Jonas Emilsson
www.KramMag.com

For a second year in a row the Notre Dame Pride will take part in the Div I senior boy’s football final.

To get there, thy had to overcome the Henry Wise Wood Warriors, a team that came into the final full of confidence after reeling off three straight must-win games, including an impressive 18-3 win over the St. Francis Browns in last week’s quarter final round.

The Warriors defeated the Pride in last year’s Div I city final.

This time around the Pride got the upper hand on the Warriors, defeating the defending champs 17-14 in a tightly played game that brought out the best in both teams.

“It was close, just like I thought it was going to be,” said Pride’s head coach Dave Diluzio. “Henry Wise Wood really prepared well. We had an early lead but I knew they weren’t going to quit and we were able to come back in the fourth quarter after they dominated the third quarter.”

Diluzio’s words perfectly describes the swings in momentum that took place throughout the game.

The Pride carried the play in the early stages, and were rewarded on the last play of the opening quarter when Jimmy Underdahl crossed the goal line on a short QB sneak.

The Pride keep the pressure on through the second quarter and were again rewarded with 4:33 to play in the half when running back Efe Ogolo blew through the Warriors’ defensive line to a two-yard touchdown run.

With a two touchdown lead and momentum on their side it would have been fine to assume that the game was heading for a one-sided finish.

But the Warriors didn’t get to the semi-final by simply rolling over and giving away games when the going gets tough. If anything, they’ve perfected the art of scraping and clawing their way through games that they had to win to avoid elimination.

With time ticking down in the opening half the Warriors perseverance paid off.

Running back Alex Kipp converted on a three yard run with just 21 seconds remaining in the half to make the score 14-8.

Despite dominating the majority of the opening half the Pride found themselves with a slim half-time lead, facing a resilient opponent that was gaining more and more confidence.

The pendulum swung farther in the Warriors’ direction early in third quarter when they forced a fumble on the Prides’ 40-yard line.

The offense put together a productive drive that resulted in a field goal to make the score 14-11.

Suddenly, the Warriors were within a field goal of squaring the score.

With their defense keeping the Pride from putting points on the board, the Warriors offense put an early fourth quarter drive together to get deep into the offensive zone.

Kicker Steven McCaffrey nailed a clutch field goal less than two minutes into the final quarter to draw the teams even.

With the game back to square one and facing the pressure to preserve their perfect season, the Pride’s ability to respond to adversity was front and centre.

“You have to play a complete game to be successful and we didn’t start the game we wanted.”

And like all championship calibre teams do, the Pride found a way to answer the Warriors blow for blow.

With just under five minutes remaining in the dead-even game, Underdahl found his speed wide receiver David Finot out wide with a short pass. Finot turned that short pass into a 30-yard gain, and more importantly, within striking distance of the end zone.

But the Warriors’ defense kept the Pride from getting into the end zone, forcing them to settle for a 16-yard field goal by Dylan Portillo, giving them a 17-14 lead.

More importantly, the Pride had regained the momentum at the most crucial part of the game.

“We started really well and then we lost all the momentum,” said Diluzio. “Wise Wood had our backs up and they made some plays, but our kids responded when their backs were a against the wall so I’m really proud of them for doing that. In a lot of situations that would have been difficult.”

The three-point lead was all the Pride’s defense would need.

“I expected a close game and I expected a hard-fought battle,” said Warriors’ head coach Cody Ehrmann. “Both teams played with intensity and both teams had lulls in the game.

“You have to play a complete game to be successful and we didn’t start the game we wanted.”

“The confidence was there to win the football game, if we had another quarter you never know what could have happened,” joked Ehrmann. “We started flat and you can’t do that against a good football team.”

The Pride will face the Bishop O’Byrne Bobcats in Saturday’s Div I final.

Action photos from this game are available HERE.