One hundred forty-one years is a long time to wait.
Notre Dame will compete for the school’s first football state championship after defeating Christ Presbyterian Academy 42-20 at home Friday night in the Division II-AA semifinals.
“One hundred forty-one years we’ve been trying to make it to a state championship at this school,” Fighting Irish coach Charles Fant said. “We finally made it.”
The Fighting Irish threw the ball only three times, as they rushed for 462 yards on 59 carries. They were led by dynamic junior quarterback Cameron Wynn, who rushed 25 times for 238 yards and five touchdowns.
“We’ve never been able to get over the semifinal hump,” Wynn said. “When we were up at halftime we said we knew we could do it.”
CPA (10-3) received the opening kickoff and scored the game’s first touchdown just two minutes into the game.
Notre Dame (11-1) answered with Wynn’s first touchdown – a 10-yard run – a minute and a half later but missed the extra point.
The Lions responded in less than a minute with a 28-yard strike from quarterback Ryan Eledge to junior standout Noah Henderson, making the score 14-6 less than five minutes into the game, as it looked like the first team to 100 would win.
The defenses settled in, however, and Notre Dame’s running game began to take over. The Irish scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter on runs by Wynn and Dallas Brown, but Eledge connected with Henderson again with just eight seconds to go in the half to cut the Notre Dame lead to 21-20 at the break.
After his Irish received the second-half kickoff, Fant decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from their own 24. The run was stuffed and the Lions were set up with a short field.
That was when the Notre Dame defense came up with its first big stop of the game. The Lions ended the possession back at the Irish 36-yard line and had to punt.
That defensive stand was the theme of the second half, as Notre Dame allowed just 40 total yards and smothered Henderson even as CPA continued to throw the ball his way.
“It was a total team effort,” said junior defensive back Kolby McGowan. “The defensive line got back there all night and forced bad passes. This team is like a family. It means so much to see my coaches, teammates, the students and the alumni happy.”
“I don’t think anybody expected us to shut them out in the second half, but we were able to do it,” Fant said.
While players and fans celebrated on the field, Fant reminded them that they weren’t finished. Notre Dame will play Lausanne (12-0) for the state championship on Dec. 2 in Cookeville.
“Ever since I came to Notre Dame it’s been about family,” an emotional Fant said. “When you have that, you win. That’s why it means so much to all of these people.”
Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com.