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player ready...The Notre Dame secondary has had plenty of positive moments this season, but the unit appears to be peaking at the right time as the Dons head into the state playoffs.
Highlighted by nine pass breakups, the Dons held St. Viator’s passing attack in check during a 21-7 win Friday night in Niles.
“I think this is definitely (the secondary’s) best performance,” said senior safety Jake Martin, a Chicago resident who had two pass breakups. “We’ve been pretty good all year, but today we really showed that we can lock down opposing teams’ receivers.”
St. Viator senior quarterback Bryce Hellgeth never got in rhythm against the Dons’ defense. He completed 16 of 35 passes for 151 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Notre Dame junior cornerback Frank Giamarusti secured the interception, his first of the year. He added three pass breakups, including one in the end zone for the Dons (7-2, 5-2 East Suburban Catholic).
The 5-foot-9 Giamarusti regularly found himself matched up against 6-4 senior receiver Ben Whalen, but the corner often won the battle.
“When the receiver goes up, you have to go for the ball, punch the ball. Even if you’re behind them, just punch the ball out,” Giamarusti said. “You have to fight until the last second because they can always drop it.”
Giamarusti, who lives in Chicago, said he has gotten better over the course of the season.
“(I’ve improved at) knowing the defense better, knowing the routes the receivers are running and just sticking with them,” he said. “Always sticking with them.”
Notre Dame’s other cornerback, senior Kevin Culen, had arguably the toughest assignment of the evening. He was asked to defend St. Viator senior receiver Matt Doersching.
Culen limited Doersching to four catches for 47 yards. Culen also had four pass breakups, one of them near the goal line on fourth-and-goal midway through the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame junior safety Ty Gavin, a two-way standout, helped in coverage during Culen’s key fourth-down play. That’s what Gavin has done for the cornerbacks all season.
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“You can trust (Gavin) on offense, defense, anything. He’s an unbelievable athlete,” Giamarusti said. “You have a lot of faith in that kid. If I were to get beat, I knew (Gavin) would be there. Or if not him, then Jake (Martin).”
Notre Dame head coach Mike Hennessey said his defensive backs have been good at times this season, but he called their most recent performance “phenomenal.” He said the success of the unit was due to preparation and instinct.
“We knew we were up against a really good quarterback and a wide-open offense, and we really had a good week of practice,” Hennessey said. “There was good communication going on back there.
“(Giamarusti) had a lot of good blocks and batting the ball. I can’t say enough about it. If you’ve practiced things, you know what you have to do in the game. I think we accomplished that goal.”
The defensive backs also starred when they lined up on offense. Gavin scored on touchdown runs of 29 and 64 yards, and Martin sealed the win with a 41-yard touchdown run with 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the contest.
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Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press