Football: Notre Dame is back home and back to practice
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The Sherman Oaks Notre Dame football team is back from Ireland and already back to practice, because the Knights have a Friday game against Woodland Hills Taft.
‘It was good to get a warm shower,’ assistant coach Joe McNab said. ‘My room didn’t have any hot water. The TV didn’t work, the heater wouldn’t go off, but it was a beautiful hotel.’
Yes, the Knights had some travel issues but they weren’t complaining too much, because they defeated Hamilton of Chandler, Ariz., 27-15, on Friday in Dublin, evening their record at 1-1. And considering that Gardena Serra defeated Long Beach Poly last week, the Knights’ close opening loss to Serra doesn’t look too bad.
‘The three days we were there were great,’ Coach Kevin Rooney said Monday morning. ‘The travel part was rough. I don’t think we’ll do it again for a while.’
The team is scheduled to practice Monday at 3 p.m. at Notre Dame. Players arrived back in town on Sunday night.
‘We definitely played better than the first game,’ Rooney said.
The offense still needs more consistency. Rooney said the Knights ran off only 12 plays in the second half against Hamilton.
Running back Khalfani Muhammad suffered a rib injury and his availability for Friday’s game against Taft is in question.
Kicker Lucas Alfonso made two field goals, and since he loves soccer, the question was whether he’d stay in Ireland.
‘We had to pull him away,’ Rooney said.
-- Eric Sondheimer