Football: Notre Dame defeats Taft, 45-27
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D.J. Morgan did his part to keep Woodland Hills Taft close throughout Friday night’s showdown against host Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. One problem: The Knights had Kenny Boggs on their side, and ultimately, the senior running back proved to be too much in a 45-27 nonleague victory.
Boggs scored three touchdowns in the second quarter alone, finding the end zone on a 1-yard run at the 10:39 mark, a 47-yarder six minutes later, and to top it off, he reached pay-dirt on a 15-yard run with :58 remaining before halftime to give Notre Dame a 35-14 advantage at intermission.
He added a 1-yard touchdown run with 5:28 left in the fourth quarter to extend the Knights’ lead to 18 points, essentially putting the game out of reach. When all was said and done, Boggs finished with 221 yards rushing on 26 carries with four touchdowns. Not too shabby.
In between, Morgan was spectacular, although he did get off to a rather inauspicious start, gaining 18 yards on his first six carries. The USC-bound senior found his rhythm though, scoring on a 60-yard touchdown run to cut the deficit to 28-14 with 3:39 remaining in the second quarter.
It was more of the same in second half. More Morgan running wild in the secondary. He scored on a 44-yard run with 6:27 left in the third quarter, and all of a sudden, the Toreadors trailed 35-20. His 69-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter made it a 38-27 game.
Ryan Kasdorf, however, engineered an 11-play, 72-yard drive, taking 4:36 off the clock, with Boggs scoring to provide the final margin of victory.
Morgan ended the night with 235 yards on 19 carries and three touchdowns.
Kasdorf was 19 of 24 for 194 yards in the air. He accounted for a pair of touchdowns, a 21-yard pass to Tyler Di Vencenzo with 4:09 left in the first quarter and a 41-yard touchdown run two minutes later to give the Knights a 14-7 lead.
If Taft was intimidated, it sure didn’t show on the opening drive.
The Toreadors marched down the field, going 80 yards in 10 plays, and the 4:15 drive culminated with a 19-yard touchdown run by Antuan Goodall, who initially attempted to run up the middle but bounced the play outside and beat the Knights’ defense to the pylon for the score.
-- Sean Ceglinsky