 | Notre Dame's three stars, Wes Horton, Dayne Crist and Anthony McDonald, could not fend off giant killer Birmingham on Thursday. RISE |
By Jon Mahoney, Special to SI.com, RISE
Birmingham (Van Nuys, Calif.) seems to be getting the hang of knocking off the nation's top teams. Two weeks after beating then-No. 7 Poly (Long Beach, Calif.), the Patriots (3-1) upset new No. 7 Notre Dame (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), 28-21, Thursday night on ESPN2.
Notre Dame (2-1) came in with plenty of hype on the strength of a roster that included quarterback Dayne Crist, linebacker Anthony McDonald and defensive end Wes Horton. While Crist played well (he completed 21-of-38 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown), the Notre Dame-bound recruit took a backseat to Birmingham running back Milton Knox.
The UCLA-bound senior ran for 136 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries. Meanwhile, the Birmingham defense led by senior linebacker Donovan Carter and senior twin defensive ends Marcus and Marquis Jackson held Notre Dame to just 88 yards in the first half.
Birmingham jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter after a 1-yard run by Knox capped a 15-play, 88-yard drive that took 5:51 off the clock. Knox later scored on a 16-yard run late in the second quarter as the Patriots took a 14-0 lead into the half.
Notre Dame finally got on the board in the third quarter when Crist found senior Jeff Dickmann for a 27-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 14-7. However, the Knights' momentum was squelched on the subsequent kickoff when junior wide receiver De'Von Flournoy, who's one of the nation's top recruits in the Class of 2009, returned it 90 yards for a score.
Knights senior running back Thaddeus Brown followed with a 6-yard touchdown run to make it 21-14, but Knox's third and final touchdown of the game late in the third effectively put the game away for the Patriots.
