Chaminade Completes Its Mission

Justin Giovannettone stood on the field, his face beaming and his jersey in shreds.

The first words out of his mouth: “We got our goal.”

Chaminade High’s goal was to win the Mission League championship. That the Eagles achieved it by defeating Notre Dame, their archrival, 28-23, Friday night at Notre Dame, provided the frosting on the cake.

Chaminade (8-2, 5-0 in league play) won its first Mission League title by beating Notre Dame for the second time in a row.

As usual, Giovannettone played a key role, rushing for 160 yards and scoring two touchdowns in 35 carries.

Giovannettone became Chaminade’s workhorse when Franklin Saunders injured his left ankle on his first carry and watched the rest of the game on crutches. Giovannettone and Saunders usually split the rushing load, each having rushed for more than 100 yards in Chaminade’s three previous games.

“I was scared,” Giovannettone said of playing without his running mate.

Mher Filmardirossian replaced Saunders and gained 61 yards and scored a touchdown in 10 carries.

And, after a scoreless first quarter, the Eagle offensive line began to dominate, allowing Chaminade to move the ball on long, time-consuming drives.

Trailing, 17-14, at halftime, Chaminade scored the go-ahead touchdown at the end of an 11-play drive.

Giovannettone provided the touchdown on a one-yard run with 3 minutes 41 seconds to play in the third quarter.

The Eagles added to their lead when Filmardirossian capped a 73-yard drive with a nine-yard scoring run, giving Chaminade a 28-17 lead with 3:49 to play.

Notre Dame drove down and scored on a five-yard pass from quarterback Jabbar Craigwell to Joey Orlando, but then failed to get an onside kick and Chaminade ran out the clock.

Notre Dame (6-4, 4-1) is still guaranteed a spot in the Division IV playoffs, but that was of small consolation to Knight Coach Kevin Rooney on this night.

“They beat us up,” he said of Chaminade. “They outplayed us.”

The Knight offense was led by Jon Velasquez, who gained 72 yards in nine carries, and Craigwell, who completed eight of 18 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. Chaminade quarterback Ryan Graves connected on 10 of 17 passes--including nine in a row--for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Notre Dame took the early lead because of its special teams. Midway through the first quarter, Mike DeMartinis returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown.

Notre Dame’s next score, a 26-yard field goal by Chris Sailer, was set up when David DuPetit blocked a punt and the ball was recovered at the Chaminade 16.