Notre Dame stuns Teurlings

LAFAYETTE – Creating and converting opportunities with a power running game, disciplined smothering defense and special teams. That is Notre Dame football at its best.
For Friday opponent Teurlings that spells a continuing nightmare in one the Acadiana area’s longest running rivalries. Top ranked Notre Dame shocked the home standing Rebels 35-14 in what could be a defining moment for the 2016 Pios of Head Coach Lewis Cook.
“I think for this group of guys to come in here and do what they did says a lot about them. They are growing up right in front of us and every series they are getting better and better and their confidence is growing.”
For Notre Dame, that translates into an offense with its best game so far in a season high 223 yards on the ground led by Collin Kirsch rushing 24 times for 124 yards. It meant a passing game with quick strike ability on 7 of 9 passing from Bryant Thevis for 101 yards. All spearheaded by a convincing performance by the Pios offensive line.
“Getting senior Grant Daily back gave us a chance to move some guys and get some more depth on the line,” Cook explains. “The kids were glad to see him play and his presence kind of lifted them a bit. They are starting to develop that chemistry and we can now hone in on what we need to do.”
Defensively, the progress means opponents are now seeing three and four man fronts, five and six defensive backs and a whole world of trouble. It affords performances like safety Cameron Nelson roaming for 14 tackles, linebackers Pat Burleigh and Thomas Stevens making 12 and 11 stops and defensive linemen Matt Rosinski and Jacob Link combining for 13 tackles and 10 QB hurries.
“We have to stop the run first and then we can do some things with coverages to help us do better,” explains defensive coordinator James McCleary. “We just change it up as much as we can and try to confuse their blocking schemes.”
The teams exchanged first quarter possessions before Notre Dame fullback Justin Guidry drove into the right side of the line and popped outside for a 27 yard run on third and one at the Pios 42. On the first play of the second quarter, Guidry powered in from four yards off right tackle. John William Lamm added the extra point for a 7-0 lead.
Teurlings answered with a 12 play, 65 yard drive behind the running of quarterback Hayden Cantrelle and halfback Jansen Lormand. Cantrelle had a 44 yard run on the drive, side stepping tacklers and speeding away from others. He gained 100 yards on 20 carries for the night.
Lormand gave the Rebels a first and goal at the five with a 15 yard burst up the middle. The Pios defense stiffened with Lormand being stopped three times on tackles by Matt Rosinski, Jacob Link, David Schmid and Jordan Owens. On fourth and goal, Rosinski pressured QB Cantrelle into an incompletion to stop the threat.
The Pios punted back and QB Cantrelle went to work with a 27 yard pass to Tyler Broussard. On third and seven, Cantrelle scrambled out of the pocket for a first down at the Pios 19. Cantrelle passed to Luke Vidrine for 18 yards and Jansen Lormand ran it in from the one to make it 7-7 at the half
“You have a tendency to be a little more cautious when the rain is coming down,” noted Coach Cook. “I thought we were playing alright at the half. They are good offensively and we stopped them once and made it hard for them. We wanted to score first in the third quarter and then play out our hand.”
Cantrelle ran for 19 yards on the first play of the second half, but his next carry, Matt Rosinski forced a fumble and Wynn Olinger recovered at the Teurlings 10 yard line. On third and goal, Collin Kirsch swept the left side for a seven yard touchdown and a 14-7 lead.
Teurlings marched 80 yards in just under three minutes to tie the game. Cantrelle completed a passes of 22, 39 and 8 yards and on fourth down at the Pios 17, he ran for 13 yards and Lormand covered the final four yards to tie the game at 14-14.
“They emptied he backfield quite a bit,” added Cook. “With five receivers, it really spreads you out and makes you play sideline to sideline. They made some plays, but we kept it to minimal gains and made them have to kind of work for it.”
With just over a minute to play in the fourth quarter, Pios safety Cameron Nelson fielded a punt on the run and returned 27 yards to the Teurlings 40 yard line. QB Bryant Thevis completed a five yard pass to Zack Miller and a 7 yard pass to Sam Hoffpauir for a first down at the Rebels 28. Steven Zaunbrecher appeared to be out of room on a sweep to the left and then cut up the sideline for 26 yards. Justin Guidry put the Pios ahead with his second TD of the night on the third play of the fourth quarter for a 21-14 ND lead after Lamm added the PAT.
The Pios defense forced Teurlings into a three and out and took over at the rebels 40. On first down, Bryant Thevis faked a handoff, pulled up and threw in stride and on the money to Landon Meche for a touchdown to put the Pios up 28-14.
“We got a break with the fumble and got a quick score, put a drive together for another and then got the quick pass score,” explained Cook. “The thing about this team is to step back and throw it. We complete some of those throws and that is only going to help our offense.”
The Pios defense stepped up against the Rebels passing attack to allow just three completions for 18 yards on 16 passes the remainder of the game. Rebs QB Cantrelle finished just 11 of 28 passes for 120 yards against the ND secondary after throwing for over 300 yards and scoring 80 points in two wins to open the season.
“We contested a lot of passes and our guys are coming along in the secondary,” Cook continued. “Our front has been really good and all around the performance of our defense has been good.”
The Pios defense stopped Teurlings on fourth down at the ND 17 when David Schmid perfectly played a crossing pattern to reach in front of the receiver and knock down the pass. Pios punter Thomas Stevens pinned the Rebs with a 44 yarder to the Teurlings four. On fourth down at the five, Nick Hanks and Patrick Burleigh dropped Cantrelle a yard short of a first down.
Sam Hoffpaur powered ahead for eight yards on first down and scored from the four on second down. Lamm added the point after for the final margin of 35-14.