Turnovers doom Mater Dei in IHSA Class 3A quarterfinal loss to Quincy Notre Dame

In a game that was atypical of the style the Mater Dei football team had played all season, the Knights had their playoff run short-circuited.

Ninth-seeded Quincy Notre Dame parlayed four turneovers and two pick-6 interceptions for touchdowns into 21-19 upset win over the Knights in a Class 3A quarterfinal playoff game at Breese Mater Dei on Saturday afternoon.

Notre Dame (10-3) advances to play Vandalia or Williamsville in the Class 3A semifinals next weekend,.

It was sweet revenge for the Raiders, who were beaten 43-20 by the Knights at Mater Dei during the regular season.

“We didn’t do our best (against Mater Dei) in week six and we came out and we did it tonight,” Raiders quarterback Ike Wiley said.

Notre Dame grabbed the lead in the first quarter on a 45-yard interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Zach Becker for a 7-0 with 4:56 left in the first quarter.

Mater Dei answered in the final minute of the first quartet on a 2-yard touchdown run by Nolan Foppe. The extra point was blocked by Notre Dame’s Jack Marth.

Wiley answered for the Raiders with a 2-yard keeper for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 14-6 lead going into the half.

The Raiders pushed their lead to 21-6 early in the third quarter when Mater Dei quarterback Reed Braundmeier was picked off again, thsi time by Johnny Ohnemus, who returned it 22 yards for a score, making it 21-6.

“Obviously we needed those turnovers and those were critical points in the ballgame. Any time you can score on another phase of the game that’s not on offense, it’s unbelievable,” Raiders coach Jack Cornell said.

Mater Dei scored on a Braundmeier to Tyler Jasper 13-yard TD pass and then got a big 49-yard touchdown run from Zach Napovanice to cut the lead to 21-19 with 8:30 left.

The Knights would not get any closer as penalties and another late turnover ended their superb 2019 season.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” said Mater Dei coach Jim Stiebel, whose team entered the game on a 10-game winning streak. “I hope they win it all. They played hard and forced us to make some mistakes that were out of character for us and they deserve it.”

Napovanice had 100 rushing on 14 carries and Braundmeier hit 12 of 20 passes for 173 yards and one touchdown. Ben Kassen led the defense with 13 tackles and also paced the Knights in receiving with four catches for 78 yards.

Fifth-seeded Mater Dei saw its season come to an untimely end at 10-2 overall.

This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 5:31 PM.