Notre Dame runs past E.D. White

CROWLEY – This one didn’t go anywhere near as expected. If you were sitting on the E.D. White side of Gardiner Stadium Friday night, it was especially surprising.
Notre Dame gained nearly 10 yards a snap, scored on its first six offensive possessions and defensively held the Cardinals to minus 10 yards of offense through three quarters on the way to a 41-7 quarterfinal win.
“Sometimes you have to be careful what you wish for, but we were kind of hoping the bracket would work out as it did,” noted Pios coach Lewis Cook. “We didn’t think they were that physical and we talked with our guys all week long about making the game physical. We told them to come off the ball and hit them and they flat dominated both sides of the ball.”
It is not likely a Notre Dame team has ever controlled a game on both sides of the ball as this Pios team did against E.D. White. Notre Dame ran for 364 yards with Damon Comeaux gaining 146 yards and scoring five touchdowns and Lance Bertrand gaining 123 yards with a 54 yard touchdown run.
“We didn’t even know if Damon would be able to play because he had a little muscle pull in practice Wednesday,” added Cook. “He said he was good to go and whatever they rubbed on him, we need to get some more of that. They both ran well.”
Defensively, E.D. White ran 21 first half plays and only gained positive yardage on five of those plays. The Pios had three sacks and ten tackles for losses.
“Them not being able to make first downs on our defense and not being able to slow us down on offense set the tempo,” explained Cook. “The defense was just swarming on them and our offensive front controlled the line and gave our backs what they needed for big gains.”
Notre Dame drove 89 yards on its first possession. Bertrand got the ground game going with a 16 yard run and Brad Stoma completed a third and ten pass to Ethan Smith for 15 yards and a first down at the Cardinals 28.
Comeaux capped the 14 play, 6:29 drive with a 4 yard touchdown run. Dustin Reiners added the point after for 7-0 lead with just over a minute to play in the first quarter.
The Pios quickly got the ball back after Conner Kirsch and Nate Link made consecutive tackles for four yard losses on Cardinals running back Jeremy Rounds. The Cardinals big play back would finish the night with minus 16 yards rushing on six carries and one catch for nine yards.
“We wanted to make a statement after having the bye week off,” explained three year defensive end starter Nate Link. “We wanted everyone to know we were serious and we mean business. When we are firing on all cylinders we feel we have a shot against anyone.”
After forcing a punt from the Cardinals six, Notre Dame scored in 42 seconds. Comeaux burst up the middle for 30 yards on first down and scored from 8 yards on the next play for a 14-0 Pios lead.
The night got progressively worse for E.D. White as Logan LaGrange sacked Cardinal quarterback Ben Sposito three plays later to force another punt. On the first play, Bertrand turned the corner on the Cardinal defense and toed the sideline, pausing briefly to throw an approaching tackler out of bounds and proceeding for a 54 yard touchdown to make it 20-0 Pios.
E.D. White gained a yard on its next three play possession before again kicking it back to the Pios. Six plays, 58 yards and just over 2 minutes later, Comeaux was back in the end zone for his third touchdown on a 32 yard run to make it 27-0.
Notre Dame got the ball back at the Pios five yard line with just under three minutes to go in the half. With the lead and the option to receive the second half kickoff, the Pios appeared content to run out the half until runs of 9, 5 and 22 yards by Bertrand gained a first down at the Pios 41.
Stoma went deep down the middle to Boedy Borill who leaped for the catch falling backwards at the Cardinals 21. After a loss of a yard, Stoma tossed a swing pass to Comeaux and he cut back across the defense for a 22 yard score to make the score 34-0.
“It’s an understatement to say how pleased I was with the first half,” laughed Cook. “We were thinking let’s come out to start the second half, put one more good drive into the end zone and maybe we can put it away.”
The halftime numbers were simply astounding for a quarterfinal playoff game. The Notre Dame defense held E.D. White to just one first down and minus 9 yards. The Pios defensive front four penetrated the Cardinals backfield on every one of their 21 first half snaps.
The results were two sacks by LaGrange, a sack and a tackle for a loss by Trey Vautrot, six tackles with one for a loss by Kirsch and six tackles with three for a loss by Link.
With three seniors and a junior leading the way, the Pios defensive front can make an argument for being the best group ever assembled for a single season at Notre Dame.
“The experience goes a long way and we have a tight group of guys that all know their responsibility and that helps a lot,” noted Link. “It’s great to be thought of in that way, but I don’t know about comparisons with other teams. We just work hard in practice to prepare and when we get the game plan just go out and get it done.”
When you think of a team only having the ball for 18 minutes of a 48 minute game, it usually signals trouble. Notre Dame squashed that theory by scoring quickly and often.
E.D. White helped the cause by unsuccessfully attempting an onside kick to start the third quarter and giving the Pios another short field. On the second play, the Pios offensive line opened another gaping hole up the middle and Comeaux took it 45 yards for his fifth score of the night and a 41-0 lead.
“Our guys are anxious to play after the week off and with that bye week rest we just looked a step ahead of them,” said coach Cook. “I was more nervous before the game than I probably have been all season. This is one and done time and if you don’t win you go home.
“We wanted to be practicing Thanksgiving week.”
That was a wish the Pios didn’t have to concern themselves with the rest of the way. Cook pulled his starters after three quarters and E.D. White got all of its 109 yards of offense in the fourth quarter, including a 77 yard drive to prevent the shutout.
Even that was almost avoided as the Cardinals quarterback, Sposito, broke away from a tackle and scrambled for a 9 yard touchdown pass to Mason Perque with seven minutes left to play. The Pios stopped a last effort to preserve a 41-7 win.
“I know the kids were excited to play for the last time in Crowley,” added Cook. “That was special for the seniors that have done so well over four years and I know they wanted to end it on a positive note.”
Notre Dame advances to the semifinals and will travel to face University High School in Baton Rouge. The Cubs are unbeaten and trying to make a second straight trip to the Superdome.
“We have a great challenge next week and we’re looking forward to it,” added Cook. “We’ll get ready and see what happens.
“We’re just thankful to have the chance to play and our guys are ready to go after it.”
University rolled over St. Louis last week, 61-21. The Cubs are loaded with college prospect talent, but Cook knows his team will be prepared for the challenge.
“These guys have worked too hard to not put their best foot forward. We’ve been in a lot of big games and I’ve stood on the sideline with these guys against some big odds wondering how things would turn out. The next thing you know, we are playing another week. So, we are anxious to see what will happen.”