Collins, Hornacek lead balanced Notre Dame attack

GREEN BAY – The one-two punch of Christian Collins and Charlie Hornacek helped carry the Notre Dame Academy football team to a 35-13 WIAA Level 2 home victory over Port Washington on Nov. 1.

The running back Collins rushed for three scores, while Hornacek caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Max Pierce in the lopsided victory.

Despite being the No. 1 ranked Division 3 team in the state in the latest Wisconsin Football Coaches Association Poll, the Tritons, a No. 2 seed, will have to travel to No. 1 seed Grafton on Nov. 8 in Level 3.

Grafton – a 31-21 winner over Plymouth in Level 2 – ended the season ranked No. 3 in the state polls.

“We just play who’s next on the schedule and really don’t worry about the rankings,” Notre Dame Coach Mike Rader said. “I think when you get to Level 3, it doesn’t matter as much where you play.”

After Port Washington (8-3) scored on its opening drive of the game to take a 7-0 lead, the Tritons (11-0) didn’t allow another score until late in the game when the outcome was already decided.

Collins – who rushed for 62 yards in two plays on Notre Dame’s opening possession – scored 24 seconds after the Pirates jumped ahead to make it 7-7 after Nicholas Gruesen’s extra point.

Collins added a TD run in the second quarter before Hornacek hauled in 38- and 47-yard scores to make it 28-7 at the break.

Collins added his third TD of the game early in the fourth quarter to end the Tritons’ scoring.

“We’re very happy with this win, but we want to keep moving forward,” Hornacek said. “I feel really good where the team is at. Even though we run the ball a lot, I think our passing game is a bit underrated – we can do it.”

Collins ran the ball 14 times in the same amount of offensive plays to start the game for Notre Dame.