With no easy running room against a Howard defense much improved from last season, Notre Dame was forced to make big passing plays to pull away for a 35-7 Region 3-3A home win Friday night.
After throwing an interception late in the first half, Fighting Irish quarterback Cameron Wynn took control in the second half with what his defense gave him. That was great field position, with the only 45 yards gained by the Hustlin’ Tigers coming in the first minute of the second half.
Wynn, who as a sophomore already has a scholarship offer from Tennessee, was 7-of-12 through the air for 124 yards and rushed for a team-high 35 on four carries. He completed his three passes in the second half for 67 yards and a pair of decisive scores against Howard (1-4, 1-1).
“I just told my teammates we were going to get things going in the second half,” said Wynn, who was intercepted by Howard defensive back Dontavious Smiley with 1:20 left in the second quarter. “I said I am going to get it to you guys on every pass. I knew my receivers would make big plays.”
While a 60-yard punt-return touchdown by junior Jeffery Watkins Jr. in the first quarter was a highlight-reel worthy play, as he danced around tacklers and followed blockers into the end zone, Notre Dame (4-1, 2-0) had another spectacular play in store. This time from Justyn Baker.
The junior wide receiver made a turnaround, toe-touch 16-yard touchdown catch look fairly easy. Baker’s concentration and jaw-dropping catch put the Irish ahead 28-7 with 2:44 left in the third quarter.
“There’s nothing that we do that teaches (Justyn) how to make that catch,” Notre Dame coach Charles Fant said. “He is just one of those guys who has caught 1,000 passes in the summer. He constantly works at what he does well. We expect those type of plays from him.
“That was a play that showcased his natural athletic ability, but to me he gets that ability because of how hard he works.”
Not long after, Calvin Sims hauled in a 42-yard strike over the middle and sped his way to the end zone for six. Sims had a game-high 86 receiving yards on three catches, good for 28.7 yards per catch.
“Howard started stacking the box in the second half, and we have playmakers all over this team,” Baker said. “The pass game really opened up the game for us and helped us come away with this win.”
Notre Dame’s feisty defense finished with 12 tackles for loss and had four pass deflections. With two big plays from the Howard run game, a 67-yard run on a reverse end-around to Calvin Johnson and a 37-yard dash by McKenzie Williams, the Tigers were held to 41 yards on 39 additional carries.
“All week we worked on practicing our keys defensively, and I feel like we executed extremely well in the second half,” said Sims, who also had several big plays on defense. “We are pretty happy. We made the adjustments after they got us off-balanced for a second. Defense wins games.”
Notre Dame totaled 271 yards, while Howard finished with 174 total yards (145 rushing).
“I just want to tip my hat to Coach (John) Starr,” Fant said. “We were looking at film from last year and this year, and they have come a long way in a short period of time. They play good football and they pushed us all the way. I tip my hat to their entire staff.”
Contact Patrick MacCoon at sports@timesfreepress.com