Football Recap: Notre Dame-Green Pond Starts off Right with Win over Garden Spot

Notre Dame-Green Pond had to travel to play their first game of the season, but the final result was worth the trip. They took down the Garden Spot Spartans 21-3 on Friday. The Crusaders have seen this before: they got the W the last time they saw the Spartans, too.

Jonathan Striba

Rushing Yards (Career)

08/22/25 @ Garden Spot	90
10/05/24 @ Pen Argyl	63
09/27/24 vs Northern Lehigh	56
09/13/24 vs Saucon Valley	53
09/20/24 @ Catasauqua	37

Notre Dame-Green Pond was led to victory by Jonathan Striba and Matt Bodnar. Striba gained 139 total yards and a touchdown, while Bodnar threw for 247 yards and a pair of TDs. The dominant performance also gave Striba a new career-high in rushing yards (90).

Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Notre Dame-Green Pond proved: they limited Garden Spot to a paltry 3.4 yards per carry. While six picked up at least one total tackle, Aaron Gordon stood above the rest. He rushed for 18 yards. Notre Dame-Green Pond's ground attack was stronger, having averaged 5.4.

Notre Dame-Green Pond's defense didn't let Seth Musselman., get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for four sacks. That dominant display was truly a team effort as four different players picked up one apiece.

Notre Dame-Green Pond and Garden Spot should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps Pennsylvania Rankings. The Crusaders (ranked 109th) will meet Salisbury Township (ranked 489th) at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Meanwhile, Garden Spot will challenge Lebanon at 7:00 p.m. on Friday with a big rank advantage (167 vs. 480).