Notre Dame Runs Past Central, 62-35

Wynn, Ford Lead Fighting Irish To Victory Over Purple Pounders

  • Saturday, September 8, 2018
  • John Hunt
Jacob Brigman and Ramcey Watson rush a Central punt.
Jacob Brigman and Ramcey Watson rush a Central punt.
photo by M. A. Locke

A non-region high school football game was scheduled at Central Friday night, but a track meet took place instead.

So much for a defensive struggle as it was anything but as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish won their third straight game and improved to 3-1 overall with the 62-35 victory over the host Purple Pounders.

It was a battle between Notre Dame’s running game and Central’s passing game and the Irish won that battle too by a 439-265 margin.

But on a night when the field was dry for a change and Curt Jones was calling all the plays for Central after serving as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator for the past three years, the Irish running game totally dominated.

Everyone knows about Cameron Wynn and his ability as a running back.  Wynn had his usual outstanding game and finished as the Irish leader with 171 yards on 14 carries as the Irish running game totally dominated.

Another Notre Dame player who made quite an impression was senior Jordan Ford, who finished with 123 yards on nine carries after gaining 114 yards in the first half and scoring touchdowns on runs of 26 and 67 yards.  He also returned a kickoff 91 yards for another Irish touchdown.

“We wanted to play hard and fast from the beginning and we were able to do that, but we also know what we have to do to get better,” said Notre Dame coach Charles Fant shortly after the final horn had sounded.

“We wanted to establish our running game and we were able to do that as a bunch of guys got to carry the ball.  It’s all about execution and I thought our guys up front did a good job of coming off the ball and executing blocks.

“We’re still learning on defense and we obviously need to be better in our secondary play, but that’s my job and I promise we’ll be working on that,” Fant added.

The Irish scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and the lead was 22-7 when the first quarter finally ended.

Jeffery Watkins Jr. got the Irish on the board with a run from the 5 with 9:58 left in the opening stanza. 

Ford got the honor on the second possession as he followed a 24-yard gain by Wynn with a 26-yard scamper and the difference was 14-0 with 5:19 showing.

The Pounders had a tough time getting their running game going at the start, but they proved they can move the ball through the air.

Southpaw quarterback Jaheim Jones hooked up with T.J. Payne for a 67-yard TD play with 3:33 left in the first and the talented senior kept the Pounders in the game with his receiving ability.

Jones hooked up with Payne again with 4:08 before halftime for a 64-yard scoring play where Payne made a spectacular fingertip grab as the pass hit him in stride down the middle of the field. His only catch in the second half covered six yards and it too was good for a TD.

Payne finished as Central’s leading receiver with five catches totaling 198 yards, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Irish running backs.

Central’s Jones certainly doesn’t like losing, but he saw a lot of positives from his squad.

“We use a game like this as a measuring stick.  We knew what they could do before the game began and that’s where we want to go.  I really appreciated our effort and fight as we were still trying to score there at the end.

“They physically handled us up front as their defensive line was able to stop our running game.  We’ve got to be able to run the football.  It was a bittersweet game for me and I’m sure Notre Dame wanted to play just a little bit harder, but we’re still learning what we’re trying to do and I’m confident we’ll eventually get there,” he added.

While the Irish led 22-7 after the first stanza, Notre Dame added three more TDs in the second and had a comfortable 42-21 lead at intermission.

Notre Dame finished with 455 total yards, including 439 yards on 42 rushing attempts.

Wynn led the way with 171 yards while Ford followed with his 123.  Tarik Nelson finished with 65 yard on five trips, all in the second half, while Watkins had 48 yards on six attempts.

Monroe Beard had the only pass reception for Notre Dame as he gained 16 yards on a throw from Watkins.

Central had 399 total yards, including 265 through the air and another 134 on the ground.

Payne was the leading receiver with five catches covering 198 yards while Michael McGhee was the leading rusher with 113 yards on 16 attempts, including TD runs of 15 and 51 yards.

Notre Dame finished with 20 first downs while Central had 13.

The Irish only had to punt one time and it only netted 13 yards, but the ball took a backward bounce to greatly assist Central’s field position.

Notre Dame will be at home next week to host Boyd-Buchanan while Central will play at East Hamilton

NOTRE DAME  22  20  13  7  --  62

CENTRAL  7  14  6  8  --  35

ND – Jeffery Watkins 5 run (Hunter Hill kick), 9:58 left in first;

ND – Jordan Ford 26 run (Hill kick), 5:19 left in first;

CEN – T.J. Payne 67 pass from Jaheim Jones (Jameson Willard kick), 3:33 left in first;

ND – Cameron Wynn 28 run (Dallas Brown run), 1:16 left in first;

ND – Ford 67 run (Hill kick), 11:39 left in second;

ND – Wynn 2 run (kick failed), 5:57 left in second;

CEN – Payne 64 pass from Jones (Willard kick), 4:08 left in second;

ND – Ford 91 kickoff return (Hill kick), 3:55 left in second;

CEN – Michael McGhee 15 run (Willard kick), 1:01 left in second;

ND – Watkins 17 run (kick failed), 4:35 left in third;

CEN – Payne 6 pass from Jones (kick failed), 2:27 left in third;

ND – Tarik Nelson 9 run (Hill kick), :35.3 left in third;

ND – Wynn 1 run (Hill kick), 10:05 left in fourth;

CEN – McGhee 51 run (Donya Parker run) 1:59 left in fourth.

YARDSTICK NOTRE DAME CENTRAL

FIRST DOWNS          20      13

RUSHES-YARDS      42-439 36-134

PASSING YARDS 16    265

PASSES COMP-ATT-INT       1-5-1 9-20-1

TOTAL YARDS 455  399

PENALTIES 2-20   4-25

FUMBLES  2-1    4-1

PUNTS 1-13.0  6-30.0

INDIVIDUAL STATS:

NOTRE DAME RUSHING: Cameron Wynn 14-171; Jordan Ford 9-123; Jeffery Watkins 6-48; Tarik Nelson 5-65.

CENTRAL RUSHING: Michael McGhee 16-113; Jaheim Jones 13-18.

NOTRE DAME RECEIVING: Monroe Beard 1-16.

CENTRAL RECEIVING: T.J. Payne 5-198; Michael McGhee 1-8.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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