It’s not often that the turning point of a football game happens with 7:35 to go in the first quarter, but that occurred in Saturday night’s 64-28 Notre Dame win over Jim Thorpe.

The loss eliminated the third-seeded Olympians from the District 11 Class 3A tournament, while the Crusaders advance to the semifinal round.

In the early minutes of the game, Thorpe had the momentum when Bryan Bowen recovered a fumbled punt return at the Crusader 34-yard line. After three straight plays netted no yards, JT quarterback Davier Calcano found Chris Strika on a deep post pattern for a 7-0 Olympian lead.

Thorpe then had a golden opportunity to go up two touchdowns against the undefeated, second-seeded Crusaders. Conner Kandy blocked a punt, setting up a first down for the Olympians at the ND 24. On the next play, though, the game’s momentum changed in favor of the Crusaders as they recovered a fumble at their own 10-yard line.

Six penalties, two fumbles, and an interception plagued Thorpe before the second quarter even began. A five-play Notre Dame drive, capped by Izzy Rodriguez’s 10 yard TD run, tied the game at seven.

The Crusaders’ Tyler Garda recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, giving his team a first down at the JT 14-yard line. Three plays later, quarterback Collin Quintano burst up the middle for a 4-yard score. Following a two-point conversion, Notre Dame had scored 15 points in less than a minute and a half.

“You can’t make mistakes against a team like Notre Dame,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Mark Rosenberger. “And, we didn’t take advantage of their mistakes early on.”

An intercepted pass gave Notre Dame the ball at the its own 46. Matt Frauen, who rushed for 225 yards in the game, carried the ball three straight times to pay dirt and his team widened their lead to 22-7 with 1:43 to go in the first quarter.

Thorpe answered quickly. On the final play of the quarter, Calcano hooked up with Strika on a 50-yard pass. Brandon Fasolino then hit the hole off left tackle for an 8-yard TD run and with 11:56 to go in the half, the Olympians had cut the margin to 22-14.

Notre Dame, however, marched from its own 16 to the JT 15 on Frauen’s cutback runs. Quintano then rifled a slant pass to Robby Spirk for a 29-14 lead at the intermission.

A 28-point third quarter put the game away for the Crusaders.

Quintano threw three touchdown passes and ran 80 yards for another score. JT’s score came on a fourth down from the ND 10-yard line when Calcano tossed the ball to Cameron Tinajero on a perfect screen pass.

Notre Dame’s scoring machine amassed 599 yards and featured several weapons. Besides Quintano and Frauen, five different receivers caught 16 passes for 289 yards and each of them scored touchdowns.

“We had wanted to slow the pace down,” said Rosenberger. “We were aggressive on defense early in the game, but they made too many big plays which made the difference.”

As the Crusaders piled up the points, Calcano did his best to try to keep the Olympians in the game. He ended up completing eight passes for a season-high 193 yards. Strika hauled in four of those throws for 150 yards.

Thorpe scored in every quarter and totaled 257 yards against the Crusader defense.

After the game, Rosenberger reflected on his team’s 6-3 season.

“We’re very proud of our players,” he said. “Since the summer, their growth continued and you could see their knowledge of the game got better and better. We have a group of outstanding young men and a great bunch of seniors who will be missed.”

PIPES AND PROCESSION ... Notre Dame, who will play North Schuylkill next week for the district championship, marched onto the field before the game led by a bag piper who played, “The Halls of Montezuma, the United States Marines’ battle hymn.

FOUR SCORE FOR THE RECORD ... Thorpe’s four touchdowns and 28 points were the most scored against Notre Dame all season. The Olympians finished the 2020 season with an average of 25 points scored in their nine games.