Football: Notre Dame is moving on

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Less than a week after being denied a Pac-5 Division playoff berth because of Encino Crespi’s miracle-like ending in a 34-28 loss to the Celts, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame is still feeling the effects but trying to move on.

‘It’s just one of those things that happens,’ veteran Coach Kevin Rooney said.

While some Notre Dame people insisted Crespi’s Terrence Williams, who scored the winning touchdown on the game’s final play, stepped out of bounds, Rooney said, ‘We missed some tackles. There’s no one to blame but ourselves.’

Notre Dame finished 2-8, was in a lot of close games and made progress with a young team. ‘This year’s team improved from the beginning to the end and kept fighting,’ Rooney said.

The good news is Notre Dame returns at least eight starters on offense and five to six starters on defense. Sophomore quarterback Kelly Hilinski didn’t play much as the backup on varsity but got better in practice, and Rooney remains convinced Hilinksi will be a good player.

Rooney concluded about 2011, ‘I think we’ll be pretty good.’

-- Eric Sondheimer