Football Preview: Notre Dame Green Knights vs. Hamden Green Dragons
Notre Dame has gone 7-2 against Hamden recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. After each having a week off, the two teams will dust off their jerseys to face off against one another at 10:30 a.m. Notre Dame is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 26.4 points per game this season.
Notre Dame's defense heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed last Friday. They really took it to Hillhouse for the full four quarters, racking up a 28-0 win. Considering the Green Knights have won three matches by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Notre Dame's victory was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Donovan Darden, who picked up 74 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Termaine Barr got in on the action too, returning a kick for a touchdown.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Hamden). They walked away with a 36-28 win over Guilford last Friday. The high-flying offensive performance was a huge turnaround for the Green Dragons considering their nine-point performance the game before.
A big part of Hamden's victory came down to the chemistry between Evelio Lugo and his top target Julian Barajas. Lugo threw for 256 yards and three touchdowns while completing 76.9% of his passes while Barajas gained 138 total yards and two touchdowns. The dominant performance also gave Barajas a new career-high in rushing yards (66). Another back making a difference was Christopher Medley, who rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown.
Hamden's win ended an eight-game drought on the road dating back to last season and puts them at 2-7. As for Notre Dame, they now have a winning record of 5-4.
Thursday's matchup might be decided in the on the ground. Notre Dame has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 175.9 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Hamden struggles in that department as they've been averaging 157.2. It's looking like Thursday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches.
Notre Dame came up short against Hamden when the teams last played back in November of 2023, falling 21-17. Can Notre Dame avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
