Notre Dame Gets a Leg Up in Win

For a school that consistently produces All-Southern Section kickers, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame unveiled another Friday in junior Kai Forbath, who kicked field goals of 48, 38, 52 and 40 yards as well as sending seven kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks to highlight the Knights’ 33-3 thrashing of previously unbeaten Valencia in a nonleague game at Valencia.

“This guy is something special,” Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney said of his latest kicking weapon. “He’s been doing an unbelievable job.”

Forbath, following in the tradition of former Notre Dame and UCLA All-American Chris Sailer, has made all 11 field-goal attempts this season. His performance was just one example of a dominating effort by Notre Dame (5-0), ranked No. 5 in the Southland by The Times.

“We played so poorly in the first half that we never had a chance to recover,” Valencia Coach Brian Stiman said. “Their defensive line just manhandled our offensive line.”

Notre Dame sacked Valencia quarterback Michael Herrick four times, with Anthony Santa Croce and Chauncey Fagan contributing two apiece. Herrick completed 15 of 31 passes for a season-low 172 yards.

Notre Dame cornerbacks Cary Harris and Shane Horton consistently out-dueled Valencia receivers for passes.

“The defensive backs had a great game,” Notre Dame defensive coordinator Joe McNab said. “We worked hard on stripping the ball, playing smart and not getting beat deep.”

Herrick should have known early on that trouble was brewing. Notre Dame’s 6-foot-5 defensive end, Tony DeMartinis, tipped a pass and came down with the interception.

“Our main goal was to get to Herrick, and we had a lot of blitz packages,” DeMartinis said.

There was no debate about what happened to ninth-ranked Valencia (4-1) in the first half. Notre Dame was able to disguise its defensive coverages, and that left Herrick with few options. He completed just four of 13 passes for 49 yards.

Notre Dame out-gained the Vikings, 222-78 yards, in opening a 27-3 halftime lead. Quarterback Garrett Green was sharp on his passes, completing nine of 13 for 159 yards. He finished 11 for 16 for 175 yards. Harris scored touchdowns on runs of one and two yards.