Fargas Has Payback for Beverly Hills, 43-26

The statistic still burned in the mind of Justin Fargas: 75 yards.

A subpar game last season for the Notre Dame High running back resulted in a loss to Beverly Hills.

It was not forgotten Friday night, when Fargas rushed for 269 yards and three touchdowns in 19 carries to carry the Knights past Beverly Hills, 43-26, at Notre Dame.

“We wanted to redeem ourselves after last year,” Fargas said. “We thought we’d hand it to them last year and they handed us a loss. This year, we prepared really well for everything they gave us.”

Beverly Hills (1-2) has plenty of skill, with quarterback-safety Adam Kennybrew and receiver Omar Bennett each drawing attention from Pacific 10 Conference schools.

Still, it was unusual to see Notre Dame fall behind, 7-6, in the first quarter on a 27-yard touchdown run by Jason Portee at the end of an 87-yard drive.

“I wasn’t surprised,” Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney said. “We knew they played us tough last year and we knew they’d be tough this year.”

Notre Dame (3-0), the top-ranked team in The Times’ regional poll, answered with a scoring drive of its own, which featured seven carries by Fargas and a five-yard touchdown pass from Dave DeMartinis to Brandon Braga on the first play of the second quarter.

The Knights took a 17-7 lead into halftime, although it was interesting.

Kennybrew dominated defensively and was well within Fargas’ comfort zone the entire first half, stunning him with a ferocious hit, tearing him away from a potential completion and chasing Fargas down from behind on a 49-yard run midway through the second quarter.

“Tonight, he was human just like everybody else,” said Kennybrew, who completed 15 of 26 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns. “I didn’t see the hype that everybody was coming up with.”

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Fargas Watch

A game-by-game look at how Notre Dame running back Justin Fargas has fared this season:

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Opp. Att. Yds. Avg. TDs Alemany 25 272 10.9 3 Burroughs 22 247 12.5 5 Beverly Hills 19 269 14.2 3 TOTALS 66 788 11.9 11

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