8 touchdowns for Allen, Tritons run wild in 77-32 playoff battle

On Friday, October 24, the Notre Dame Academy Tritons made a powerful statement in their first playoff game, defeating the Greenfield Hawks 77-32. 

The Tritons built an early lead and simply couldn’t be stopped, led by junior running back Kingston Allen, who crossed the goal line eight times.

Greenfield struck first with a touchdown just over eight minutes into the first quarter, but Notre Dame answered quickly. 

Allen took control in the first quarter with a solo run into the end zone, then punched in another score before the quarter ended to put the Tritons ahead.

The teams traded scores in the second quarter– Greenfield narrowing the gap at times– but Notre Dame’s offense kept producing. 

Allen ran in short touchdowns midway through the half, and before long the Tritons were pulling away. 

After an explosive sequence late in the second, Allen broke off an 87-yard run with six seconds left in the half, giving Notre Dame a 49-26 halftime lead.

The Tritons didn’t let up after the break.

 Allen scored again just 10 seconds into the second half, and added multiple touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters. 

By the time the clock reached zero, the scoreboard read 77–32, and the Tritons advanced to the next round.

Head coach Mike Rader reflected on both the offensive explosion and the areas the team still needs to sharpen. “When our offense gets clicking, we’re a pretty good offense out there. Our defense gave up a few plays, we played well, but we gave up a few too many plays. We gotta clean that up if we are going to keep advancing,” Rader said.

Rader also emphasized that the team’s approach doesn’t change regardless of the stage or opponent. “Part of our process is we keep every week the same. Every week you go in and you prepare at hand and you play the game,” he said.

Running back Kingston Allen credited his teammates and the team’s focus for the dominant performance. “(I am most proud of) the o-line. And how our defense didn’t back down the whole game. We let up some plays on D but we kept rolling on O and we got the dub tonight,” Allen said.

He described his resilient mindset throughout the night. 

“On the sideline I kept saying, gotta do it again, gotta do it again. We would get scored on on D and we just gotta go back out there, bounce back and get another touchdown, and we just kept racking them up and racking them up and that’s what got us the win tonight.”

Allen added, “We had some seniors in the locker room, we were all dead silent listening to music, all had our headphones on, locked in before the game. A little bit of a different dynamic before this game, but we came out here and handled business just like we do every week.”

Notre Dame now advances in the playoffs after a night of explosive offense and contagious energy.