling to the Golden State for another top 10 clash with No. 2 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) on Sept. 5. Chaminade-Madonna (0-1) looks to bounce back with a showdown against McArthur (Hollywood, Fla.) on Friday, Aug. 29.