Chaminade Beats Rival Notre Dame for 1st Time, 22-14

Tears streamed down the cheeks of Chaminade quarterback Travis Hall as he exchanged handshakes with his former teammates from Notre Dame on Friday night.

Eye-black smeared the shirts of his family members as he hugged everyone in sight. Words were hard to come by.

Rivalry, after all these years, had turned to revelry.

Chaminade, which had failed to defeat Notre Dame in eight previous attempts, knocked off the Knights in a Mission League opener at Chaminade, 22-14.

In the mayhem that followed, it was as though a weight had been lifted from Chaminade’s collective shoulders.

“Every clean, every bench-press, every weight we lifted, this was the inspiration,” said Hall, who transferred after his freshman year. “We get respect now. Finally, we get respect.”

It didn’t come easily.

With the scored tied, 14-14, in the fourth quarter, Notre Dame drove inside the Chaminade 10, but the Eagle defense held. A 12-yard scoring pass from quarterback Darren Firestone to Scott Nunez was negated by a holding penalty and the drive went backward from there.

On fourth and 26, Hall intercepted a pass at the eight.

Chaminade (4-0, 1-0 in league play) then drove to the Notre Dame one where, on fourth down, tailback Justin Giovannettone--who rushed for a game-high 158 yards in 21 carries--failed to pull down a high pitch from Hall and Notre Dame (1-2-1, 0-1) recovered at the two.

“You’re not supposed to second-guess yourself, but what am I doing pitching the ball down there?” said Chaminade coach Rich Lawson, whose team defeated Notre Dame for the first time in five attempts during his tenure. “I could have cut my throat.”

Lawson’s defense bailed him out when Notre Dame tailback Jabbar Craigwell was gang-tackled in the end zone for a safety with 3:18 remaining.

After the free kick, Chaminade reserve Franklin Saunders (80 yards in seven carries) broke loose to score from 34 yards to give Chaminade a 22-14 lead with 1:45 left. Saunders did not enter the game until the fourth quarter.

“(Giovannettone’s) the starter,” Saunders said.

Saunders was the finisher.

The Chaminade celebration began shortly after his scoring run. When the gun sounded, the Chaminade stands emptied and fans surrounded the players near the east end zone in a mass celebration.

“I think it brought the whole school together,” Lawson said.

The teams traded touchdowns four times in the first half, which ended in a 14-14 tie despite Chaminade’s advantage in yardage, 284-117.

Chaminade tied the score with 29 seconds left in the half on a broken play. With the ball at the Notre Dame eight, Hall rolled right, cut back against the grain and did a spin move at the five. He was hit at the two and dived into the end zone.

The drive appeared to have stalled at the Notre Dame 15 when Hall’s third-down pass to Scott Gregor fell incomplete with 46 seconds left.

But defensive back Morgan Bennett was flagged for pass interference to give the Eagles a first down at the eight.