Impressive Notre Dame Eliminates Hixson, 31-6

Irish Strong On Offense And Defense In Playoff Win

  • Friday, November 2, 2012
  • John Hunt

Notre Dame wasn't a very cordial  host for Friday night's first-round playoff football game against visiting Hixson.

With a standing-room-only crowd hoping for a close game between two teams that have had outstanding seasons, it was Notre Dame's night as they advanced with an impressive 31-6 victory.

Notre Dame improves to 9-2 and  will travel to Giles County next week while Hixson's season ends at 7-4.

The Fighting Irish were really strong on both sides of the ball as they piled up 304 total yards on offense, including a whopping 275 on the ground.  Defensively, a pretty good Wildcat offense was limited to just 146 yards for the game, including only 79 on the ground.

Notre Dame got on the board first with a touchdown in the first quarter, sophomore Auston Banks getting the last five yards with 18.9 seconds left in the opening stanza.

That touchdown run capped a short, five-play, 36-yard drive following a fumble recovery by Keeley Green.

The Irish extended that lead to 10-0 when freshman quarterback Alex Darras booted a 25-yard field goal with 4:35 showing before intermission. 

Notre Dame took the opening kickoff and promptly lost a fumble on the first play.  Hixson responded with its only touchdown of the game on a two-yard run by Isaiah Robinson with just 1:15 elaped in the second half.

The three-play, 39-yard drive was highlighted by a nice 35 yard completion from Gill Brown to K.J.

Yates on the first play.  Brown's conversion run was short and the difference was 10-6.

It looked like the making of a great game, but the Irish had other ideas.

Hixson never threatened again while Notre Dame pulled away with three unanswered touchdowns the rest of the way.

"We've been watching Hixson all year and we knew they would come back," said Notre Dame coach Charles Fant after his team had improved to 9-2 with its fourth-straight win.

What may have been the turning point of the game followed on Notre Dame's possession after Hixson's touchdown as the Irish shifted into their hurry-up offense.  Less than four minutes later, the Irish had regained that lost momentum and Hixson never recovered.

"We knew that we had to come right back and answer.  That's what we did. We got our up-tempo offense going and scored pretty quick.  That was huge.  But we knew that we wanted to run the ball and those guys up front were making some great blocks.  We knew we'd either win or lose with the guys up front and they started making some plays.

"While our offense was effective, our defense was even better.  Coach Bo Campbell does a great job as our defensive coordinator.  We were very good with our pursuit as we had a lot of hats on the ball.

"Our goal all year is to get better every day.  We know we may have to play the number-one team in the state next week, but we aren't worried about that right now.  We just wanted to win today," Fant added.

Hixson coach Jason Fitzgerald tried his best to console his team afterward, but there just wasn't a lot of joy on those faces in the Wildcat gathering at the end of the game.

"It's not fun at times and I know it hurts right now, but this is one of life's lessons," he began his post-game comments.

"I know it doesn't feel good, but don't let this spoil what you've done up to this point.  Years from now, you can look back and feel good about what we accomplished this year.  A foundation has been set by these seniors.  This is where we want to be every year the first weekend in November," he continued, referring to the postseason when the playoffs begin.

"Unfortunately, only one team ends its season with a win.  Everybody's good at this level.  The turnover in the first quarter cost us, but they won the battle up front.  We knew that would be the key in this game," Fitzgerald added.

The difference was 17-6 when the fourth quarter started and the Irish put a little icing on the cake with two touchdowns in the final 12 minutes.

The first came with 4:18 to play when Banks zipped 42 yards for the score that made it 24-6.  Then following an interception by Tyler Enos, the Irish moved 31 yards in three plays with Orr getting the last seven.  An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Hixson was the biggest play in the drive.

The Irish piled up 275 yards on the ground behind an offensive line that included some dominant blocking from guys like John Quatrano and Grayson Hargett, who are both seniors and a trio of sophomores like Joe Dossett, Jacob Harrod and Christian Captain.

Banks was the leader with 137 yards on 18 carries while Taylor Bankston was next with 77 yards on nine trips.  Orr finished with 64 yards on 13 carries.

Hixson had 79 yards on the ground and 67 through the air.

Bradley was the rushing leader with 46 yards on 11 carries while Trey Coleman added 16 yards on five trips.

Allante Novene, Hixson's quickest player and certainly their biggest threat on offense, had five receptions for 23 yards, but never had a chance to run in the open field where he is so effective.

Yates also had two catches for 36 yards.

Notre Dame finished with 14 first downs while Hixson had eight.

HIXSON   0  0  6  0  --  6

NOTRE DAME  7  3  7  14  --  31

ND -- Auston Banks 5 run (Alex Darras kick), 0:18.9 left in first;

ND -- Darras 25 field goal, 4:35 left in second;

HIX -- Isaiah Robinson 2 run (run failed), 10:45 left in third;

ND -- Kareem Orr 5 run (Darras kick), 6:50 left in third;

ND -- Banks 42 run (Darras kick), 4:18 left in fourth;

ND -- Orr 7 run (Darras kick), 1:47 left in fourth.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)

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