LAWRENCE — The next Mercer County football team to have an answer for Notre Dame will be the first.
If that even happens this season at all.
The Irish continued their dominance of the area Friday night by pummeling Hamilton West on Homecoming, 49-12, behind brute physicality and balanced play-making in space.
Notre Dame scored three quick touchdowns to take a 21-0 lead with 4:21 left in the first quarter after senior Joe Meidling returned an interception 41 yards to the house. The Irish carried a 42-6 advantage into halftime to initiate a running clock in the second half for a contest that was never competitive.
Sophomore quarterback AJ Surace reached 12 touchdown passes for the season with four end-zone strikes to senior Marcus Peterson (two), senior William Gonzales and junior John Liedtka — all in the first half. Meanwhile, junior Rasheen Young rushed for two touchdowns.
Hamilton’s offense came entirely from sophomore Christian Patterson, who hauled in touchdown passes from sophomore Yandel Vargas and senior Robert Chatham.
Notre Dame is now 3-3 playing what might be the most unbalanced schedule in the state.
Proving the current discrepancy between Mercer and the top programs in South Jersey, the Irish have beaten Hopewell, Allentown and Hamilton by an average of 34.3 points but have lost to St. Augustine, Lenape and St. Joseph Academy by an average of 34.7 points.
At this point, it’s clear that the only local team with a chance to compete with Notre Dame is Nottingham (5-0), which will host the Irish on Oct. 30.
Hamilton (1-6) 0 6 0 6 – 12
Notre Dame (3-3) 21 21 7 0 – 49
1st Quarter
ND – Peterson 51 pass from Surace (Dorio kick)
ND – Gonzales 13 pass from Surace (Dorio kick)
ND – Meidling 41 interception return (Dorio kick)
2nd Quarter
ND – Liedtka 17 pass from Surace (kick failed)
H – Patterson 23 pass from Vargas (run failed)
ND – Young 4 run (Young run)
ND – Peterson 2 pass from Surace (Dorio kick)
3rd Quarter
ND – Young 1 run (Dorio kick)
4th Quarter
H – Patterson 5 pass from Chatham (pass failed)
