Notre Dame Pulls Out Stops in 28-0 Victory Over Sylmar

Call it Notre Dame High’s Doomsday Defense.

In what could be the first of many shutouts, the Knights turned loose Travis Johnson & Co. Friday night and came away with a 28-0 victory over host Sylmar.

Johnson, Notre Dame’s 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive lineman, forced two fumbles, had two sacks and deflected a pass--all during Notre Dame’s 21-0 third quarter. He earlier blocked a punt and left Sylmar Coach Jeff Engilman in awe.

“That’s probably the best ballplayer I’ve seen in a long time,” Engilman said. “That’s a college player playing high school.”

Sylmar trailed, 7-0, at halftime but fell apart in the third quarter.

Quarterback Jonathon Brewster connected with Alec Moss on a 48-yard touchdown pass on Notre Dame’s opening second-half possession.

Sylmar running back David Contreras then lost the ball on a fumble. Trevin Lund soon scored on a three-yard run for a 21-0 lead.

Notre Dame linebacker Chris Shibel intercepted a John Valdez pass and returned it 38 yards to the Sylmar five-yard line. Lund scored again--his third touchdown--with 3:55 left in the third quarter.

Sylmar never got closer than the Notre Dame 48 until the final minute.

Notre Dame returns seven starters on defense from last season’s 10-2 team. But it’s not only Johnson who makes the Knights tough to score on. The Knights’ four linebackers, led by Moss and Mike Barron, repeatedly hustle to the ball. And the secondary is so deep that Knight coaches have 10 players to choose from.

“I think we’re the best, but we have a lot of work to do,” Johnson said.

Lund gained 81 yards in 15 carries. But the Knight offense struggled at times. Brewster completed four of 11 passes for 83 yards.

Junior quarterback Valdez, who played eight-man football at L.A. Lutheran last season, completed 11 of 19 passes for 85 yards for Sylmar.