GREENSBURG, Pa. – In 2018, for the first time in program history, Notre Dame College football became Mountain East Conference champions and for the first time in program history, NDC went undefeated in conference play. On Saturday, the Falcons became the first team in program history to finish a campaign undefeated in a NCAA Division II regular season, with a 41-7 victory over Seton Hill University.
On the road, in a non-conference matchup, Notre Dame had a good omen to begin the game. Two Seton Hill players collided on the opening kickoff and the ball fell free on the turf and was scooped up by
Clarence Theophile.
The Falcons' offense trotted onto the field on Seton Hill's 35-yard line. Following a five yard pass and a 10-yard offensive penalty, Notre Dame broke through with a touchdown.
Chris Brimm threw a pass over the middle, which
Zaire Mitchell hauled in, bounced off of a defender and then ran in for a 40-yard touchdown with 14:23 to go in the first.
The only other points in the first half came on an 11 play, 66-yard NDC drive, which began at the 11:03-mark in the second quarter. Brimm completed two passes to
Markus Hood for 18 yards and six yards, respectively. Three plays later, Brimm rushed for 13 yards, getting the Falcons to the Seton Hill 9-yard line. After a run by
Jaleel McLaughlin went three yards, a pass bounced off of
Conner Henry's hands. The very next play resulted in a touchdown as Brimm connected with Henry in the middle of the endzone, at the 7:02-mark in the second quarter.
"Chris (Brimm) is as steady and even-keeled kid as any player we have," said head coach
Mike Jacobs. "The wind was blowing pretty hard today so it was a tough day to throw the football, but he completed passes to six different receivers and really spread it around. I thought our offensive staff did a nice job with the game plan and the players executed. We got a big win on the road and finished off the opportunity to be 11-0 on the season."
Seton Hill nearly scored on their final drive of the first half, but the NDC defense stepped up. SHU started their drive on NDC's 31-yard line. After running four plays and getting help from a Notre Dame pass interference call, the Griffins put the ball into the hands on Cinque Sweeting, who was hit at the line of scrimmage by
Sha'haun Williams and lost the ball. The Falcons recovered with 22-seconds left in the second quarter and went into the half with a 14-0 advantage.
Seton Hill's five first half drives resulted in three punts, a turnover on downs and a fumble.
NDC received the ball to begin the third quarter, and for the sixth time this season, they scored on the opening drive of the second half. McLaughlin got the drive started with an eight yard run and then after a short
Markus Hood reception, the freshman running back got the ball again. This time, McLaughlin ran off the left side of the offensive line and beat the Griffins to the goal line for a 45-yard scamper to pay dirt.
"It was just another big hole that I got through and then ran untouched 45 yards," McLaughlin said. "I'm just blessed to have the opportunity to play behind this offensive line."
Seton Hill responded quickly to climb within two touchdowns, again. The Griffins began their drive with three consecutive passes from Chris Jones to Ardell Brown for 19, 9 and 23 yards, respectively. Michael Valentino entered the game for the first time and ran four times. Following a defensive pass interference call, Logan Wiland lined up as a fullback and took the ball two yards for the touchdown, making the score 21-7, with 10:46 to go in the third quarter.
The very next possession for NDC, resulted in a 50-yard TD run by
Vasean Davis. Davis was hit at the 15-yard line but continued moving forward and then dragged a defender into the endzone.
With under seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, Seton Hill was driving and went with two consecutive pass plays. On the second pass attempt, the ball tipped off of Travis Crummy's hands and
Ron Salters was in position to grab his first interception of the season.
"I was in man (coverage) on that play," Salters said. "After my man finished running his route, I broke off because I saw the ball floating in the air. It was great defense by
Shean Roy, the linebacker, and as soon as he (Crummy) tipped the ball in the air, I took the opportunity to grab it."
NDC's offense turned it into points, starting their drive with 4:40 left in the third quarter, the Falcons picked up four first downs, including a Brimm to Henry 25-yard pass and catch on 4th and 12. McLaughlin ran in from six yards out for the touchdown, putting Notre Dame ahead 34-7.
Vincent Ellis sacked Chris Jones on the next Seton Hill possession, which forced SHU to punt after looking at a 4th and 25. After the punt, NDC's drive was capped by another big catch by Mitchell.
He caught and ran with the ball, nearly breaking into the endzone, but was forced out of bounds at the five yard line, for an 18-yard gain. Four plays later, McLaughlin ran the ball for a touchdown which was his third rushing TD of the contest. The three scores on the ground tied his season-high, after doing the same thing against West Liberty, on September 29.
"There were a bunch of different holes today and on two of my touchdowns I went in untouched, so just give (credit) to the offensive line again, today," McLaughlin mentioned.
McLaughlin ran for 120 yards, while Davis added 77 yards on the ground. Brimm threw for 233 yards and two touchdowns. Four receivers caught, at least, four passes with Mitchell leading the way with 70 yards receiving.
"We felt like we were going to be able to run the football today," Jacobs explained. "
Vasean Davis had a couple big runs. But Jaleel is our guy. You're talking about a guy who is the rushing leader in our conference and this is a team (Seton Hill) that showed on film that we would probably be able to run the football. When you go for 251 yards on the day, it's a pretty good total for the entire group of guys."
In the final 10 minutes of the game,
Dylan Akers and
Micah Massey did most of the work for the NDC offense. Defensively, the Falcons continued to shut down the Griffins. Fittingly enough, the game was sealed by a
Tristen Carr interception in the endzone.
"I can't say enough about what our coaching staff has done," said Jacobs. "(Defensive Backs Coach)
Harlen Jacobs probably had one of the biggest challenges, just with a bunch of young guys in that room and he's really grown that group over the last two years. I'm excited about what they did. Really their (Seton Hill) wide receiver, No. 17 (Brown) was as good of a receiver as we've faced all season, from a skills standpoint, and I thought our guys did a pretty nice job today."
NDC finished the day with 484 total yards. McLaughlin ended the regular season with 17 rushing touchdowns and 1883 rushing yards. The NDC defense totaled 37 sacks and 13 interceptions.
Notre Dame finishes with an undefeated record and becomes the third program in Mountain East Conference history to do so, joining Shepherd, who did it four times, and Concord.
"It's unbelievable, it's hard to do that," Jacobs said. "You look around our conference today, there was a big upset with UVa-Wise beating Shepherd. To put it on the line for 11 weeks and to be 1-0 each week is our mantra. For our guys to finish the season 11-0 is a testament to how hard they work, how hard they prepare. I'm just really proud of this group of kids and what they've accomplished to this point."
"This means a lot," McLaughlin added. "I'm coming off of back-to-back 1-9 seasons in high school, so it means a lot to win, that's all I want to do. That's a great achievement."
"It feels real good," Salters said. "I'm proud of my boys, we stuck together and this is probably the strongest bond we've ever had on this team. I've been around this program for a long time so I'm very proud of my guys."
The Falcons will find out who they will match up with in the playoffs on NCAA.com at 5 p.m., tomorrow.
