Top high school football team in Florida of 2023: Chaminade-Madonna or IMG Academy?

Both the Lions and Ascenders pose their own arguments for the top spot in the state

Oh how we wish there was some kind of end of the year bowl between the best team from the FHSAA state series and perennial national powerhouse IMG Academy. 

That top team from the FHSAA state series in most cases to whomever you speak to would be the Chaminade-Madonna Lions. 

The Lions just recently finished up their 2023 campaign with a sledgehammer-like bang, cruising to a 56-0 romp over Clearwater Central Catholic for the Class 1M state championship. 

Chaminade-Madonna coasts by Clearwater Central Catholic in FHSAA 1M title game

No other team in Florida dominated its respective state championship game the way Chaminade-Madonna did, giving the edge to a team that finished the season perfect at 14-0, as the top club out of the FHSAA. 

IMG Academy was able to come away from its national independent schedule unscathed and early battles on the road tested the Ascenders. Also throw in the end of the year budding rivalry game against St. Frances Academy (Maryland), and you’ve got yourself a pretty storing schedule. 

IMG Academy sidesteps an upset bid by St. Frances (Maryland)

This is why we wonder who would most people say is the top team in the Sunshine State? Chaminade-Madonna or IMG Academy? 

For that answer, you really want to take a deeper dive into the numbers, schedules for the two programs and make your own choice in the matter. 

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Chaminade-Madonna Lions (14-0) 

St. Frances Academy (Maryland), 35-14 

Cardinal Gibbons, 41-4 

Bergen Catholic (New Jersey), 61-21 

Plantation American Heritage, 28-16 

Miami Central, 31-28 

Coconut Creek, 35-27 

Dillard, 55-20 

Avant Garde, 64-0 

St. John Paul II, 70-0 

Lakewood, 57-0

Avant Garde, 67-0 - Playoffs 

Cardinal Newman, 40-0 - Playoffs 

Archbishop Carroll, 47-7 - Playoffs 

Clearwater Central Catholic, 56-0 - Class 1M Championship 

Schedule breakdown: You take a look at the schedule above and quickly see four teams that have/had been nationally ranked at some point during the 2023 season. A season-opening win over St. Frances Academy of Maryland was impressive because of the way Chaminade-Madonna had to grind that game out. A blowout win over Bergen Catholic of New Jersey looked anything but a matchup of teams ranked nationally. The game many will remember and wished they could’ve seen last year was Week 5 when the Lions faced the Miami Central Rockets. A nationally televised contest on ESPN, Chaminade-Madonna shrugged off the bad weather in the area and pulled off an impressive 31-28 win at Traz Powell Stadium. That win solidified that this Lions club was onto something really special. 

Chaminade-Madonna (Florida), Jeremiah Smith make statement, rout Bergen Catholic (NJ)

Most impressive win: Just spoke on the game in the previous graph, but Chaminade-Madonna defeating Miami Central at Traz on a Week 5 Thursday night game on national television and beat out the rest. Needing to rest the doubters of Dade County, the Lions rolled into the 305 and went back to the 954 with a 31-28 victory. A loss to the Rockets might’ve turned heads the other way in seeing this Lions’ club as one that wasn’t the undisputed best team in South Florida. 

Chaminade-Madonna storms past Miami-Central

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IMG Academy Ascenders (10-0) 

Lipscomb Academy (Tennessee), 35-10 

St. Joseph's Prep (Pennsylvania), 17-14 

Ben Davis (Indiana), 34-14

Glenville (Ohio), 28-6 

Bartram Trail, 49-20 

Pine Forest, 55-14 

Gray Collegiate Academy (South Carolina), 53-7 

Life Christian Academy (Virginia), Forfeit win  

St. Thomas More (Connecticut), 47-0 

St. Frances Academy (Maryland), 17-14 

Schedule breakdown: You could argue the first half of the Ascenders' season was pretty tough, as Billy Miller's crew had to hop on flights and hand out losses to Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, St. Joseph's Prep in Atlantic City and Ben Davis in Indianapolis. Three road trips and three wins. Then the Ascenders returned to the Sunshine State for victories over Ohio power Glenville and Bartram Trail, with the Bears reaching the region finals in Class 4S. The back end of IMG's schedule included a forfeit win over Life Christian Academy of Virginia and three running clock games. The finale against rival St. Frances Academy proved to be the toughest of them all, with the Ascenders just edging out the Panthers in the end. 

IMG Academy cruises to win in home opener over Glenville (Ohio): 3 takeaways

Most impressive win: We go back to Week 2 of the season when IMG Academy took a trip up to Atlantic City to face St. Joseph's Prep of Pennsylvania. The Hawks, who defeated Class 4S state champion Lakeland during the season, proved to be arguably the toughest team on the Ascenders' entire slate. That made it all the more impressive when IMG Academy traveled into 'The World's Playground' and came away with the dub. Liberty commitment Jayden Bradford finished with 141 yards passing and a touchdown in the 17-14 victory in New Jersey. 

St. Joseph's Prep falls 17-14 to IMG Academy in season opener

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Edge goes to: Chaminade-Madonna Lions 

Why?: In seeing both teams play this season, I will start by saying it’s very unfortunate these two programs didn’t play each other in the regular season. This would’ve been a matchup with a packed house in either Fort Lauderdale or Bradenton. Nonetheless, I give the final edge to Chaminade-Madonna because of its generational offense. It’s one we will talk about for years to come. The Lions broke the 50-point plateau seven times this season and outside of a couple of games, the offense always seemed to be in full control. The initial punch in the first half is what teams had to withstand from Chaminade-Madonna and never had an answer for it. Defensively, the Lions pitched six shutouts including in the finale Class 1M state championship game. Yes, IMG Academy has a myriad of 5-star, 4-star level talent, but Chaminade-Madonna looked like a well oiled machine that had been playing together for years. In cases with the offensive weapons they had at their disposal, they practically did. 

What would the score be of a hypothetical meeting?: Chaminade-Madonna 35, IMG Academy 31

-- Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @sblivefl