SCIOTOVILLE — Ethan Kingrey connected with Luke Cassidy on a four-yard touchdown pass with a minute and 22 seconds left in the game on Friday night, boosting visiting Notre Dame to a 50-42 Southern Ohio Conference Division I win over East — at Jim “Snuffy” Smith Field at Allard Park in Week 10 of the high school football season.

Kingrey turned in a 14-of-28 performance with 247 yards in the air with two TDs.

“Our kids were resilient tonight,” Notre Dame head coach Buster Davis said. “We talked at the half that we needed to come out and finish better. It was a physical game and both teams battled all night. Our kids came out on top because they never gave up.”

The winning drive was in response to a 55-yard touchdown sprint by East running back Norris McKinley — tying the game at 42-42 with 4:31 left in the fourth quarter.

McKinley finished the game with 323 yards rushing and 5 TDs.

“It was a special night for him,” East coach Adam Bailey said of McKinley. “He ran well, and we blocked well. He looked really good all night. A special night. Just wish we could have won – that would have made the night perfect.”

The senior running back from East scored on runs of 38, 62, 76, 55 and three yards.

Notre Dame running back Jordan Davis, a 5-6 senior, churned out 140 yards on the ground — on 24 carries with four touchdowns.

“Both kids (McKinley and Davis) played their hearts out,” Buster Davis said. “When backs have really good games, it’s because the guys up front are doing their jobs. But definitely those two guys had great games.”

McKinley got things started with 5:56 to go in the first quarter — when he dashed around the left side on a 38-yard touchdown run to give East the 6-0 lead.

Davis countered and went in from 10 yards out at the 2:59 mark in the first quarter.

The two-point conversion pass put the Titans (7-3) ahead 8-6.

But back-to-back McKinley touchdown runs of three and 62 yards gave East (5-5) a 22-8 lead midway through the second quarter.

That’s when Davis cut into the deficit on a six-yard cutback TD run, and closed the gap to 22-14.

Kingrey then went to the air, and found Chris Piccolo in the end zone for a 25-yard TD pass to tie the game at 22-22.

But McKinley turned on the burners, and dashed 76 yards for a score to give East a 30-22 lead.

“It’s disappointing that you play a game like that and don’t come out on the winning side,” Bailey added. “I felt a couple of drives where we stalled out on penalties and the one drive with a fumble could have turned the game a little. We just came up a little short.”

The Tartans went up 36-22 with 6:59 left in the third — when quarterback Kaiden Huston fired a 45-yard TD pass to Keagan Barker.

But Notre Dame answered when Kingrey connected with Myles Phillips on a 12-yard touchdown pass in the right corner to close the gap to 36-28.

Phillips finished the game with 121 yards receiving with one TD.

Davis then scored on runs of two yards and one yard, giving the Titans a 42-36 lead.

“Just a really good high school football game,” Coach Davis said. “A lot of big plays, and some good defensive stops in the second half for us. I’m happy for the boys.”

Both the Titans and Tartans qualified for the Division VII Region 27 state playoffs —and play on Friday night in the 16-team per region opening round.

Notre Dame is the sixth-seeded squad and will host 11th-seed Beallsville, while East is the 13-seed and travels to face fourth-seeded Fairfield Christian.

The East-FCA contest takes place at Berne Union High School.

* * *

Notre Dame 8 14 6 22— 50

East 6 24 6 6—42

E — Norris McKinley, 38-yard run (run failed), 5:56, 1st (6-0 E)

ND— Jordan Davis, 10-yard run (Luke Cassidy pass from Ethan Kingrey), 2:59, 1st (8-6 ND)

E — Norris McKinley, 3-yard run (Norris McKinley run), 10:10, 2nd (14-8 E)

E — Norris McKinley, 62-yard run (Cam Justice run), 4:59, 2nd (22-8 E)

ND— Jordan Davis, 10-yard run (pass failed), 3:33, 2nd (22-14 E)

ND—Chris Piccolo, 25-yard pass from Ethan Kingrey (Luke Cassidy pass from Ethan Kingrey), 2:53, 2nd (22-22 tie)

E —Norris McKinley, 76-yard run (Cam Justice run), 1:13, 2nd (30-22 E)

E— Keagan Barker, 45-yard pass from Kaiden Huston (run failed), 6:59, 3rd (36-22 E)

ND — Myles Phillips, 12-yard pass from Ethan Kingrey (run failed), 4:36, 3rd (36-28 E)

ND— Jordan Davis, 2-yard run (Luke Cassidy run), 11:12, 4th (36-36 tie)

ND— Jordan Davis, 1-yard run (pass failed), 6:13, 4th (42-36 ND)

E —Norris McKinley, 55-yard run (run failed), 4:31, 4th (42-42 tie)

ND— Luke Cassidy, 4-yard pass from Ethan Kingrey (Luke Cassidy pass from Ethan Kingrey), 1:22, 4th (50-42 ND)

Team Statistics

ND E

First downs 19 17

Passing yards 280 59

Cmp-Att-Int. 16-30-1 2-4-1

Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2

Penalties-yards 7-60 6-45

Punts-Ave. 2-32.5 2-24.5

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Notre Dame: Jordan Davis 24-140 4TD, Luke Cassidy 4-16, Ethan Kingrey 4-4, Myles Phillips 1-4, Bryce McGraw 1-4; East: Norris McKinley 24-323 5 TD, Dylan Fitzgerald 10-71, Cam Justice 10-43, Jagger Childress 1-(-4), Kaiden Huston 1-(-7)

PASSING — Notre Dame: Ethan Kingrey 14-28-1-247 3TD, Luke Cassidy 2-2-0-33; East: Kaiden Huston 2-4-1-59 TD

RECEIVING— Notre Dame: Myles Phillips 6-121 TD, Luke Cassidy 6-88 TD, Chris Piccolo 3-62 TD, Bryce McGraw 1-9; East: Keagan Barker 1-45 TD, Cam Justice 1-14