Cheer, cheer for ol' Notre Dame they did, but wake up the echoes they didn't. Once again, it was the Serra Cavaliers, not the Knights marching onward to victory. Serra 35 - Notre Dame 20.
It was not a thing of beauty. Not exactly ugly either. It was a 5, maybe even a 4.
Notre Dame scored first, and led at the end of the first quarter. Serra went ahead by halftime, but the Knights came barging back in the third period, outscoring the Cavs by 6. Serra managed to climb back to a one-point lead with 4:16 remaining in the third, but it wasn't until 2:36 in the fourth that the Cavaliers slammed the refrigerator door once and the jello jiggled.
The films will show a Cav defense that was almost fatally vulnerable to the double move. Apart from Khalil Tate, the running game was undependable. Although Tate went 15 for 25 with two touchdowns, the passing attack was inconsistent. The win came down to the fact that Notre Dame was unable to bottle up Tate for 48 minutes, the Serra defense, especially the run defense, came through again, and there was just enough passing attack to get by.
The game started with two lackluster 3 and outs. Serra got one first down on its second series then had to punt. On the first play of Notre Dame's second series, lightning struck. Tight end William Humphries got so far behind the Serra secondary that Garo Yepremian could have made the completion. The PAT was good, and Notre Dame was up. But the play was a freak, right? Nothing to worry about. Lots of time.
Serra managed to move the ball on its third series, but neither the run nor the pass was working well. After eight plays, the Cavs stalled at the ND 40. Serra kicked the ball back to the Knights with 5:35 remaining in the first period.
Notre Dame held the ball for all of those 5-plus minutes, squeezing out first downs 31-feet at a time, mostly on runs by Leo Lambert. Then, with seconds left in the quarter, it as d�j� vu all over, half back pass to Trevor Gould. He was so far behind the secondary, they had to find him with GPS. But find him they did, and threw him out at the Serra 19.
The second quarter began with ND at the Serra 18, second and 9. A short run and a misthrown ball, and it was 4th and 6. The Knights elected to take the low hanging fruit. Field goal good from 31. Knights 10 - Cavaliers ZERO, but with 11 minutes to even the score by halftime.
The Cavs were in no hurry. Five plays ended in an interception of a very deep pass. 9:31 remaining.
The interception wasn't such a bad thing. Cav defense again stifled the Knights, resulting in good field position at the start of Serra's fifth series. After a good pass to Isaiah Diego-Williams, Tate took matters into his own hands. Intimidating tacklers, he plowed into the end zone with 6:11 remaining in the half. PAT good, Serra 7 Notre Dame 10. 6:10 remaining.
The defense, which is more and more the unsung hero of the season, absolutely squashed the Knights on the next series. After a decent punt, Serra scored in two plays, the highlight being a fantastic Diego-Williams run after a short pass. Following blockers left, bottled up, then reversing outrunning everyone, Diego-Williams crossed the line with 3:07 remaining. PAT good, Serra 14 - Notre Dame 10.
Notre Dame was allowed only four more plays before half time. Serra moved, but couldn't score, and the half ended 14-7, good guys. But wait!
ND took the second half kick off and held the ball for 5 minutes, ran eleven plays, and went back ahead 14-17. Then, Serra played Alphonse and Gaston with the ND kickoff. You catch, no you catch it. No one caught it, and Notre Dame picked up the trash at the Serra 25.
By this point, ND all but conceded that it wasn't going to be able to run on the Serra defense. Two passes, hurried and well covered went incomplete, and the Knights had to settle for three. Notre Dame 20-Serra 14. Bad, but not awful and lots of time remaining.
Priority No. 1 was to field the Notre Dame kick off, and that was accomplished. The ensuing series might have to go into the record book. Serra scored in five plays significantly aided by a major penalty against the other guys. Well, did you ever?
The touchdown was another Tateacle. The ball came loose on the exchange with McGinty, Tate picked it up as the Knights scrambled to take advantage. Chased to his right, he reared up and fired a strike to Brandon Burton alone at the flag. PAT good, Serra ahead -- for good as it turned out -- 21 - 20.
Down only one, the Knights moved the ball to the Serra 43, then hit the skids. The pass rush was having its way with the Notre Dame line. A sack and a hurry, then a forced pass third and long. Intercepted and returned to the 40. (Sorry I don't know who to thank for that.)
What followed was the most balanced series of the night for Serra. But in the end, it was Khalil Tate running out the backfield who delivered the coup de grace -- the patented escape from contain, then speed and power through a disorganized secondary. PAT good and Serra was up by 8 -- theoretically still a one score game.
Notre Dame had momentary success on its next (10th) drive, but the Cavalier defense was getting stronger with every play. After advancing thirty five yards in five plays, the Knights had to punt with 5:11 until doomsday.
Serra finished the pesky Knights off in the next series. A key catch and run featuring Kevin Hicks, then patented Tate runs. Serra 35 Knights 20 with 2:36 remaining as a formality.
In hindsight, the Cavs are improving week-to-week, but week-to-week, the opposition is more and more focused on stopping Khalil Tate. No one has so far, but neither has Serra proved that it can go elsewhere for scoring punch. Isaiah Diego-Williams had a great game Friday, and the other receivers are better than the opposition. But passing is never a one-man game. It starts with time to pass, it includes an instinct for the open man and touch, and concentration of the catch so there can be a run after catch. Serra seems to have some trouble putting all those ingredients together at once. Just over 50% of Serra passes were completed on Friday, but it could have been closer to 80% but for drops and misthrown balls. And if the completion percentage goes up, the run game will come alive as well.
The opposition is going to get tougher and smarter starting Friday. Bishop Amat is on next Friday's dance card. They punished the Cavs in 2014, and they've dominated their opponents this season. Friday is probably the stiffest test the Cavs have to face in league play.