Victory by Lund Slide

After carrying the ball an exhausting 29 times for a career-high 214 yards and five touchdowns, tailback Trevin Lund of Notre Dame High, an expert snowboarder, felt as if he were breathing more than rarefied air from a mountain high Friday night.

“I was feeling it,” he said. “Our offensive line was great. I’m taking them out to dinner. That’s way better than snowboarding.”

Lund’s punishing running combined with quarterback Jonathon Brewster’s all-around play lifted Notre Dame to a 41-21 victory over previously unbeaten St. Francis in a game for first place in the Mission League.

Notre Dame (8-1, 2-0 in league play) broke open a 14-14 halftime tie with a three-touchdown scoring outburst to start the third quarter. That was enough of a cushion to survive a splendid performance by St. Francis quarterback John Sciarra, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns.

But St. Francis’ defense could not slow Notre Dame’s rushing attack. Besides Lund, Brewster gained 125 yards in eight carries, including runs of 53, 29 and 22 yards.

“We’ve had trouble stopping the run and that was obvious tonight,” Coach Bill Redell of St. Francis said. “In the second half, they kicked our butt.”

Notre Dame ran off more than nine minutes during a 15-play drive that began at the end of the third quarter. Notre Dame didn’t score, but it was able to keep the ball out of the hands of Sciarra, who threw touchdown passes of 69 and six yards to Brett Mitchell in the first half.

Meanwhile, the hyper Lund kept plowing ahead, dragging tacklers with him. He runs fearlessly, an attitude he picked up from snowboarding.

“He just ran through tacklers,” Brewster said. “It was unbelievable.”

Lund had his own unique description for his performance.

“It was sick, and that’s snowboard terminology,” he said.

Brewster also hurt St. Francis through the air, completing nine of 14 for 142 yards. Daniel Browne caught seven passes for 101 yards

Cardinal Roger Mahony was on hand to root for both teams, watching from the St. Francis sideline in the first half and switching to the Notre Dame sideline in the second.