Notre Dame gives the movie “Woodlawn” 64 thumbs up.
That’s how many members of the Fighting Irish went together recently to see the Christian sports drama about high school football. Notre Dame coach Charles Fant said afterward he saw more hugging and high-fiving among his players than he’d seen all year, and they took it to the field of Finley Stadium on Friday night in the form of a 38-0 victory over Sequatchie County in the opening round of the Class 3A state playoffs.
Notre Dame (8-3) will play at Upperman next week. The Irish were state semifinalists last year but started this season 4-3.
Notre Dame 38, Sequatchie County 0
The star: Notre Dame quarterback Alex Darras connected on his first 11 passes on the way to a 14-for-15 effort for 256 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-0 victory over Sequatchie County in a TSSAA Class 3A playoff game. He also made a 37-yard field goal and was 5-for-5 on extra points.Up next: Notre Dame will travel to Upperman next Friday for the second round.
“It’s all about chemistry,” Fant said. “All year it’s been like that. The games we won, we did just enough. The games we lost, we should’ve lost. The other teams were better prepared. They were the better teams that night. When I realized it wasn’t about X’s and O’s, that’s when things started changing.”
Although his team beat Signal Mountain to go to 5-3, Fant said it was after that game that things really began to change within the team. The coach addressed several details related to team bonding and the Irish have been rolling since, outscoring their past three opponents 125-21.
“Lately we’ve started to play better,” said quarterback and kicker Alex Darras, whose effort was key in Friday’s win. “I think we’re peaking right now, which is the best time to be playing our best ball.”
Darras led the Irish 59 yards down the field in four plays to start the game against Sequatchie (7-4). The possession ended with the first of his three touchdown passes.
Darras was 14-of-15 for 256 yards and also made five extra points and a 37-yard field goal. He also averaged 40 yards on three punts, one downed on the 2 and the others going out of bounds at the 4 and the 15.
He said video study helped the offense pick up on some things the group thought it could exploit in the passing game, also considering Sequatchie’s strength at linebacker.
“If they were going to fill up the box,” Darras said, “we were going to continue to pass on the outside.”
Ricky Ballard contributed a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown and led Notre Dame with 32 rushing yards.
The Indians were led in rushing by quarterback Lowery Mainord. Of his 58 yards, 43 came on one run.
“I was really most proud defensively,” Fant said. “I tip my hat to that Sequatchie bunch. They’ve got some tough, tough kids. We knew we had to match their physicality, and I thought that was the difference.”
Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.