Notre Dame battles back to down Riverside in Division II semifinals, 41-31

CROWLEY – Notre Dame is headed back to the Superdome for the 11^th time.

Lewis Cook will make his ninth trip to an LHSAA state championship game in 12 days as coach of the Pioneers, and his 11^th such journey as a head coach.

But Cook said that Friday’s ticket-punching, courtesy of a comeback 41-31 win over Riverside Academy in the Division III semifinals, was about this year’s team and not adding to his legacy.

“I’m happy for them,” Cook said. “We as coaches have had our turn to go several times, but this crew, they deserve it. That’s why I was so hungry to get there for those guys.”

Cook also remembered 364 days ago when he had to go into Notre Dame’s locker room after a loss in the semifinals, and talk to last year’s senior class.

“You have to have a couple of things ready … what you’re going to say if you win, and what you’re going to say if you lose at that point, one game away from the ‘Dome,” Cook said. “Last year, we had to go in and talk to them after a loss this same week. That’s why this one we fought hard to get.”

The top-ranked Pioneers (11-0) had to fight harder than many expected, especially after a shocked Gardiner Memorial Stadium crowd watched the fifth-seeded and visiting Rebels take an 11-point lead 45 seconds into the third quarter. That 24-13 advantage came when Riverside quarterback Jordan Loving went over the top of the Pio defense for the umpteenth time, hitting Kash Foley on a 76-yard streak up the Notre Dame sideline.

At that point, Loving has thrown for 340 yards and hit on 16-of-21 passes, and seven of those completions had gone for 30 or more yards. The Rebels (5-5) had also scored on four of six possessions and had yet to punt.

“We knew they could throw it around,” Cook said. “He (Loving) has got a great arm. That’s the kind of things you get from a fourth-year senior starter.”

From that point on, though, the Pioneer defense asserted itself. Riverside had four more possessions, and didn’t manage a first down on three of those. The other did result in a touchdown, with Loving completing seven straight passes in a 78-yard drive and capping it with a one-yard toss to Jeremiah Bigham, and that one gave the Rebels a 31-27 lead with a minute left in the third quarter.

However, Notre Dame came right back on a 65-yard march, all on the ground, to retake the lead on Waylon Bourgeois’ third touchdown run of the half. After a punt, the Pioneers again used a battering running game to set up quarterback Garrett Bergeron’s one-yard sneak for the final touchdown with 4:06 left.

That score lit the fuse for a celebration, one that exploded when Loving’s fourth-down pass from his own 25 fell incomplete with 2:38 left. Notre Dame held it the rest of the way and set itself up to face nearby rival Catholic-New Iberia in the Dec. 7 Division III championship game. CHNI rolled past Newman 49-7 in New Orleans in Friday’s other Division III semifinal.

Bergeron, who threw for 103 yards on six-of-11 completions, said there wasn’t any panic on the Notre Dame sideline when the Rebels took the two-score lead right after halftime.

“It wasn’t really nervousness,” he said. “All you can do is go back out there and take the ball and drive it. At the half, we made some adjustments and we were really able to run it.”

The Pioneers rushed for 373 yards in the game, 215 of those in the second half. Bergeron only threw three times after halftime as Bourgeois and Collin Kirsch did most of the heavy lifting with 127 and 178 yards respectively on 22 carries each. That helped overcome Loving’s 441-yard, four-TD passing effort.

“I thought we might be able to run it on them,” said Cook, “but I knew we were going to have to score every chance we got, because those guys can score and score in a hurry.”

Ironically, it was a hurry-up Notre Dame touchdown just before halftime that swung momentum in the Pios’ favor. Riverside had taken a 17-7 lead 37 seconds before halftime when Loving hit Bigham for a 42-yard score, but the Rebels’ ensuing kickoff went out of bounds.

From the 35, Cook told his offense to take a shot, and the staff sent in “Right 92 and Go,” as the play call … one where standout receiver Gentry Borill fakes a slant route and turns it into a sideline pattern. Borill’s move left the Rebel secondary behind, and Bergeron hit him in stride to allow Borill to outrun everyone on a 65-yard touchdown that cut it to 17-13 at the half.

“We knew we had that play ready,” Bergeron said. “It was just a matter of when we were going to use it.”

“That was huge for us,” Cook said. “They kinda had us back on our heels right there.”

Riverside and Loving had thrown for 294 yards in the first half, coming back after Kirsch’s 32-yard run on the game’s first series gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead. A field goal and a 17-yard scoring toss to Foley had provided 10-7 lead, and it would have been worse had Notre Dame not stopped Riverside on four running plays inside the Pio 5 one series earlier.

With Kirsch working the edges and Bourgeois pounding the middle, Notre Dame reeled off 15 first downs in the second half and scored on every possession until two kneel-downs at the horn.

“It’s really hard to put it into words, but it feels great,” Bergeron said. “I’m happy for all these guys, and I’m really happy for coach Cook. He’s a heck of a coach.

Notre Dame 41, Riverside Academy 31

RA         3              14           14           0              —             31

ND          7              6              14           14           —             41

First Quarter

ND – Collin Kirsch 32 run (John William Lamm kick)

RA – Colton Wilson 38 field goal

Second Quarter

RA – Kash Foley 17 pass from Jordan Loving (Wilson kick)

RA – Jeremiah Bigham 42 pass from Loving (Wilson kick)

ND – Gentry Borill 65 pass from Garrett Bergeron (kick failed)

Third Quarter

RA – Foley 76 pass from Loving (Wilson kick)

ND – Waylon Bourgeois 11 run (Lamm kick)

ND – Waylon Bourgeois 2 run (Lamm kick)

RA – Bigham 1 pass from Loving (Wilson kick)

Fourth Quarter

ND – Waylon Bourgeois 2 run (Lamm kick)

ND – Bergeron 1 run (Lamm kick)

TEAM STATISTICS                 RIV         ND

First Downs                        16           25

Rushing Yards                    (-7)         373

Passing Yards                     441         103

Total Yards                          434         476

Comp-Att-Int                     25-36-1 6-11-0

Punts                                    2-18.0    2-39.5

Fumbles-lost                      0-0          2-0

Penalties-yards                 5-40       9-67

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – RIV: Louis Cheneau 7-9, Jalen Banks 1-minus 3, Jordan Loving 4-minus 13. ND: Collin Kirsch 22-178 1 TD, Waylon Bourgeois 22-127 3 TD, Noah Bourgeois 6-50, Joe Ware 3-14, Garrett Bergeron 3-4 1 TD.

PASSING – RIV: Loving 25-36-1, 441 yds., 4 TD. ND: Bergeron 6-11-0, 103 yds., 1 TD.

RECEIVING – RIV: Jeremiah Bigham 6-156 2 TD, Kash Foley 5-117 2 TD, Garland Robertson 6-79, Jaylen Watkins 4-16, Cheneau 2-39, Banks 2-34. ND: Gentry Borill 2-77 1 TD, Kirsch 2-2, Zack Miller 1-16, Thomas Bellard 1-8.

Records: RA 5-5, ND 11-0. Next: ND vs. Catholic-NI in Division III championship game Dec. 7.