PEMBROKE, N.C. – Over the last four games, No. 8 Notre Dame College has averaged 44 points per game and has not allowed more than 14 points since Oct. 9. On Saturday, the Falcons defeated UNC Pembroke 45-7, using 341 yards of total offense and adding three more takeaways to their season total.

UNC Pembroke received the opening kickoff and then quarterback Josh Jones led the offense down the field with an inspired drive. He completed a pass to C.J. Davis for 13 yards, ran for 13 yards and then hit Tyshawn Carter with a pass for six yards. Joseph Early ran for a first down to put the Braves on NDC's 34-yard line. After three incomplete passes, Jones found Trey Dixon on 4th and 10, for 19 yards. Three plays later, Davis caught a touchdown pass to cap the 12 play, 80-yard drive.

The wind was howling, holding steady at about 20 miles per hour for most of the game. The Braves kicked off and the ball hit a wall of wind and dropped on NDC's 35-yard line. It bounced away from the Falcons and UNC Pembroke recovered, looking to add to their 7-0 lead. However, the NDC defense stepped up and the Braves recorded just three yards on the drive. A dropped pass on fourth down gave the ball to the Notre Dame offense for the first time.

"[UNC Pembroke] is a good football team," said head coach Mickey Mental. "They came out and threw their first punch. We responded on the kickoff really well, that was a big momentum swing in the game and I think it helped us later in the game as we moved forward."

Neither team could get their offense in rhythm and the next five drives resulted in punts.

Devin Jones returned a punt 24 yards and put the Braves in great field position, again. Starting on Notre Dame's 26, with 12:16 to go in the second quarter. The Braves lost four yards and Alex Alvarado attempted a 47-yard field goal with the wind, but missed.

The Falcons gained possession with 10:39 remaining in the half and would take 7:27 off the clock. Notre Dame switched their approach and ran the ball on 12 of the 15 plays on the drive. Idris Lawrence ran for 35 yards, including a one-yard scamper to the endzone to tie the game. UNC Pembroke's John Jones was called for two 15-yard penalties (unsportsmanlike and facemask) to move NDC down the field. The Notre Dame drive lasted 15 plays, and 70 yards.

"Obviously you have to be able to throw in all climates, we try to stay to our gameplan. [The wind] did affect us a little bit with the third level football," Mental mentioned. "I thought the guys adapted to the wind and weather and came through in a big way."

UNC Pembroke tried to answer the Falcons and Virgil Lemons did his part by returning the kickoff 31 yards. The home team's offense began their drive near midfield, however, on the first play of the drive, a backward pass was dropped and scooped up by Guam Lee. He returned it 41 yards for a touchdown, which marked NDC's fifth defensive touchdown of the season. In the span of 22 seconds, Notre Dame scored 14 points.

"Anytime the defense scores, it's a huge momentum swing," Mental said. "I was really happy how all three phases came around after that first quarter."

And the Falcons did have all the momentum as they continued to dominate on both sides of the ball. UNC Pembroke had put together a respectable drive, going 22 yards down the field as Jones completed four of his five passes. On first and 10, pressure by the NDC defense forced Jones to scramble and rush his next throw, allowing Noah Harris-Lyles to make a diving interception.

Notre Dame then went 67 yards down the field, scoring in just 1:23. Lawrence had a 38-yard run on the drive and Devanaire Conliffe caught two passes for 30 yards. Brimm ran in for a six-yard touchdown.

Brimm completed 17 of his 28 passes for 186 yards and Conliffe caught a season-high nine passes for 110 yards.

The Falcons went into the halftime break leading 21-7 after not scoring a point for nearly 27 minutes to start the contest.

Notre Dame totaled 137 yards on 25 plays in the second quarter, while Pembroke was held to ten yards. And the Falcons received the second half kickoff.

Following a punt by both teams, Notre Dame's offense went back to work. A couple passes of 15 yards, or more, were caught by Conliffe. Tanner Harding was successful on a 36-yard field goal to give NDC a 24-7 lead with 7:12 on the third quarter clock.

UNC Pembroke was unable to move the ball more than five yards on their next drive and brought the punt unit out to kick the ball away from their own 13-yard line. Davis Patterson announced himself on special teams when he blocked the punt, recovered the ball and stepped into the endzone for the touchdown.

"We've been working on that all week and all year," Patterson said. "Coach [CJ Robertson] has been putting us in good positions and we just make the play."

Following another UNC Pembroke punt, Notre Dame put together a 42-yard drive, highlighted by a 31-yard completion to CJ Kiss to put six more points on the board. The Falcons led 38-7 with 1:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Not to be overlooked, the Braves' offense did not reach their own 30-yard line in the second half until the final play of the third quarter. The Falcons continued to go after the ball and blocked a second punt, early in the fourth quarter.

"We kind of started slow," Mental said. "We had a 10-hour bus ride, but we try to start faster. Thought the guys kept their composure and put a drive together on that second drive of the second quarter to get some momentum back. Kudos to our special teams unit and the two blocked kicks."

After the blocked punt, the Falcons needed just 28 yards to reach pay dirt. Lawrence ran for 18 yards, Conliffe caught a 22-yard pass and a few plays later, Lawrence equaled his career-high of two touchdowns in a game, as he scored. With 12:27 to go in the game, NDC had matched their previous week's total of 45 points.

"I think it was a mixture of us being balanced in the pass game and the run game, so we kept the defense on their heels, they didn't really know what we were going to do," said Lawrence, who ran for 118 yards. "We had a successful day in the air and on the ground."

Jeff Sampson also intercepted his first pass of his career to end the Braves' final drive of the game.

In one of the most balanced attacks of the season, the Falcons ran the ball 39 times and had 29 pass attempts. They totaled 155 rushing yards and 186 passing yards. And they moved the chains by running the ball, six times, and passing, eight times.

For the second week in a row, NDC went 4-for-4 in the red zone. The Falcons' defense allowed Pembroke to have just 89 yards after the first quarter. NDC has now outscored their opponents 90-7 over their last two games.

Notre Dame comes home for Senior Day on Nov. 13. They will face Alderson Broaddus University, with a 12 p.m. start time.