Football recruiting notes: Chaminade holds off Miami Central in thriller

MIAMI — Chaminade-Madonna added a signature piece to its case in a quest for a national championship on Thursday night when it knocked off Miami Central 31-28 at Traz Powell Stadium.

Lions senior quarterback Cedrick Bailey Jr., a North Carolina State commit, threw for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns — all in the first half — to lead Chaminade past the Rockets. Jeremiah Smith, the top-rated player in the USA Today Florida Network top 100 and an Ohio State commit, caught two touchdown passes, including a spectacular one-handed effort.

Chaminade (5-0, No. 1 Class 1M) led by 10 at the half and then held off Central (1-2, No. 1 Class 2M) in the second half. King Davis scored the lone points in the third quarter on a short run to make it a three-point game, but the Rockets had a fourth-quarter field goal attempt clang off the crossbar.

Curtis Janiver, an FAU commit, had two interceptions to seal the win for Chaminade, including one in the final two minutes.

Recruiting notes from Chaminade-Central

Central senior athlete Lawayne McCoy, a Florida State commit, was outstanding in the first half making highlight-reel plays on both sides of the ball. He caught a long touchdown pass from AJ Smith to give Central its first lead of the game and was assigned with covering both Smith and Joshisa Trader, a Miami commit.

Smith has caught two touchdown passes in the first half in three consecutive weeks.

Central sophomore running back Jayden Ford had a big game for the Rockets, rushing for more than 150 yards and a touchdown. Ford is elusive, quick, breaks tackles and rarely goes down on first contact. He has a handful of college offers, including Maryland.

Trader had a highlight-reel grab of his own in the first half, stretching to make a one-handed catch over the middle on fourth down. He also broke up Central’s Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game.

Central senior quarterback/athlete JC Evans split time with Smith and scored a rushing touchdown in the first half. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Evans primarily runs wildcat packages for the Rockets and could profile best as a tight end/H-back in college. His offers include Appalachian State and UMass.

Chaminade junior defensive lineman Anthony Smith had a strong fourth quarter, recording multiple tackles for loss and nearly blocking the field goal attempt that hit the crossbar. Smith’s offers include Miami, Pitt, Texas A&M and others.

Janiver has three interceptions in the past two weeks. He had a pick-six against American Heritage last week.

FAU coach Tom Herman, Florida State co-defensive coordinator Randy Shannon and defensive tackles coach Odell Haggins, North Carolina running backs coach Larry Porter were among the coaches on the sidelines Thursday.

Notes from Chaminade-Central

The Lions now have five consecutive wins over teams that opened the season in the MaxPreps top 100: St. Frances (Maryland), Cardinal Gibbons, Bergen Catholic (N.J.), Plantation-American Heritage and Central. It’s an impressive feat for any program and certainly will put Chaminade in the conversation for the top team in the country.

Central now has dropped two of its first three games for the second time in three seasons. The Rockets lost at Bishop Gorman (Nevada) 39-35 in its opener and then lost by three on Thursday.

While the first half was an offensive explosion with the teams combining for seven touchdowns, the second half turned into a defensive battle with King scoring the lone touchdown and the teams combining for three turnovers.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Football: Chaminade holds off Miami Central in thriller, 31-28