Faustie Capobianco and his Notre Dame-Green Pond teammates saw North Schuylkill’s bullish fullback Cadyn McGraw coming toward them with a head of steam and only three yards between him and the potential, game-winning two-point conversion with 58 seconds left in Friday’s night Colonial-Schuylkill League showdown of two Class 3A state powers.
It was a familiar scenario with the Spartans using their size and brute force late in the game to rally past the Crusaders.
But Capobianco and Co. were the ones not to be denied this time. They gang-tackled McGraw just shy of the goal line to preserve a 21-20 victory at Lafayette’s Fisher Field.
“We’ve been playing this team so hard for so long,” Capobianco said. “We’ve given it our all and come up short so many times. Finally, it all came together. We were on the ropes for so long. That drive was like 20 minutes.
“We finally made a play.”
Trailing 21-14 with 9 minutes, 45 seconds left, North Schuylkill drove 80 yards in 20 plays, the last 26 coming on a Caden Mengel touchdown pass to Luke Miller.
The Spartans don’t have a kicker, so they have gone for two points after every touchdown this season.
Counting on the Crusaders keying on Miller, they gave it to McGraw who scored their first touchdown of the game from the same distance.
But Notre Dame-GP, one of District 11’s most prolific offensive programs, made a defensive stand when it needed one most.
“I think they wanted to get it to [Miller],” Crusaders coach Phil Stambaugh said. “He’s their guy. I couldn’t even tell who had the ball. They used that play [on the first touchdown in the first half] and it was effective.
“That was in their wheelhouse. That’s where they wanted the game to be. Our guys stepped up there and did the job and shut it down. I’m proud of their effort. As much as North Schuylkill wants to beat us, that’s how much we want to beat them. We prepared for these moments like this. I think they answered the bell in a championship environment.”
Notre Dame-GP took a 21-14 lead when Matt Bodnar hit Drew Boyd for a 26-yard TD pass. Boyd caught the pass around the 15-yard line before juking three North Schuylkill defenders to get into the end zone.
The Crusaders then had to wait nearly nine minutes of game time to make the game-winning play.
The Spartans won the three previous meetings by a total of 12 points.
How we got there
After stopping North Schuylkill’s fake punt on the game’s first series, Notre Dame-GP drove 47 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead on Jonathan Striba’s 2-yard touchdown run at the 7:54 mark of the first quarter. A 28-yard pass from Matt Bodnar to Striba on third down got the drive going.
The Spartans had a 32-yard TD run called back on their next series thanks to a holding call and was forced to punt.
After two punts by each team, North Schuylkill drove 70 yards in 11 plays to got on the board. McGraw’s 3-yard TD run with 57 seconds left in the first half was followed by a failed two-point run conversion to keep Notre Dame-GP in the lead.
The Spartans stopped the Crusaders on the next series when Seth Hubler stripped receiver Alex Clark and teammate Chase Slotcavage recovered with 33 seconds left.
North Schuylkill picked up two first downs but ran out of time.
The Crusaders scored on their first possession of the third quarter on Bodnar’s 18-yard TD pass to Aaron Gordon at the 9:58 mark for a 14-6 advantage. It came after the Spartans accepted a third-down penalty on the Crusaders following an incompletion.
North Schuylkill answered in a penalty-filled drive that Mengel finished with an 11-yard TD run and two-point pass to Miller with 4:15 left in the third. There were five flags on the series, three on Notre Dame-GP.
The Crusaders responded with a scoring drive capped by a 26-yard touchdown pass from Bodnar to Boyd, who juked several Spartans to get into the end zone with 9:47 left in the game to set up the fantastic finish.
Injuries
Notre Dame-GP lost Striba on the fourth play of the second half to an apparent ankle injury. He did not return
North Schuylkill twice was without Miller because of a leg injury, but he made it back both times. The Spartans also lost top receiver Landen Smith to an upper body injury midway through the first half. He did not return.
Game notes
Seth Hubler had two tackles for loss and a forced fumble for North Schuylkill. Miller and Nelson Berger also had tackles for loss. Berger added a sack. … Josh Scherer had two tackles for loss for Notre Dame-GP. Teammates Sammy Morici and Noah Knorp added tackles for loss.
Up next
Notre Dame-GP (3-0) plays at Saucon Valley (1-2) at 7 p.m. Friday. North Schuylkill (2-1) hosts Southern Lehigh (3-0), also next Friday at 7.
NOTRE DAME-GP 21, NORTH SCHUYLKILL 20
North Schuylkill: 0; 6; 8; 6 — 20
Notre Dame-GP: 7; 0; 7; 7 — 21
ORDER OF SCORING
First quarter
NDGP: Jonathan Striba 2 run (Clemente Cintron kick), 7:54
Second quarter
NS: Angel Ortiz 3 run (run failed), 0:57
Third quarter
NDGP: Matt Bodnar 18 pass to Aaron Gordon (Cintron kick), 9:58
NS: Caden Mengel 11 run (Mengel pass to Luke Miller), 4:15
Fourth quarter
NDGP: Bodnar 26 pass to Drew Boyd (Cintron kick), 9:47
NS: Mengel 26 pass to Miller (run failed), 0:58
TEAM STATISTICSNS; NDFirst downs; 20; 10Rushes-yards; 56-230; 12-14Passing yards; 81; 234Comp-Att-INTs; 4-10-0; 15-25-0Punts-avg.; 3-32.3; 3-40.0Fumbles-lost; 0-0; 1-1Penalties-yards; 5-45; 7-66
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushing: (North Schuylkill); Luke Miller 24-117; Caden Mengel 13-64, TD; Angel Ortiz 15-42; Landen Smith 2-1; Cayden McGraw 2-6, TD; (Notre Dame-GP) Jonathan Striba 5-20, TD; Aaron Gordon 3-0; Matt Bodnar 1-(-8); John Hull 1-4; team 2-(-2).
Passing: (North Schuylkill) Mengel 4-10-0, 81 yards, TD; (Notre Dame-GP) Bodnar 15-25-0, 234 yards, 2 TDs.
Receiving: (North Schuylkill) Smith 1-17; Xavier McNally 1-12; Julian Nelson 1-26; Miller 1-26, TD; (Notre Dame-GP) Alex Clark 1-2; Striba 4-40; Drew Boyd 3-53, TD; C.J. Diaz 3-92; Gordon 4-47, TD.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/05/notre-dame-gp-football-finally-exorcises-north-schuylkill-demons/
