One Tough Notre Dame Walks Over Chaminade

It was not a good sign for the Chaminade High football team when Notre Dame marched 80 yards for a touchdown on the first series of its Mission League opener Friday night at Chaminade.

And that was before Notre Dame’s heralded defense took the field.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, their problems only grew worse.

By halftime, Notre Dame had a 35-point lead, and the Knights coasted to a 45-0 victory.

Chaminade (5-3, 0-1) didn’t complete a pass until there was 9:30 remaining in the game and Notre Dame had long-since emptied its bench, and the Eagles were held to 90 yards.

“We have no excuses,” Chaminade Coach Ed Croson said. “They have a lot of talent and they don’t have any weaknesses.”

That was apparent by the time the Knights (7-1, 1-0), who posted their fourth shutout in eight games, had scored on their first five possessions.

Notre Dame’s passing attack, which has struggled this season, did most of the damage in the first half behind quarterback Jonathon Brewster.

Brewster, who threw for 158 yards in the first half, completed 11 of 17 passes for 168 yards and three touchdowns in the game.

He said his success had nothing to do with his commitment Monday to play baseball for USC.

“I don’t think that had anything to do with it,” Brewster said. “I think everything was just clicking tonight. We had a good week of practice and we worked hard for this.”

The Knights, ranked No. 4 in the region, wound up with 323 yards. Trevin Lund rushed for 51 yards and a touchdown in 11 carries, and tight end Chris Shibel caught two passes for 46 yards and two touchdowns.

Chaminade quarterback Jon Palacios completed four of 16 passes for 33 yards with two interceptions.