Video: Touchdowns Against Cancer 2019 Maryland's Chopticon becomes the first school to earn two team titles with more than $7,000 pledged.
Pulling double duty, the
Chopticon (Morganza, Md.) football team reeled in more pledges than any school in the Touchdowns Against Cancer Top 30, and scored just enough touchdowns to become the first school to secure its second TAC team championship.
The Braves, who hit the pavement and managed their cell phones to the tune of 82 pledges in 2019, raised a national-leading $7,474 as of Monday evening.
"We definitely did it on our end in the fundraising," Chopticon head coach Anthony Lisanti said of raising money to help St. Jude Children's Research Hospital fight childhood cancer. "Now we have to do our work in putting it in the end zone."
TOUCHDOWNS AGAINST CANCER: Learn more, see leaderboards
For the second time, Chopticon High School secured its second Touchdowns Against Cancer team championship. Raising $7.474 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Braves had 82 pledges in the battle to fight childhood cancer. The school also raised $12,013 to lead all schools in 2017.
Photo by Michael Smith
was among the programs making a push for Chopticon's lead. The Rangers placed second by pulling in 57 pledges and $6,767.
MaxPreps and PledgeIt.org 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, players and their communities participated in TAC by pledging a one-time donation or a dollar amount for every touchdown their favorite football team scored in September.
As of Monday evening, the program had raised $113,951 in 2019, with participating high school football teams across the
nation scoring 1,617 September touchdowns.
Along with taking home this year's fundraising championship, Chopticon raised $12,013 to lead all schools in 2017.
Whittier Christian (La Habra, Calif.) claimed the 2016 title by raising $11,053 while
Lausanne Collegiate (Memphis, Tenn.) raised a record $21,267 a year ago.
"My great grandmother's favorite charity was St. Jude," Gregory said. "So when she passed away, my family kind of kept it going. Everybody started doing it. They'll all donate to a good thing."
Lone Peak scored $6,705 while St. Augustine and El Camino Real (Woodland Hills, Calif.) battled it out for fourth with $6,542 and $5,515 raised, respectively.
It's not too early to get organized for the 2020 campaign. There are several ways to get started.
• Simply, pledge to your team.
• Join as a captain. Anyone can become a captain of their team's TAC campaign. Captains play a key role in making a difference in one's community. Captains are in charge of rallying support for the campaign and will receive regular communications from Touchdowns Against Cancer about promoting a campaign.
• Get involved as a student. This is 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.
As of Monday evening, high school football programs across the nation scored 1,617 September touchdowns and drew 1,068 pledges from donors, raising $113,951 for the 2019 Touchdowns Against Cancer campaign.
Photo by Michael Smith
