Prior to the start of the season, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep coach Pat Fox said his team’s schedule would provide great challenges.

Flying colors or not, consider one of those challenges passed.

The Fighting Irish, ranked No. 3 in Division 5, took down the back-to-back defending D7 champion and top-ranked D6 team, Jackson Lumen Christi, in a 28-24 home win Friday night.

“It means everything,” Fighting Irish junior Brody Sink said. “I mean, they’re No. 1 in their division, we’re No. 3 in our division, so I mean, this really sets the tone and let’s the state know who we are.”

His team’s defensive unit was stout throughout the entire second half, and Sink was just one of multiple defenders who played a particularly big hand in erasing what was a 10-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.

After getting a stop to start the second half, a fumble giveaway by the Fighting Irish on their first drive led to short field position for the Titans, but Notre Dame Prep’s defense limited the visitors to a chip shot field goal that made it 17-7 Lumen Christi with 4:30 to go in the third.

Momentum began to swing toward the Fighting Irish beginning with their next drive. They converted a fourth-and-4 inside the red zone at the end of the third quarter with a pass from junior Sam Stowe to senior running back Billy Collins, then senior Drew Heimbuch broke into the end zone on a five-yard carry on the first play of the fourth, making it a three-point game.

Just over a minute after, Sink blocked a punt that was recovered by senior Michael Wiebelhaus, who then caught a 12-yard touchdown from Stowe to give the Irish their first lead of the night, 21-17, with 10:12 to go.

“That’s one of our main things that sets us apart,” Sink said. “We work on special teams, we drill it all week, then our goal is to get home. That’s what we did. We blocked it when it mattered. That (block) was awesome.”

Fox spoke about the play’s importance, saying, “We work really hard on trying to get our hands on punts, and our kids relieve believe in it. We’ve gotten two in two weeks now. You’ll always get them, but a lot of times, you get shanks and stuff, which is good, too, But you block a punt, your chances of winning a game, it goes up tremendously.”

Notre Dame Prep (2-0) continued to pin its ears back defensively on the following drive, highlighted by Heimbuch’s sack of Lumen Christi QB Toimmy Crowley on third-and-1 that helped force a punt. Each team traded punts once after that as well, then the Irish moved quickly down the field with a 20-yard reception by Wiebelhaus (five catches, 75 yards) and a 13-yard catch-and-run by Collins. Faced with fourth-and-short at the 5-yard line a few plays later, Heimbuch broke several tackles on his way to a score that extended the lead to 28-17 with 3:53 remaining.

At that point, the game was firmly a tale of two halves.

“We’re playing the No. 1 team in the state, 11-time state champion, and we’re just trying to be a riser,” Fox said. “And sometimes when you’re trying to be a riser, you just question yourself until you get over the hump.”

The Titans refused to be an idle hump in the closing minutes, though. They struck with several big plays, none bigger than Wes Learned’s grab at the apex of his jump and fight to win sole possession of the ball across the goal line for a 20-yard TD, then the extra point to make it 28-24 with 51 seconds remaining.

Lumen Christi proceeded to recover the onside kick through Adam Fuller and get the ball back at Notre Dame Prep’s 39-yard line, setting up a heart-stopping final stand. Crowley scrambled right to convert a fourth-and-3 with 18 ticks left, then Notre Dame Prep’s pass defense forced several incompletions, the last of which left just eight-tenths of a second on the clock, so little that the players began to prematurely celebrate the victory.

On the final play, Crowley targeted senior JJ Brown near the goal line, and the ball took a high deflection that left several defenders unaware, and it nearly landing in the arms of another Titans receiver, Wes Learned, before hitting the ground and marking the real celebration from the Fighting Irish and their fans.Notre Dame » Page 2

The time of possession firmly favored the champs in the opening half. The Titans went ahead initially on a short TD run by senior running back Josh DuMont with 1:19 left in the first quarter, then doubled that lead at the end of their longest drive of the game courtesy of a short keeper by Crowley with just 2:33 remaining in the half.

Notre Dame Prep responded with 44 seconds to go before the half when Stowe hit Collins (110 total yards) for a 39-yard TD reception.

The Irish QB had a ball deflected for a pick in the first quarter, but overall delivered a strong performance, finishing 17 of 24 for 191 yards to go with the two TD passes.

“Sam’s gonna be a good one, man,” Fox said. “He’s gonna be the best one we’ve ever had eventually. We’ve had great ones, but he’s just learning and getting better.”

The loss marked the first for Lumen Christi (1-1) since a 24-21 defeat to D3 Gaylord on Oct. 13, 2023, the only one the Titans suffered on their road to the D7 title last year.

Fox pumped the brakes when asked what kind of springboard the win might provide the Fighting Irish, who opened last week with a 49-14 win at home against Detroit Central. “Well, I don’t know, we get to play (defending D5 champ) Grand Rapids CC next week, so let’s just hope we show up and we’ve got enough guys to get through that game,” he said. “We’ve got the next No. 1 team in the state to play.”