Video: Touchdowns Against Cancer 2019Campaign aims to raise awareness and money to fight childhood cancer.
Not only are head coach Joe Kremer's Saints 3-0, St. Augustine surged to No. 98 in the MaxPreps computer rankings this week.
The Saints have made a move up a leaderboard of another kind as well. St. Augustine climbed into this week's top spot when it comes to raising money for the Touchdowns Against Cancer campaign to help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital fight childhood cancer.
Touchdowns Against Cancer: Learn more, see leaderboardsAs of Monday evening, the Saints have raised a national-best $3,233. Not only is St. Augustine winning on the football field, the Saints are making an impact off of it.
Connor Heffler (25) has helped undefeated St. Augustine of San Diego, Calif., surge to the top of the Touchdowns Against Cancer leaderboard.
Photo by: Steven Silva
MaxPreps and PledgeIt.org have joined forces to encourage high school football programs across the country to not only raise money for St. Jude, but to raise awareness for childhood cancer. Teams and their communities can participate in Touchdowns Against Cancer by pledging a one-time donation or a dollar amount for every touchdown their favorite football team scores in September.
Should the Saints hold onto the top spot through September, Kremer's squad would become the fourth different Touchdowns Against Cancer team champion in as many years.
Whittier Christian (La Habra, Calif.) claimed the 2016 title by raising $11,053. In 2017,
Chopticon (Morganza, Md.) raised $12,013 while
Lausanne Collegiate (Memphis, Tenn.) raised a record $21,267 a year ago.
Individually,
Connor Heffler of St. Augustine has raised $1,711 to lead the rest of the field heading into the second week of September action.
Wakeland (Frisco, Texas) trails the Saints by a mere $13 in the runner-up position while
St. Margaret's (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and previous leader
El Camino Real (Woodland Hills, Calif.) sit third and fourth after bringing in $2,750 and $1,995, respectively. Chopticon rallied the troops to raise $1,978 and rounds out this week's Top 5.
Mt. Rainier (Des Moines, Wash.) quarterback
Jayden Tamburelli and his teammates sit No. 6 in this week's standings after raising $1,800. The senior said playing for a reason other than winning football games gives his teammates a little extra incentive to score touchdowns.
"It gives you that extra motivation to go out there and do better," Tamburelli said of getting involved with the Touchdowns Against Cancer campaign. "You do everything you can to score touchdowns because you know you're also helping people. It feels good."
Touchdowns Against Cancer Rally Week began Sunday, Sept. 8 and runs through Sept. 15. The school with the most new contributions to their team's campaign this week will earn custom Touchdowns Against Cancer t-shirts for their entire team.
There are several ways to get involved with the Touchdowns Against Cancer campaign:
- Simply, pledge to your team.
- Join as a captain. Anyone can become a captain of their team's Touchdowns Against Cancer campaign. As the captain, you will play the key role in making a difference in your community. Captains are in charge of rallying support for the campaign and will receive regular communications from Touchdowns Against Cancer about promoting your campaign.
- Get involved as a student. As a student or student-athlete, you have an incredible opportunity to support Touchdowns Against Cancer. You can create your personal fundraising profile on your team's page and raise money for every TD your team scores. You'll receive recognition on your team's Fundraiser Leaderboard every time someone pledges or donates!
