Dupetit Plays Field, Notre Dame Wins

There was only one Dave Dupetit on the field Friday night at Notre Dame High. It just seemed like there were more.

Dupetit, a senior linebacker for Notre Dame, had five sacks and recovered a fumble, leading the Knights to a 21-3 nonleague victory over Royal.

“Dave Dupetit was all over the field,” Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney said. “It seemed like he was in on every tackle.”

But he was only the statistical leader of a defensive group that controlled the game by holding Royal’s Jerome Lee to 26 yards rushing and Mike Reddington to 24. Lee and Reddington rushed for more than 200 yards last week against Oxnard.

“We played very good,” Dupetit said. “We stopped the run. We knew that’s what we had to do.”

Said Royal Coach Gene Uebelhardt: “With the speed of their defense, they got to our running backs before they could get started.”

Royal had only 27 net yards rushing and 116 passing, but most of those came when the Highlanders (1-1) went to a no-huddle offense in the fourth quarter.

Royal quarterback Wes Lagatta completed 17 of 27 passes.

Notre Dame (2-0), top-ranked in Division III of the Southern Section, was not outstanding on offense, but it didn’t have to be.

Tailback John Garcia led the team with 63 yards and a touchdown in 18 carries. Quarterback Ryan Bowne completed four of 12 passes for 22 yards.

But it was apparent early that Notre Dame would not need much offense.

The Knights held Royal to two first downs and 45 yards in seven first-half possessions.

Royal’s defense was nearly as good, giving up 59 yards in the first half, and only nine after Notre Dame took the ball 50 yards on its opening possession for a touchdown--Bowne’s 10-yard pass to Nick Kounalis.

The difference in the half was a special teams play: a 69-yard touchdown on a punt return by 5-foot-5 senior Corey Franzini in the second quarter.

Royal’s only score came on a 37-yard field goal by Matt Pitstick as the gun sounded to end the first half.

Notre Dame put the game away when Garcia scored on a 21-yard run with 4 minutes 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter.