Football Preview: Notre Dame (SO) Knights vs. Servite Friars
The Notre Dame (SO) Knights will head out to face off against the Servite Friars at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the matchup bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Notre Dame (SO) narrowly escaped with a win as the squad sidled past St. Francis 36-34. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Knights.
Steele Pizzella went supernova for Notre Dame (SO), rushing for 129 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries, while also throwing for 208 yards and three touchdowns. That's the most total yards Pizzella has posted since back in August of 2023. 106 of those passing yards were hauled in by Tre Fernandez, who also brought in two receiving touchdowns.
Notre Dame (SO)'s defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Max Martin-Beckmann. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 7 total tackles per game. Ehimen Oyamendan was another major factor on D, picking up a sack, making 11 total tackles (1.0 for loss), and defending a pass.
Special teams was a major factor in the game for Notre Dame (SO), racking up 12 points in total. All came courtesy of William Weisberg: he went 3-for-3 kicking field goals for nine points, and 3-for-3 again kicking extra points for an additional three.
Meanwhile, Servite put another one in the bag on Friday to keep their perfect season alive. Their defense stepped up to hand Chaminade a 14-0 shutout. Given the Friars' advantage in MaxPreps' California football rankings (they are ranked tenth, while the Eagles are ranked 48th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Quaid Carr was nothing short of spectacular: he rushed for 172 yards. Another back making a difference was Gavin Gutierrez, who rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown on only seven carries.
Gutierrez wasn't the only one working in the rushing yards department: Servite was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 224 rushing yards. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Chaminade only rushed for 94.
Notre Dame (SO)'s victory ended a four-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-1. As for Servite, their record now sits at 3-0.
We should be in store for an exciting game as both have no problem gaining yardage. Notre Dame (SO) has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 363 total yards per game. However, it's not like Servite struggles in that department as they've been averaging 370.3. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Notre Dame (SO) couldn't quite finish off Servite when the teams last played back in September of 2019 and fell 16-13. Can Notre Dame (SO) avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
