Bye week? What bye week?
Notre Dame picked up right where the regular season ended, in the opponents end zone.
The Pios were simply dominant in every phase of the game and the scoreboard reflected just that. Notre Dame advanced to the Division III semifinals with a 45-0 in over Episcopal of Baton Rouge and Pios Head Coach Lewis Cook could not have been more pleased with the effort.
“It was just an all-around good game, kind of what has been happening with us all year long. Everyone is playing their part and it’s not one side or the other being asked to carry the weight. It was a team effort”
On the first play of the game, Pios running back Collin Kirsch took it around the right side for 28 yards. On the second snap, Kirsch ran through the left side and cut back right for a 52-yard touchdown run. John William Lamm added the extra point and the Pios led 7-0 just 22 seconds into the game.
“The first play was a stretch and then we ran a weakside lead play and he just came out of there and that was it,” added Cook. “We were just faster than them and Collin ran hard and quick.”
The Pios defense set the tone for their game on the first Episcopal play when Cameron Nelson and Kyle Lyons combined to stop Knight leading rusher Caden Dickinson for a loss. Episcopal had minus yards on each of their first two possessions and Notre Dame mounted another scoring drive.
Noah Bourgeois gained 15 yards, five yards and 10 yards on three straight carries. Joe Ware picked up three yards on first down at the Knights 33-yard line. Waylon Bourgeois slashed for 11 yards and Garrett Bergeron threw for 12 yards to Gentry Borill at the Knights seven.
Three plays later, Bergeron sneaked in from the one. Lamm added the PAT to cap the nine play, 63-yard drive for a 14-0 Pios lead.
“They took some chances to try and stop us and then we would get leverage on the edge and our speed was better,” added Cook. “They tried to jam the inside and blitzed and that took away their pursuit on the outside. Even when they came off blocks they couldn’t catch up to us.”
Knights QB Kade Edenfield completed a 44-yard pass to the Pios 36. On third and six, RB Dickinson took a handoff to the right and Pios LB Thomas Stevens blasted through to drop him for a loss. The threat ended with a missed field goal.
“Our force players did a heck of a job,” explained ND Defensive coordinator James McCleary. “We came up with the strong safety and the will depending on which side the ball went and our kids did a good job of not letting them get outside so we could corral the ball. Those guys up front changed the line of scrimmage all night long and that was the difference in the game.”
Kirsch went back to work on offense gaining 20 into Knights territory. After an eight-yard pass from Bergeron to Borill, Kirsch picked up a first down with five yards up the middle to the Episcopal 33.
A penalty halted the drive at the Knights 23-yard line. John William Lamm booted a 40-yard field goal with eight minutes left in the half to make the Pios lead 17-0.
On the next series, Alex Gardiner and Kyle Lyons combined for a third down sack to force another punt. Garrett Bergeron connected with Noah Bourgeois for 13 yards and Bourgeois rushed three times for 26 yards to the Knights 10.
Waylon Bourgeois scored on a 10-yard run to cap the 49-yard drive. Lamm converted the extra point for a 24-0 Pios lead.
“We came out and scored in two plays, had some nice drives, and got a long field goal from Lamm,” noted Cook. “Defensively they threatened a couple of times with drives and our defense got them stopped. We kept coming up with plays to make sure it stayed with a goose egg on the board.”
On the next series Tucker Kojis and Alec Brouillette made QB sacks and Kyle Lyons batted down a third down screen pass. Notre Dame got the ball back at midfield with 1:36 left on the clock.
Bergeron tossed a swing pass to Kirsch for 11 yards. Gentry Borill caught a nine-yard pass and Kaizer Lamm gained 18 on a pass from Bergeron for a first down at the Knights 18.
“He really understands the throwing game,” Coach Cook said of Bergeron. “He doesn’t panic in the pocket, he has a good presence and he throws a nice catchable ball.”
With 50 seconds left in the half, Borill ran a corner post route and Bergeron was on the money for an 18-yard touchdown pass. Lamm kicked the point after for a 31-0 Pios halftime lead.
“I was thankful for the opportunity to go with the two-minute offense without the huddle at the end of the half,” said Cook. “We had some nice throws and catches to be able to move it down the field and we haven’t had the opportunity to do that much this year. Who knows when you might need that again.”
Episcopal took the second half kickoff and any hopes of a fantastic finish were put to rest by the Notre Dame defense that logged 15 tackles for a loss and nine sacks in the game. Thomas Stevens, who led the Pios with eight tackles, and Alec Brouillette, who had five stops, started the series by drilling RB Chris Hatzis to the ground for no gain.
Kojis logged back to back QB sacks to force another of six Episcopal punts on the night. Noah Bourgeois fielded the punt near the sideline, ran to the middle of the field and cut past tacklers and through coverage for a 65-yard touchdown. The Lamm PAT boosted the ND lead to 38-0.
Episcopal got a 45-yard pass completion from QB Edenfield to Cameron Dumas on the next series. A 21-yard Edenfield pass to Dawson Sharp made it first and goal at the Pios four-yard line.
On first down, Cam Nelson and David Schmid made the stop on Hatzis. Edenfield lost a yard on second down and on third down Hatzis was dropped for a two-yard loss by Stevens and Schmid. On fourth down at the five, Edenfield threw incomplete with Pio Garrett Cormier in coverage on the end zone back line.
“We moved our front according to how they were lining up, but our defense just dominated the line of scrimmage,” added McCleary. “They played physical and they played their technique very well. They really just owned it.”
Notre Dame took over at the Pios five and marched 95 yards in 16 plays eating up eight minutes of the game clock. C.J. Thibodeaux came in to reel off runs of 16 and 10 yards. Waylon Bourgeois burst through blockers for a 24-yard gain. On a third and seven play at the Episcopal 35, Joe Ware took a swing pass nine yards for a first down. Ware added a 13-yard run and five plays later finished the drive with a one-yard TD. Lamm stayed perfect on extra points to finish the scoring.
Notre Dame put up over 400 yards of offense in winning the 100th playoff game in school history. Kirsch ran for 129 yards to lead a ground game of 314 yards. The Pios defense held Episcopal to minus nine yards rushing and 208 total yards.
The Pios will host Riverside in the semifinals this Friday. The last meeting of the teams was in the 2015 State Championship game won by the Pios. Riverside advanced with a 62-42 win over Dunham.