Week 1: Notre Dame 41 Fairfax 32

WEEKLY BLOG: 8/17/18

Much like the 1974 film, Chinatown, the sequel to Notre Dame Prep's 13-1 season from last year could be titled The Two Jakes.

In this case, it's returning star Jake Smith, who is well on his way to another big season with five first-half touchdowns. New to the starting cast is quarterback Jake Farrell, who completed three of his four TD strikes to Smith as the Saints built a 33-0 halftime lead.

It's a good thing they did, because Betty Fairfax came at them furious and fast in the second half and mounted a rally before succumbing, 41-32 in Laveen on Friday night.

"We had a game plan and we came out here and executed it," Smith said. "When we do that, there's nobody that can stop us."

Notre Dame (1-0) received the opening kickoff and Farrell went to work with a 32-yard pass to Smith for his first completion. Later, Smith lined up in the backfield and took it up the middle for the game's first points.

Following a three-and-out, the Saints increased their lead as Smith ran a fade route that started straight, but drifted towards the sideline. The Texas-commit had a step on the defender and Farrell placed the pass perfectly for a 70-yard strike and a 13-0 first-quarter lead.

Smith, who became just the third Arizona player in the MaxPreps era (2004-2018) with 1,000 receiving yards and 1,000 rushing yards last season, had 102 receiving yards in the first quarter alone. He added three more touchdowns in the second quarter.

A 26-yard touchdown run was bookended by scoring passes from Farrell of 15 yards (on a fade to the corner of the end zone) and a six-yard catch in traffic with just five seconds remaining in the half.

Last year, Smith posted those numbers with Kylan Weisser at the controls, who is now at Weber State. Farrell, who is a 6-5, 215-pound senior, has been awaiting this opportunity since last season ended. He's been working on his footwork and play fakes.

"We've been practicing all summer and spring," Farrell said. "We've really got that rhythm down and it benefited in the first half."

If you had Smith on your HS fantasy team, he'd have earned you 49 points at halftime. He finished the night with 82 yards rushing and 142 receiving.

"We came out and executed," Notre Dame head coach George Prelock said. "Things just went our way. We were able to do what we wanted to accomplish."

It wasn't all Smith and Farrell. Running back Dominick Mastro, a junior, broke the 100-yard mark and senior Zack Gray finished with 104 receiving yards.

"Jake Farrell did a great job," Prelock said. "Dominick Mastro ran the ball extremely hard. Zack Gray made some great catches."

Farrell completed 10 of his 14 first-half passes for 268 yards.

With the halftime margin at 33-0, you had to feel it was just a matter of time before the running clock (which kicks in at a 42-point spread).

But, Fairfax (0-1) wasn't having any of that.

The Stampede received the second half kickoff and Jalen Holmes brought the crowd to its feet with a 90-yard runback to put Fairfax on the board.

A skirmish developed after the touchdown, which resulted in one player from each side getting ejected. For Notre Dame, it was its starting kicker, who will have to sit out next week's game per AIA rules.

Farrell tossed his fourth touchdown pass to senior tight end Luke Roberts on a play-action play. Because of the loss of its kicker, NDP went for two and got it with a completion from Farrell to Gray for a 41-7 lead.

Many teams would just hang their heads at this point and let the night play out. Instead, the FHS offense kept running, and clicking.

The Stampede had four possessions in the second half (plus the kick return) and converted all of them into touchdowns.

Senior Anthodius Ashley, who rushed for 1,300 yards last season, is ready to be the workhorse RB once again. Ashley got around the left, saw daylight, and burst through for a 26-yard touchdown. It would be the first of three for the 5-10, 175-pound player.

"We made some adjustments in the second half," Fairfax head coach Dylan Winemiller said. "We played our guts out and we're going to try to build on it and get better."

Ashley finished with 171 yards on 34 carries.

"When he's moving the way he was tonight, you just feed him," Winemiller said.

Fairfax made it interesting with a couple big plays from senior captain Will Collins.

First, as a running back, he bulled his way through the line on the first play of the fourth quarter for a touchdown. Later, as a linebacker, he recovered a fumble on a strip and ran it back 50 yards to the Notre Dame 20-yard line.

The Stampede cashed the good field position in with Ashley's third touchdown to make it 41-32, but the extra point was wide left ending a chance to make it a one-score game with 3:33 remaining and the Saints would win their opener for the sixth consecutive year.

Next up for Fairfax is a trip south to Marana (1-0). The Stampede have won the 5A Union Region (now called the Metro) each of the past two years. Their non-region schedule is a killer with Desert Mountain, Kellis, and Sunnyslope still to follow.

Still, despite the result on the scoreboard, it was an optimistic group after the coaching staff watched their kids outscore NDP by a 32-8 score in the second half.

"They came back," Winemiller said. "Played with a lot of energy and they were picking each other up."

Notre Dame will play its home opener next Friday at Bemis Field in Scottsdale against Sunnyslope (0-0). Prelock doesn't feel it's an added advantage of already having played a game. The Saints returned just three starters (none on defense) from the team that faced Centennial in Tucson last December.

"Sunnyslope is a great football team," Prelock said. "They had a lot of sophomores that were great last year."

And the message for the Notre Dame players in practice this week? It's probably what you'd expect.

"Finish," Prelock said.

First Quarter:
NDP - Jake Smith 8 yard run (kick blocked), 8:27
NDP - Smith 70 yard pass from Jake Farrell (Griffen Chewning kick), 5:15
Second Quarter:
NDP - Smith 15 yard pass from Farrell (Chewning kick), 6:19
NDP - Smith 26 yard run (Chewning kick), 2:31
NDP - Smith 6 yard pass from Farrell (kick failed), 0:05
Third Quarter:
Fair - Jalen Holmes 90 yard kickoff return (Raymond Ssenkungu kick), 11:40
NDP - Luke Roberts 10 yard pass from Farrell (Zack Gray pass from Farrell), 9:06
Fair - Anthodius Ashley 16 yard run (Ssenkungu kick), 7:25
Fourth Quarter:
Fair - Will Collins 3 yard run (run failed), 11:56
Fair - Ashley 1 yard run (run failed), 6:20
Fair - Ashley 6 yard run (kick failed), 3:33