Notre Dame 45, Upperman 6
The star: Notre Dame quarterback Alex Darras threw two TD passes, ran for a score and kicked a 51-yard field goal.Up next: The Fighting Irish will play at region rival East Ridge in a Class 3A quarterfinal next Friday.
BAXTER, Tenn. - Seniors Alex Darras and Ricky Ballard put on a show Friday night as seventh-ranked Notre Dame defeated No. 9 Upperman 45-6 in the second round of the TSSAA Class 3A playoffs.
Darras threw two touchdown passes in the first half, ran for another, kicked four PATs and hit a 51-yard field goal. Ballard ran for two scores and picked off a pass from Upperman quarterback Daylen Watts.
"The offensive effort was amazing," Ballard said. "The line really got it done for me. We threw the ball well; the receivers were connecting with the quarterback. Alex, that's my boy. He can make some plays, man. He can run and throw. We were just out there trying to ball tonight."
And the big night is leading the Fighting Irish to think that they've got a chance of making this postseason a special one.
"My goodness, this team has been resilient," Irish coach Charles Fant said. "We have talked in these last three or four weeks about how something is different, there's something special inside of them that's going on. We're coming together as a family.
"We didn't expect to come out here and score the points that we did. We knew Upperman has a great football team, but our kids just don't want to be denied right now. We're just so excited about how well we are playing."
Upperman's offense, which had been able to put up a lot of yardage through the season, struggled to do much of anything against the Irish, as it was held to 62 yards in the first half. The Bees (9-3) did pick up their effort in the second half, collecting a 48-yard touchdown pass from Watts to Ben Guffey for their only score of the game.
Notre Dame, on the other hand, rolled up 284 yards for the contest.
The Irish also got a defensive touchdown from a fumble recovery in the end zone by Scooby Williams as Watts lost the ball on a sack.
The victory sets up a Chattanooga rematch next Friday between the Irish (9-3) and East Ridge (13-0) in the quarterfinals. The Pioneers won the previous meeting on Oct. 2, 14-9.
"We have so much respect for East Ridge and Coach (Tracy) Malone," Fant said. "Everybody always wants a do-over, and we're really excited to get one more shot at those guys and see what happens."