Throw away the records when the West Haven and Notre Dame football teams meet. Friday night was no exception.
Using a late score, Notre Dame rallied to defeat the Westies 41-35 in the Soderman Bowl at Veterans Field.
With the game even at 35, Notre Dame quarterback Jackson Zelinsky hit Aiden Stankiewicz for a 32-yard touchdown. Zalinsky threw for 288 yards and four touchdowns in the contest.
In the high-scoring affair, West Haven got on the scoreboard first when Andre Rentas scored from 1-yard out with 7:14 left in the opening quarter. The Green Knights responded with 11 ticks left in the quarter to take a 7-6 lead as Zalinsky hit Austin Pieck from six yards out.
Rentas hit Justin Medina for a 33-yard scoring strike 2:09 into the second for a 14-7 advantage, but the Green Knights evened the game with 5:57 left in the first half on a 9-yard touchdown run by Damian Blount.
The game continued its fast pace in the third quarter as Zalinsky hit Robbie Oliverio from six yards out, but the Westies took a 27-21 lead to the fourth quarter after Rentas scored on a 53-yard run 1:19 later, then ran in from 56 yards with 1:27 to go in the quarter.
Bliount ran in from 26 yards out 47 seconds into the fourth for a 28-27 Notre Dame lead, before the Green Knights increased their lead to 35-27 when Zalinsky hit Tommy Candelora from 51 yards out with 7:20 to go.
When Jaden Grant ran in from nine yards out and Rentas and Jordan Berrios connected on the conversion, West Haven evened the game at 35,
Rentas ran for 147 yards in the contest.
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