Colella Lifts Notre Dame to Victory

In his 11 seasons at the school, Notre Dame High Coach Kevin Rooney has had, he says, “a couple of pretty good quarterbacks.”

Not world-beaters, mind you, but guys who could play their position and occasionally hurt an opponent.

The list of attributes would normally read as follows: decent arm, fairly mobile, good head on his shoulders.

“They weren’t great,” Rooney said. “They were all-league and all, but I’ve never had more confidence throwing the ball than I do right now.”

And behind Rooney’s quarterback of today, senior Steve Colella, Notre Dame hammered Chaminade, 35-21, Friday night in a Mission League opener at Notre Dame.

Colella, who completed 11 of 19 passes for a career-high 189 yards, threw a pair of scoring passes to lead the Knights, who led, 35-0, midway through the third quarter.

“He’s a great one,” said senior running back Fano Malieitulua, who has known Colella since the second grade. “He’s always real confident. Whenever we mess up, he comes back to the huddle and says, ‘Hey, forget it, let’s go.’ ”

It was go from the opening gun for Notre Dame (2-2, 1-0 in league play), which scored on its first five possessions.

And as much as Colella’s emergence has sparked the team to two consecutive victories, Malieitulua’s hot streak hasn’t hurt, either. The 5-10, 170-pound senior rushed for 155 yards in 25 carries and scored on runs of five and three yards.

“People know now that they have to deal with two people,” Colella said. “They have to watch the pass and the run.”

And for most of the first three quarters, Chaminade (1-2-1, 0-1) watched Notre Dame do both at will. The Knights rolled up 294 yards in the first half alone and finished with 418.

Chaminade didn’t score until there were 7 minutes 12 seconds left in the third quarter, when tailback Travis Hall scored on a 29-yard pitch.

Other than pony-tailed kicker Amy Cook, who was three-for-three on conversion attempts, Hall was Chaminade’s bright light. He finished with 130 yards in 14 carries, 96 of which came in the second half.

Notre Dame scored on all four of its first-half possessions en route to a 28-0 lead.

The Knights drove 82 yards in 10 plays on their first scoring drive, Colella hitting wide receiver Kirk Miller in the left corner of the end zone from 17 yards.

Chaminade managed a first down on its first possession, but Notre Dame’s defense--which held the Eagles to 82 yards and four first downs in the half--forced a punt. Colella hit tight end Aaron Jones for nine yards on a fourth-and-five play from the Chaminade 35 to keep the drive going, and receiver Vinnie Orlando scored four plays later on a 14-yard reverse to give the Knights a 14-0 lead with 51 seconds left in the first quarter.

Chaminade running back Joe Costa fumbled on Chaminade’s first play on its ensuing possession and Notre Dame recovered at the Eagle 44. Notre Dame took a 21-0 lead 10 plays later, Malieitulua scoring on a five-yard sweep with 8:02 left in the half.

Notre Dame then put Chaminade away, gaining a 28-0 lead after Malieitulua scored from five yards with 1:36 left in the half.

Colella completed nine of 14 for 173 yards in the first half alone, with Miller hauling in five for 137 yards. Miller intercepted a pass as a defensive back but did not catch a Colella throw in the second half.

Chaminade quarterback Jeff Meyer completed 11 of 28 for 118 yards and one touchdown but threw two interceptions. Chaminade receivers also dropped five balls.

Chaminade gained 277 yards, 195 in the second half as Notre Dame cleared the bench.