Pioneers clip Blue Jays

The Notre Dame Pioneers had a 14-8 halftime lead and went on to grab a 20-8 win over St. Edmund in the opening game of the third-annual Joe Nagata Memorial Jamboree Friday at Bobcat Field.
After a short punt on the Blue Jays’ second possession, Notre Dame went 29 yards in just four plays to score the first points of the contest.
Mason Romero scored on a three-yard run and J.W. Lamm kicked the extra point as the Pios led 7-0 with 4:15 left in the first half.
The Blue Jays quickly responded with a three-play drive capped by a 58-yard scoring strike from Drake Brunet to William Chachere.
Cullen Brown hauled in the two-point conversion to give St. Edmund an 8-7 advantage with 3:24 remaining before intermission.
The Pios regained the lead in just two plays as Steve Zaunbrecher raced 71 yards for a touchdown.
Lamm’s kick gave Notre Dame a 14-8 margin with 2:29 left in the half.
The Jays mounted a nine-play late in the half but Brunet was sacked on fourth down to end the threat.
On the first play of the second half, Zaunbrecher broke the game open with an 80-yard touchdown run.
Lamm’s kick was blocked but the Pioneers held a 20-8 lead with 9:43 left in the game.
St. Edmund had a drive halted by a Cameron Nelson intereception and another snuffed on a fourth-down quarterback sack.
“We made too many mental mistakes on offense and defense,” St. Edmund head coach Thomas David said after the loss. “Drake stood in and did a good job. The cruical thing was we got beat up front bad on crucial fourth down plays.
“We can’t take off plays in a game and expect to win.”
After the Blue Jay defense forced a punt, the St. Edmund offense was again stopped on a fourth down at the Notre Dame 35.
“We had some bright spots on the defensive side of the ball,” David said. “I thought Peter Miller, Noah Clause and William Chachere had a good night defensively.”
The Blue Jays held Notre Dame on their final drive ona fourth-down stop and got the ball back in Pio territory with a minute left.
St. Edmund moved the ball with key catches by Cachere and Cullen Brown but the final play was a catch out of bounds in the back of the end zone as the Pios held on to a 20-8 win.
“We got down into the red zone and couldn’t covert,” David said. “We have a lot of things we need to work on.”
Brunet was 9-of-23 for 130 yards as Chachere had four catches for 99 yards.
Zaunbrecher led the Pioneers with 146 yards on just three carries.
St. Edmund opens the season at home on Friday against Class 3-A Northwest.