LAWRENCE — Pound the ball in the trenches. Pitch and catch. Get a big stop.
The Notre Dame football team made the formula look easy Friday night with a 40-0 win at home against Allentown.
In the passing game, sophomore AJ Surace threw for about 140 yards with two touchdowns to junior John Liedtka and senior William Gonzales. In the running game, juniors Rasheen Young and Brett Spearnock each rushed for two touchdowns.
“We wanted to see what they did first drive whether we were going to be able to run it or pass it, and we ended up doing a little bit of both today,” Surace said. “We ran the ball hard, we blocked well and then it just opens the pass game.”
Notre Dame (2-2) had Allentown (1-4) reeling on the opening drive by stopping the Redbirds on a fourth down at their own 30. That led to an easy 33-yard drive, and the Irish followed that up with an 85-yard drive capped with Surace’s 69-yard touchdown to Liedtka.
“We’ve worked all summer, we have a lot of chemistry and we just put it together today,” Surace said.
Meanwhile, Allentown came into the game averaging 20.5 points but produced only four first downs before the last drive of the night in garbage time.
It didn’t help that sophomore quarterback Luke Wiedau got banged up in the second quarter and had to leave the game, but the Redbirds were overwhelmed up front and gained little traction beyond a few chunk plays in the first quarter.
“They’re a big, physical football team. They’re a lot bigger than us right now,” Allentown coach Andrew Lachenmayer said. “We can’t make mistakes against good teams with penalties that kill drives, or not converting on fourth-and-short. All that adds up and then you start to get away and that’s it. We’ve got a lot that we’ve got to work on, and effort is definitely one of those things right now.”
Notre Dame has responded from two 30-point losses to St. Augustine and Lenape with wins over Hopewell Valley and Allentown for a 2-0 start in the West Jersey Football League’s Capitol Division.
“The kids didn’t give in on one play against St. Augustine, and we didn’t give in against anybody,” Notre Dame head coach Sean Clancy said. “That’s really what makes me proud is that the kids have that motor. They just keep going.”
The Irish were relentless in the trenches with players such as junior John Hughes, junior Joseph Forbes and senior Jayson Jenkins causing havoc. They also had a huge play on special teams when senior Joseph Meidling blocked a punt to set up the touchdown that gave Notre Dame a 28-0 halftime lead.
The offense carried that momentum throughout the night, but Surace and Liedtka set the tone early with four completions for 112 yards in the first half.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can catch the ball, a lot of guys who can get open, a lot of guys who run their routes really well, and AJ throws a really nice ball,” Clancy said.
Surace, who didn’t play in the loss to Lenape after sustaining a pregame injury but is healthy now, was upbeat about Notre Dame’s upcoming challenge next Friday at St. Joseph of Hammonton.
“We want to learn from the losses, learn from our mistakes and we’re excited for the game next week,” Surace said.
Allentown (1-4) 0 0 0 0 – 0
Notre Dame (2-2) 7 21 12 0 – 40
1st Quarter
ND – Young 1 run (Dorio kick)
2nd Quarter
ND – Liedtka 69 pass from Surace (Dorio kick)
ND – Spearnock 3 run (Dorio kick)
ND – Gonzales 16 pass from Surace (Dorio kick)
3rd Quarter
ND – Spearnock 28 run (kick failed)
ND – Young 1 run (kick failed)
