The St. Bonaventure Seraphs of Ventura rolled into Sherman Oaks and defeated the Notre Dame Golden Knights 35-21 to advance to the Pac-5 quarterfinals Friday night.
The Seraphs jumped out to an early lead on a 30-yard touchdown strike from junior quarterback Ricky Town to senior playmaker Bryce Dixon. The St. Bonnie defense, led by the stellar play of seniors Davonte Nunnery and Zachary Hamrick, bottled up the Notre Dame offense in the first quarter.
Marcus Chambers: 2015 RB Postgame Interview
The Seraphs went for and converted several fourth downs on the evening. The aggressive style of play extended a drive that junior speedster Marcus Chambers cashed in with a 17-yard touchdown burst to give St. Bonaventure a 14-0 lead after a quarter.
Bryce Dixon: 2014 TE Catches 2 TDS
With their offense stagnating, Notre Dame senior linebacker Tony Gutierrez stepped up with a huge interception that set the Knights up deep in Seraphs territory. Cal commit Koa Farmer capitalized on the turnover with a short touchdown run that cut the deficit to 14-7 with 7:55 left in the first half.
Davonte Nunnery: 2015 RB Postgame Interview
The Seraphs quickly responded with a long touchdown run by Chambers that extended the advantage to 21-7. Notre Dame marched down the field before halftime. After a Daniel Khan touchdown catch was negated by penalty, quarterback Grant Kraemer linked up with Farmer on an impressive touchdown catch between defenders to cut the gap to 21-14 at the half.
St. Bonaventure vs Notre Dame: Full Game Mix
After Notre Dame's opening drive of the second half fizzled out, Town led the Seraphs on a scoring drive that he capped off with a QB keeper.
Trailing 28-14, the Knights clawed back into the game with a big play on special teams. Junior Hunter Woods scooped up a blocked punt and returned it for a touchdown to cut the gap to 28-21 heading to the final quarter.
Once again, Town and the Seraphs offense had an answer in the form of a ridiculous one-handed touchdown catch by Bryce Dixon that he made look effortless. Dixon's highlight reel play gave the Seraphs a 35-21 lead they would not relinquish.
Kudos to Notre Dame, who fought to the end despite several uncharacteristic penalties and two touchdowns negated by flags.
St. Bonaventure put forth a complete team effort, sustaining balance on offense and flying to the ball on D. The offensive line opened up running lanes for Chambers consistently while Town was as cool as a cucumber under center. The Seraphs will take on Long Beach Poly next Friday with a trip to the semifinals on the line.
