SHERMAN OAKS – The Notre Dame girls flag football team sent all of its seniors onto the field for the last defensive series in the team’s CIF-SS Division 2 first-round playoff game Tuesday.
The Knight lost the game to Murrieta Mesa, 34-6, but the end-of-game gesture was a nod to what the senior class of players accomplished for the program in two years.
“The culture that they built is so special,” Notre Dame coach Brandon Alexander said. “You know, me as a coach, this is all I can pray for. To build a chemistry like this, to build a culture that is like family.
“It was the senior class that held it all together for us and pushed us to have a winning record and to even make it into the division playoffs.”
The seniors for the Knights (14-11) included Cadi Kuntz, Claire Cowels, Daisy Vigueras, Taylor Ford, Josephine Paris, Samantha Gomez and Juliet Rusche.
“This was so much fun,” Kuntz said. “Going from not having a team to winning a league championship and meeting some of my best friends and this becoming like a family. I’m just so grateful.
Kuntz, the team’s quarterback the last two seasons, had a rushing touchdown Tuesday. She finished the year with over 3,000 yards passing, 42 passing touchdowns and ran for 10 more scores.
“Our success started with a quarterback that was really special,” Armstrong said. “It always starts with that. Cadi was a quarterback that worked to get better and that knew the game, even with as little time as she had playing it. She understands the game at a high level.”
Kuntz connected on passes with 11 different players. Sophomore Peyton Armstrong led the way with four grabs while junior Cydne Peters had three catches. Ford and Cowels, as well as juniors Shia Brotherton and Ellie Ferro, chipped in with two catches each.
“We have a really good, competitive group of receivers,” Armstrong said. “And we challenge them every day to get better and they challenge each other to get better. It was a lot of hard work but the quarterback felt comfortable spreading the ball around all year.”
The Rams (16-7) got five touchdown passes from quarterback Cass Christopherson.
Murrieta Mesa will take on Segerstrom in the second round Saturday.