The Notre Dame Jugglers and South Delta Sun Devils battled to secure the 2nd seed of the Western Conference. The Sun Devils pulled away in the second half for a 35-7 victory despite the Jugglers holding superstar running back Damian Dumas to his lowest yardage total all season.
Notre Dame was playing their second game of the week after they had to play on Monday due to the atmospheric river flooding their field last Saturday.
The short turnaround didn't seem to affect the Jugglers too much early on. Notre Dame started with a nice return and moved the ball into the South Delta red zone. The Jugglers wouldn't be able to finish their drive and would stall out, having nothing to show for their promising opening possession.
South Delta would take the ball on their own 15 and proceeded to move the length of the field with a good balance of run and pass. Dominic Dumas was forced to be the Sun Devil's star tonight as the Jugglers did anything they could to contain his brother Damian.
Dominic stepped up big time in this one, showing he's a true dual-threat quarterback with 154 rushing yards, as well as 134 passing yards and four total touchdowns. Dominic led his team down the field on their first drive before he capped it off himself by sneaking it in from the 1-yard line to open up the game's scoring.
A quick three-and-out from Notre Dame had the Sun Devils with the ball again. South Delta marched down the field before a trick play that saw offensive tackle Alex Fechter catch a lateral and find the endzone. The Sun Devil's sideline exploded with joy as they saw their big man cross the plain.
Notre Dame answered on a drive of their own. Some quick throws and the mobility of quarterback Caleb Parrotta had the Sun Devils defense off balance. As the first half was winding down, they were able to punch in their first score of the game.
With that score, the Jugglers cut the Sun Devils lead to 13-7 going into the half. With it being a one-score game, all the Jugglers needed was a stop to open up the half, and They'd have a chance to take the lead.
Sun Devil's return man Koen Hubbard had different ideas. He took the opening kickoff of the second half deep in his own territory. Hubbard took off down the left hash and appeared to run into a wall of Jugglers defenders. Hubbard ran through that wall, breaking three tackles along the way, and cut to the middle of the field, taking the ball all the way to the house for an 85-yard score.
After South Delta's defense got another quick stop, Dominic Dumas saw the Juggler's defense stacking the box inside to stop his brother, pulled the ball on a zone read play, and raced down the right sideline for his longest touchdown of the year, an 80-yard rush.
The Jugglers were in shock as a 13-7 South Delta lead had quickly turned into 28-7 with three possessions in the game in just nine plays. With all the momentum, the Sun Devils would add another score before playing great defense and bleeding the clock down for a 35-7 win.
Other standouts for the Sun Devils offensively included Damian with 12 carries for 78 yards, Quinn Sjoberg with two catches for 48 yards, and Holden Hunter with four catches for 40 yards of his own.
Defensively it was Gage Spargo with seven tackles and Tommy Cowan, Dominic Dumas, and Hudson Robinson with five tackles of their own.
Sun Devils Head Coach Ray Moon was glad to see other offensive weapons producing for his team.
"Today, we beat a really solid and well-coached team. They slowed our primary offensive weapon today, but we showed that we can win in different ways. This was a total team effort, especially in the second half, with special teams and defense leading the way. That is to go with a well-balanced offense that was able to spread the ball around today. It was a great way for our Seniors to go out on with their last home game in South Delta," said Moon.
The Sun Devils will look to finish their regular season strong against the Handsworth Royals next Friday.
