Notre Dame Rushes By Chaminade to League Title

The inaugural season of the San Fernando Valley League came to an exciting climax Friday night as Notre Dame High held on to defeat Chaminade, 28-22, at Notre Dame.

For Notre Dame (8-2, 4-0 in league play), which fled the Del Rey League last season, the win meant its first league championship in Coach Kevin Rooney’s 9-year tenure.

The Knights won with a strong running game and a stingy defense, rolling up 199 yards rushing while limiting Chaminade (7-3, 3-1) to 58 yards rushing and 186 total yards.

Yet Notre Dame, which never trailed, had to survive a last-minute Eagle surge nevertheless.

Chaminade quarterback Greg Baumgartner, who completed 8 of 17 passes for 128 yards, lofted a “Hail Mary” pass that Mike Rimkunas intercepted at the 2-yard line.

Had Rooney not made what he termed a “stupid call” minutes earlier, the Knights might have breathed a little easier.

Leading, 28-14, with 3:22 to play and the ball at the Chaminade 12, quarterback Greg Andrachick dropped back to pass and was hit by defensive back Colin Havert. The ball squirted into the arms of linebacker David Jones, who raced 80 yards for a touchdown. Havert then ran for a 2-point conversion.

“We’re up by that much, we probably should have been running out the clock instead of trying to score,” Rooney said.

Said Chaminade Coach Rich Lawson: “I think it was nice of him to let us back in the ball game. He’s up by 2 TDs and he’s throwing the ball.”

Andrachick, a junior who replaced senior Bobby Hughes at mid-season, completed only 8 of 21 passes, but they went for 116 yards and a touchdown. He also scrambled away from pressure and rushed for 34 yards and 2 touchdowns in 16 carries.

“He’s real cool under pressure,” Rooney said. “He keeps his eyes on the field. He made some clutch passes.”

Andrachick threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Rimkunas in the second quarter to give the Knights a 14-0 lead.

In the first quarter, junior tailback Errol Small ran 22 yards for Notre Dame’s first score. In the final minute of the half, Baumgartner hit Brady Mitchell with a 20-yard touchdown pass to pull Chaminade to within a touchdown, 14-7, at halftime.

On the Knights’ second possession of the third quarter, Andrachick scored on a 2-yard keeper.

Felix Goodson ran 2 yards for a touchdown to pull Chaminade to within 7 late in the third quarter, but Andrachick scored on a 1-yard plunge with 6 minutes to play.