Notre Dame Victory Comes on Solid Footing

MISSION HILLS —  With its first home football game since 1992, it was supposed to be a special night for the Alemany High team in its opener against Notre Dame.

But it was the play of the Knight special teams in the first half which led Notre Dame to a 13-9 victory Friday night.

Alemany’s field was renovated during the 1993 season and the Indians played their home games at neutral sites.

Notre Dame’s Steve Lee returned the opening kickoff 47 yards to the Alemany 43-yard line.

After the Knight offense stalled, senior Chris Sailer nailed a 51-yard field goal. It matched his career longest, set in 1992.

“It was great to get the first one out like that, to get the jitterbugs out,” Sailer said.

Sailer added a 31-yard field goal in the third quarter and his booming kickoffs kept the Indians pinned in their own territory for most of the game.

Midway through the second quarter, Indian punter Steve Nunez recovered a high snap, then his line-drive kick hit defensive end Mike Hillman in the chest. But Hillman held on to the ball and returned the kick 43 yards before being driven out of bounds at the Alemany 12-yard line.

“I didn’t know what else to do,” Hillman said. “I got some great blocks and was able to make it pretty far.”

Three plays later, Ryan Bowne (10 of 18 passes, 83 yards) connected with Robbie Brewster on a seven-yard scoring pass to give Notre Dame a 10-0 lead.

The Indian offense got untracked late in the first half. Quarterback Rudy Pantoja’s 18-yard scramble was the big play in a nine-play, 80-yard drive. Juan Larios’ first carry of the game went for a one-yard touchdown with one minute left in the half, cutting the lead to 10-7.

The Knights had problems with penalties (11 for 105 yards) and turnovers (three in the second half), but kept the Alemany offense under control.

“The defense really stepped up,” Notre Dame coach Kevin Rooney said. “We made some first-game mistakes, but hopefully, that’s all they were.”

Armone Lochard led the Indians with 38 yards in four carries, including a 31-yard run. John Garcia led Notre Dame with 48 yards in 10 carries.

Alemany got a safety late in the game when Notre Dame snapped the ball out of the end zone on a punt.