Guerin Catholic hosted one of Michigan’s best teams on Friday, and came away with a hard-fought victory.
The Class 3A No. 8 Golden Eagles beat Pontiac Notre Dame 34-23, finally pulling away from the Fighting Irish with a late fourth-quarter touchdown. Notre Dame had come into the game undefeated at 5-0, so this was a quality win for Guerin Catholic.
“We did play them last year,” said Golden Eagles coach Tom Dilley. Guerin won that game 31-14.
“A lot of the scheme is similar,” said Dilley. “Some of the personnel’s different. That helped. Last year was a little more difficult. You get film, still, but it’s just hard to know and get a feel for a team until you see them in person. So a little easier this year, but still, they’re not difficult to prepare for because they’re from a different state. They’re just difficult to prepare for because they have some weapons around the field. They can use them. They can throw it, they can run it and they got some good linemen.”
The Fighting Irish got on the board first with a field goal, but that would be their only lead. Guerin Catholic’s Gus Baumgartner rushed 25 yards for a touchdown with 2:54 left in the first quarter, and Luke Etchison’s kick made it 7-3, which is where the first quarter ended.
The two teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter, with GC’s Christian Gelov running in from the three-yard line early in the period. Notre Dame made its own three-yard scoring run late in the quarter, but the Golden Eagles got the last word of the half: Gelov threw to Patrick Hagel with four seconds left, and Hagel caught it for a 15-yard touchdown. Guerin Catholic led 20-9 at halftime.
Baumgartner scored in the third quarter, running for a six-yard touchdown, and then making a two-point conversion rush to get the Golden Eagles ahead 28-9. The Fighting Irish scored two touchdowns in the third period to give Guerin some nervous moments, but Baumgartner finally put the game away with a nine-yard touchdown run late in the fourth.
Baumgartner finished the game with 174 yards on 26 carries, including the three touchdowns. Gelov threw an outstanding game, completing 14 of 17 passes for 184 yards. Bernie McGuinness was the top receiver, with six catches.
The Golden Eagles are 5-2 for the season and host another Michigan team next week, Brother Rice from Bloomfield Hills.
Guerin Catholic’s Gus Baumgartner (27) comes off the field after scoring a fourth-quarter touchdown for the Golden Eagles. The touchdown clinched a 34-23 victory over Pontiac Notre Dame on Friday. Pictured at right is Max McGreal (82). (Richie Hall)