Of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame QBs, past and present

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame could have used Brendan Cowles last night.

The Knights, locked in a battle for first place in the Serra League with arch-rival Crespi, had lost standout senior quarterback Dayne Crist to a concussion but Cowles, their starting quarterback in 1987, was back for the 20-year reunion of his class, watching the game along with the rest of a packed house at Notre Dame.

Cowles is now a Hollywood screenwriter, and, by extension, a striking member of the Writers Guild of America.

‘We knew it was coming,’ Cowles said of the strike. ‘I think it’s unfortunate, and I think it’s going to go on for some time.’

He took a break from industry picket lines, however, to return to to his alma mater Friday night with his wife, Kristin Borella. Borella, also a graduate of the school and a former three-sport athlete for the Knights’ softball and girls’ basketball and volleyball teams, is now the vice president of national publicity for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM).

The couple mingled with other ’87 graduates in a gated campus courtyard before the game and then hurried over to the stadium just as the action was getting underway.

When he got there, Cowles saw a familiar figure, Kevin Rooney, still walking the sideline as Notre Dame’s long-time coach.

‘It’s absolutely insane because it’s still the same coach as when I was here,’ he said, with a grin. ‘It makes me feel not as old, like I’m still here.’

-- Lauren Peterson