Golden Knight for St. Francis

SHERMAN OAKS — It’s tough to make a tackle when you’re flat on your back, as the Notre Dame High defense found out Friday night in an upset loss to St. Francis, 28-24, at Notre Dame.

The Golden Knights (4-2) steamrollered up and down the field, running on 60 of their 63 plays to control the clock and amass 275 yards rushing in a Mission League opener.

“We knew they wanted to run the ball on us and we couldn’t do much to stop it,” said Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney, who spent the week’s practices emphasizing defensive intensity. “They beat us up at the line of scrimmage.”

St. Francis was at its ground-based best in the fourth quarter, driving 70 yards in 18 plays and consuming 10:20 before scoring what became the winning points on Murice Law’s four-yard run with 2:47 to play.

“We wanted to hold onto the ball and keep it away from [Notre Dame tailback Justin] Fargas,” St. Francis Coach Bill Redell said.

Fargas, the area’s rushing leader after five weeks, was held to 80 yards in 12 carries and caught a pass for 42 yards. His third lost fumble in two games snuffed out a drive in the second quarter and he had a 54-yard touchdown run nullified by a holding penalty.

St. Francis’ first victory over Notre Dame this decade puts the Golden Knights in position to end Notre Dame’s string of four consecutive league titles and will knock Notre Dame (4-2) from its position atop The Times’ regional rankings.

St. Francis has not been ranked this season.

Darius Brown rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown in 30 carries, and Law carried 10 times for 62 yards and two touchdowns for St. Francis.

But also credit linemen Jason Cervantes, Mike Scheper, Mike Lynch, Brian Abraham, Taylor Ketchum and Ariel Bellofiore. The holes they opened were large enough for a Metrolink train, let alone a pair of backs under 5 feet 10.

St. Francis’ push to victory did not come easily.

After leading, 14-0, at halftime, the Golden Knights surrendered a 56-yard touchdown pass play from Dave DeMartinis to Tony Arredondo on the second play of the second half.

Juan Plascencia’s 21-yard field goal cut Notre Dame’s deficit to 14-10, but Law ran three yards for a touchdown with 1:25 remaining in the third quarter to increase the lead to 21-10.

Notre Dame’s Todd Fenton returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and DeMartinis ran for a two-point conversion to make it 21-18.

But on its next possession, St. Francis launched its winning drive.

Notre Dame got its final points on a two-yard run by DeMartinis with 1:04 to play but a subsequent onside kick was recovered by St. Francis, which ran out the clock and began a frenzied celebration.

St. Francis scored on the game’s opening possession, an 11-play, 68-yard drive in which it did not throw a pass. Nesen ran 15 yards for a touchdown on a quarterback draw and added the first of his four extra points.

St. Francis increased its lead when it drove 63 yards in six plays and scored on a 10-yard run by Brown with 4:21 remaining in the first quarter.

Notre Dame’s drove 39 yards with 1:12 to play in the half, but Fargas fumbled at the St. Francis 25 after receiving a short pass from DeMartinis.

DeMartinis completed nine of 15 passes for 177 yards and a touchdown, while Nesen completed all three of his passes for 34 yards.

Tony Arredondo of Notre Dame caught four passes for 107 yards and a touchdown.

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Fargas Watch

A game-by-game look at how Justin Fargas has fared this season

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Opponent Att. Yds. Avg. TD Alemany 25 283 11.3 3 Burroughs 22 257 11.7 5 Beverly Hills 18 266 14.8 3 Crespi 26 175 6.7 2 St. Paul 26 154 5.9 3 St. Francis 12 80 6.6 0 Totals 129 1215 9.4 16

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