DeMartinis Streak Comes to End, Knights Keep Going

Notre Dame senior quarterback Dave DeMartinis entered the game having attempted 156 passes without an interception, but had two passes intercepted by Chris O’Brien in less than two minutes during the second quarter.

DeMartinis extended his string to 166 passes before O’Brien made his first interception with 2:06 to play in the first half, halting a Knight drive at the Oxnard 32.

A minute and 23 seconds later, O’Brien stepped between a DeMartinis throw and intended receiver Rod Arzu at the Oxnard nine.

“I was thinking it was my first ones, but I shook it off,” said DeMartinis, who threw for 239 yards in the game. “I made some wrong reads. But I’m happy we threw more in this game.”

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DeMartinis’ most-frequent target was senior Tony Arredondo, who had 12 catches for 159 yards.

Said Notre Dame reserve lineman Andy Perera as Arredondo made his 10th catch, “Tony’s earning a scholarship all in one night.”

Actually, with a scholastic assessment test score of better than 1,200 and interest from Harvard and Yale, Arredondo may earn an academic scholarship. Still, he wasn’t complaining about being active Friday night.

“I felt like any time they threw it my way I’d catch it,” said Arredondo, who has 44 receptions for 624 yards and three touchdowns. “I was in a groove.”

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Regular Notre Dame kicker Juan Plascencia was a no-show for all but the last two minutes of the first half as he and his parents drove frantically back from a soccer tournament in La Jolla, in which he played goalkeeper for his club team.

“It took us four hours to get back and I was in the back seat with my pads on,” Plascencia said. “There was a major accident on the freeway, where a truck crashed and there were Oriental rugs everywhere.”

Junior varsity kicker Christian Thompsen filled in and was four-for-four on extra points. Plascencia was three-for-three on extra points in the second half.

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Oxnard tailback Desmond Davis spent the game’s last minutes slumped on a bench chewing his mouth guard disconsolately. The senior played little of the fourth quarter after jamming his left shoulder while playing cornerback.

“I played OK [at tailback] but they pursued me real well on the backside,” Davis said.

Asked to critique Notre Dame tailback Justin Fargas, who finished with 239 yards and five touchdowns, Davis nodded his head. “He’s a great player and he showed me he can really run,” he said. “He and his team just outplayed us.”