Notre Dame Prep wins first district since 2004 with 54-40 victory over Brandon
PONTIAC >> It’s not often a team can score 40 points and come up short on the football field, but Notre Dame Prep managed to do just a bit more than Ortonville-Brandon on Friday night, earning a 54-40 win in the Division 4 district final at the home of the Irish.
“Brandon played with a lot of heart and gave us everything we could handle, but our guys played with a lot of heart as well. We needed every point,” Notre Dame Prep coach Pat Fox said. “That was a crazy high school football game, but I am proud of our guys for fighting through and coming out on top.”
The win gives the Irish their first district championship since 2004 and improves their record to 10-1 a year after going 4-5.
“We were really young last year and started six sophomores knowing that we would get better over time. We haven’t won a district title since 2004, so this is a big deal for the program,” Fox said. “It’s just been a great season for our kids and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
+51 Notre Dame Prep vs. Ortonville-Brandon district football photo gallery
The Irish never trailed, as they were able to take advantage of some Brandon mistakes early on to establish a 19-0 lead in the first quarter.
Notre Dame created a strip sack on the opening Brandon possession and that led to a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Bendtsen to Ethan Johnson. Bendtsen would connect on a 20-yard touchdown pass on the next Irish possession, this time to Clayton Bone.
A blocked punt by Caleb Webb on the next Brandon possession would set the Irish up inside the 10-yard line and Connor Gaeschke would drive the ball in from a yard out to make it 19-0.
“It’s hard to spot anybody 19 points, but when you spot (Notre Dame Prep) 19 points, you know you are in trouble,” Brandon coach Brad Zube said. “I thought the boys did a great job of battling back though, and that’s what they have done all season. They always played with a lot heart and determination.”
Brandon managed to get back in the game on the next Notre Dame Prep possession when senior Keyontae Turner jumped a bubble screen and intercepted an Irish pass and returned the ball 42 yards for a score to make it 19-7.
“We talked about that type of play all week and (Turner) did a great job of stepping into that passing lane and making a play when we desperately needed one,” Zube said.
The Blackhawks would cut the lead to 19-14 with 2:47 left in the second quarter when sophomore Micah Miller connected with senior Adrian Williams for a 19-yard score on a screen pass. However, the Irish would manage a pair of touchdowns in the final 66 seconds of the half.
Notre Dame Prep quarterback Jacob Bendtsen threw five touchdown passes on Friday to lead the Irish to a 54-40 win over Ortonville-Brandon. (DREW ELLIS – MediaNews Group)
By Drew Ellis dellis@medianewsgroup.com; @ellisdrew on Twitter
The Irish answered the Brandon score with a 74-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 16-yard connection from Bendtsen to Johnson.
Joshua Edmonds would then intercept a Brandon pass on the first play of the ensuing possession which allowed Bendtsen to hit a 4-yard score to Ryan Cueny moments later and give the Irish a 33-14 lead at the break.
“Those scores were huge. The momentum swing from that was just enormous,” Fox said.
Brandon would get the Notre Dame lead down to 13 points on two different occasions in the second half, but not get any closer than that.
Bendtsen would hit a third touchdown pass to Johnson in the third quarter, giving him five for the contest.
“Our offensive line did an amazing job and that allowed us to really deliver the ball and put some points on the board,” Bendtsen said. “Everyone played their role and executed like we needed them to.”
Brandon would find a lot of success with their screen game in the second half, with Williams being the main benificery. He would score on a 36-yard pass in the fourth to get the Blackhawks within 13 at 47-34, but Brandon was unable to recover an onside kick and get any closer.
“We probably hit that shovel pass (Friday) more than we have all year, but it was one of those things that just kept working for us,” Zube said. “If (ND) was going to give it to us, we were going to keep taking it.”
The Blackhawks end their season at 8-3, but reached the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Brandon will graduate 12 seniors from this roster.
“This was a really young team, so to go 8-3 and get to a district final, we are just really proud of them,” Zube said. “We graduated 18 seniors from last year’s team and we really didn’t know how this group would come together. But we had some great senior leadership from guys like Adrian Williams and Josh Dubiel and we had a lot of young guys step up and have great years. The future is really bright at Brandon and I know our guys are going to come back next season as motivated as ever.”
Notre Dame Prep will now play in a Division 4 regional championship next weekend when they will host Flint Powers Catholic.
“This is just a really close group of guys that all have the same goal,” Bendtsen said of the Irish. “We really work hard and stay together as a team. We wanted this (district title), but we want to keep winning and that starts with a big game next week.
November 9, 2019