Interception. Lost fumble. A fumble that was recovered, a dropped pass and another incompletion deep in the red zone.

That is a recap of Notre Dame-Green Pond’s first three offensive possessions Saturday afternoon at Pen Argyl.

The next five possessions in the first half: Touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown. On nine snaps.

Matt Bodnar threw three touchdown passes in that stretch. Jonathan Striba ran for a score and returned a punt 38 yards for a TD and the Crusaders put the game in the mercy rule by halftime at Alumni Stadium.

Notre Dame-GP won 59-7 to improve to 7-0 and stay atop the District 11 Class 3A playoff standings.

Pen Argyl, which managed only 62 yards in the disastrous first half, slips to 5-2 and remains fourth in the 2A postseason race.

“They are trying too hard when those [mistakes] are happening,” Crusaders coach Phil Stambaugh said. “Sometimes, we have to get out of our way, and I think the guys battled back against some self-inflicted adversity and did a good job for the rest of the game.

“I think we’re overthinking some things at times and trying to do too much. We ran the ball all the way down [on our first offensive series, then it’s not like Matt [Bodnar] saw something that wasn’t there but it was the wrong check. We should have run the ball.”

Clemente Cintron’s 25-yard field goal that deflected off the left upright and fell on the other side gave Notre Dame-GP a 3-0 lead with 91 seconds left in a mistake-filled first quarter for both teams. Pen Argyl lost a fumble on its first series, nearly lost another on the next one and later lost a second loose ball. The Green Knights also had a punt blocked.

Bodnar’s first TD pass, a 31-yarder to Cody Driscoll, gave Notre Dame-GP a 10-0 cushion 70 seconds into the second quarter.

After Faustie Capobianco recovered a Green Knights fumble at the 23, the Crusaders scored two plays later on Striba’s 14-yard TD run.

After a Pen Argyl 3-and-out, Notre Dame-GP got another quick score on Striba’s 38-yard punt return TD with 7:31 left in the first half, and the rout was on.

Garrett Grants stopped Pen Argyl’s next drive with a 5-yard tackle for loss on fourth down at Notre Dame-GP’s 33.

“We hit hard, pursue to the ball and are just gritty,” Grants said. “Losing to North Schuylkill in last year’s district final really molded into our brains that we were not going to lose to a run-heavy team. We’re not going to let teams overpower us in the run game.”

Pen Argyl managed only 23 rushing yards in the first half and 70 for the game.

Two plays after Grants’ fourth-down stop, Bodnar found Alex Clark for a 56-yard TD pass at the 3:01 mark. It was Clark’s school-record 23rd career touchdown catch. A.J. Lozano (21 in 2022-23) had the previous mark. Clark also owns school track records in the sprints.

“Me and Jonathan Striba were talking about [the receiving TD record] in the halls at school,” Clark recalled. “He said, ‘I think you either broke the record or you’re one away.’ I didn’t know.

“But I’m getting close to the receiving yardage record, too.”

Clark’s only catch Saturday gave him 1,531 career receiving yards. The record is 1,950.

Bodnar won’t be breaking any school career passing marks, but his 241 yards Saturday gives him 6,001 for his career.

Grants then blocked Pen Argyl’s next punt. Two plays later, Bodnar found Eddie Youngkin for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left in the half.

Youngkin, who missed last week’s game with an injury, is settling into his new position this year as H-back after previously playing running back. It was not an easy adjustment.

“I feel like I’m really coming into my place this year,” he said. “It’s complicated. There is a lot of stuff you have to know right off the bat. You can’t think at all. If you hesitate at all, you’re going to be behind. But I became really comfortable this year.”

Pen Argyl avoided the shutout when Mason Soos hit Caiden Faust with a 27-yard touchdown pass with 3:16 left.

The Green Knights managed only 140 yards of offense and eight first down. They were hampered by four turnovers, the blocked punt and punt return for TD.

Faust had an interception and James Accatino a sack for coach Brady Mutton’s club.

Notre Dame-GP hosts Palisades (5-2) at 7 p m. Friday at Lafayette’s Fisher Field. Pen Argyl hosts Saucon Valley (4-3) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com

NOTRE DAME-GP 59, PEN ARGYL 7

Notre Dame-GP; 3; 35; 14; 7 — 59  

Pen Argyl; 0; 0; 0; 7 — 7

ORDER OF SCORING

First quarter

ND: Clemente Cintron 25 FG, 1:31

Second quarter

ND: Matt Bodnar 31 pass to Cody Driscoll (Cintron kick), 10:50

ND: Jonathan Striba 14 run (Cintron kick), 9:23

ND: Striba 38 punt return (Cintron kick), 7:31

ND: Bodnar 56 pass to Alex Clark (Cintron kick), 3:01

ND: Bodnar 15 pass to Eddie Youngkin (Cintron kick), 0:15

Third quarter

ND: Bodnar 36 pass to Striba (Mark Perrone kick), 8:14

ND: Tommy Murphy 24 pass to Driscoll (Perrone kick), 5:23

Fourth quarter

ND: Youngkin 6 run (Perrone kick), 10:30

PA: Mason Soos 27 pass to Caiden Faust (Reid Kotulka kick), 3:16

TEAM STATISTICSNDGP; PAFirst downs; 21; 8Rushes-yards; 23-191; 29-70Passing yards; 265; 70Comp-Att-INTs; 13-16-1; 11-18-1Punts-avg.; 0-0; 4-24.8Fumbles-lost; 2-1; 4-3Penalties-yards; 3-40; 2-17

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushing: (Notre Dame-GP) Aaron Gordon 2-18; Jonathan Striba 5-49, TD; Faustie Capobianco 4-32; Matt Bodnar 2-0; Jason Frederick 2-4; Tommy Murphy 4-58; Eddie Youngkin 1-6, TD; Dom Tocci 1-8; Cole Vrabel 1-4; Luca Luise 1-12; (Pen Argyl) Caiden Faust 18-42; Mason Soos 8-21; Zach Metzgar 1-5; Rocco DeCesare 1-7; Terrell Estes 1-5.

Passing: (Notre Dame-GP) Bodnar 12-15-1, 241 yards, 4 TDs; Murphy 1-1-0, 24 yards, TD; (Pen Argyl) Soos 11-18-1, 70 yards, TD.

Receiving: (Notre Dame-GP) Alex Clark 1-56, TD; Striba 2-50, TD; Drew Boyd 3-41; C.J. Diaz 2-20; Cody Driscoll 2-55, TD; Eddie Youngkin 2-32, TD; Gordon 1-11; (Pen Argyl) Anthony Beltran 1-9; Estes 6-38; Evan Johnson 1-0; Soos 1-(-4); Faust 2-27, TD.

https://www.mcall.com/2025/10/04/notre-dame-gp-overcomes-slow-start-routs-pen-argyl/