FOOTBALL: N.D. SHOWS OFF ITS QUICK ATTACK.Byline: ERIK BOAL Special to the Daily News Notre Dame Notre Dame IPA: [nɔtʁ dam] is French for Our Lady, referring to the Virgin Mary. In the United States of America, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks' football team isn't known for its no-huddle, hurry-up offense The hurry-up offense is an American football offensive which has several strategic applications usually categories as the "two-minute drill" and even a "no-huddle offense". , but the Knights demonstrated again Friday they can strike quickly when it matters most. Trailing by a touchdown with a little more than four minutes remaining, Notre Dame regained possession on its 15-yard line following a Canyon of Canyon Country punt. With only one timeout available, the Knights marched 85 yards in nine plays in 3:14, overcoming a holding penalty during the drive, to score a touchdown and the winning two-point conversion In American football and Canadian football, a team may try to score a two-point conversion (score two points) instead of an extra point (one point) immediately after it scores a touchdown. to defeat the host Cowboys 18-17. ``We practice our two-minute drill every week,'' said senior Shane Horton, who caught a crucial 30-yard pass on a third-and-long play with a little more than two minutes left to move the ball into Canyon territory. ``That's what won us the game.'' Following Horton's catch, Thaddeus Brown ran for five yards, and quarterback Dayne Crist temporarily stopped the clock with a 10-yard gain for a first down. Crist then threw a perfect 30-yard fade pass to Mike Stanton William Michael (Mike) Stanton (born June 2, 1967 in Houston, Texas) is a left-handed specialist relief pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds. From 1989 through 2006, Stanton has posted a 67-60 record with a 3. in the left corner of the end zone to cut the deficit to one. Notre Dame tried a similar play on its first two-point conversion attempt, but Canyon was called for pass interference In American football and Canadian football, pass interference is when a player interferes with an eligible receiver's ability to make a fair attempt to catch a forward pass. , although several players and coaches on the Cowboys' sideline argued the ball wasn't catchable. The Knights then lined up the 6-foot-5 Stanton one-on-one with undersized undersized see dwarfism, runt. Steven Wirthlin on the right side, and the receiver took advantage, breaking off his route and coming back underneath the defensive back to catch the ball for the go-ahead score. ``We knew we had the momentum the whole game, but first-game jitters jitters 'Butterflies' Psychology An episode of nervousness or anxiety that often precedes a public event; jitters is a type of performance anxiety which may affect actors in a stage production–stage fright or soloist musicians; it may respond to anxiolytics and penalties stopped us,'' Stanton said. ``We wanted to take advantage of our size (on the perimeter), and our coaches felt (those two plays) just seemed to be the right opportunities.'' Notre Dame, which won for the 36th time in 37 games, had never faced such a scenario under coach Kevin Rooney. The conversion snapped Canyon's winning streak at 12 games. ``I didn't want it to come down to a tie, so we decided to go for it,'' Rooney said. ``Every week we practice two-point plays, but it's fun to finally get to use it in a game situation.'' erik.boal@dailynews.com (818) 713-3607 |
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