QUINCY — Senior night proved to be a special occasion for the young men who have wore the gold helmets since fifth grade.
The 11 seniors on Quincy Notre Dame’s roster helped propel the Raiders to a 27-0 shutout win over Central State 8 Conference rival Jacksonville at Advance Physical Therapy Field on Friday night.
“It was a really great night,” said QND head coach Jack Cornell. “I’m just really proud of the way we prepared and for our seniors to play that way tonight and get a statement win. I think it was just special.”
This group of seniors clinched Notre Dame’s third straight playoff berth to cap off the night.
“These seniors are the first group we’ve had fifth grade through seniors,” said Cornell. “So a lot of these guys have been playing with a gold helmet for eight years. For them to have a night like this, and to honor their commitment to win the way we did is just icing on the cake.”
After letting up a late touchdown in last week’s 47-8 win over Lanphier, the QND defense held the line this Friday to record its third shutout of the season.
“Defense was lights out,” said Cornell. “(Jacksonville has) a really good offense and a tricky scheme to defend because you don’t really know who has the ball. So you got to be very assignment-sound and disciplined with your eyes and with your technique. I thought our guys came out and did that and competed at a high level. When you do those things, you can shut out a team like Jacksonville.”
QND came up with some big plays throughout the game to keep the Crimsons off the scoreboard, forcing a turnover on downs when Jacksonville was in the end zone, recovering a fumble and Gavin Flesner getting a sack on a fourth down in the first half.
It was more of the same in the second half with the Raiders forcing another turnover on downs and some punts.
“It was good to see our guys bow their necks when they were starting to get their backs against the wall,” said Cornell. “I think that just shows what they are made of and how much they care.”
The Raiders offense was efficient, scoring once in each quarter starting with a 49-yard touchdown pass from John Venvertloh to Gavin Doellman in QND’s first possession.
Venvertloh struck for another touchdown toss in the second quarter on a nine-yard connection to Braden Smith.
Oliver Triplett scored on a four-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Venvertloh threw his third touchdown pass of the game in the fourth quarter to Jace Allensworth, a 10-yard strike.
“It was a really good balance,” said Cornell. “We got a lot of different guys touches. We got a lot of seniors that make plays on that side of the ball, so trying to get all of them into the action was important to us.”
Up next for QND (5-2) is a road game against Lincoln (1-6) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18.
“We play a Saturday game all the way up in Lincoln,” said Cornell. “We’ll try to celebrate this one tonight and get ready to play the Railsplitters.”