Canyon Rallies to Tie Notre Dame, 14-14

A tie?

When Notre Dame High visited Canyon on Friday night in a nonleague game, the contest perhaps figured to be a couple of things: revenge for Canyon after its loss to Hart a week ago, for one. Or maybe a streak-breaker for Notre Dame, which had not beaten Canyon since 1983.

Yet Canyon and Notre Dame wound up deadlocked, 14-14, after four quarters at Canyon. And it appeared Canyon was fortunate to escape defeat.

Trailing, 14-0, at halftime, the Cowboys posted two second-half touchdowns--tying the score on Andy Cleland’s one-yard run with 5 minutes 57 seconds left--to start their season 0-1-1. Notre Dame also is 0-1-1.

Pristine football it was not. The game could have been subtitled “A Tie of Yellow Ribbons,” as Canyon was penalized for 80 yards in a game Coach Harry Welch called his team’s worst in his 10-year tenure. Notre Dame also was penalized for 80 yards, including a face-mask penalty on fourth down that prevented the Knights from taking possession late in the game. Two plays later, Cleland tied the score.

After both teams trotted off the field with their heads down, the coaches mirrored their players’ feelings.

“I was very impressed with the Knights,” Welch said. “And I wasn’t impressed with the Cowboys. But I think Notre Dame had better coaching. The Cowboys have plenty of good athletes and good young men, their coaching just has to be better.”

Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney could only agonize over his team’s inability to convert a first-and-goal opportunity that resulted in a missed 23-yard field goal late in the first half.

“When you’re ahead by 14 at the half, it doesn’t feel so good to be tied,” Rooney said. “We played (terribly) in the second half.”

Canyon sophomore running back Ed Williams proved durable, gaining 104 yards in 19 carries, including a 15-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Notre Dame sophomore Jabbar Craigwell, playing in his first varsity game, intercepted two passes and led the Knights with 63 yards rushing and one touchdown.

But the tie overshadowed the individual efforts. After all, things could not have gone much worse for Canyon in the first half, or much better for Notre Dame.

After a scoreless and sluggish first quarter, Notre Dame broke the ice with one of the stranger plays of the young season.

Knight quarterback Darren Firestone ran a bootleg for 22 yards but fumbled at the end of the run. Teammate Omar Seikaly scooped up the fumble and ran untouched for 47 yards for a 7-0 Notre Dame lead.

Four plays after the touchdown, Canyon quarterback Chad Engbrecht threw his second interception of the half to Craigwell. On the next play, Craigwell blasted 18 yards for a touchdown and Notre Dame led, 14-0.

But Canyon got its only break of the half when Notre Dame failed to convert a fumble recovery at the Canyon 25. On fourth and goal from the one-yard line, a delay-of-game penalty moved Notre Dame back to the six, and Rooney called for a field-goal attempt. But Scott Nunez’s kick was wide left.