Top-seeded Simi Valley holds off upset bid by Notre Dame in Division 3 playoff opener

There's little room for error in dealing with the arm and legs of Sherman Oaks Notre Dame's Steele Pizzella, the fastest quarterback in California.

There was an 80-yard touchdown run Friday night in which his 10.64-second 100-meter speed was electrifying. There were four touchdown passes, three to Luc Weaver.

And yet, top-seeded Simi Valley was able to pull out a 49-47 victory over the Knights in a first-round Southern Section Division 3 playoff opener because it had its own dominating offensive weapon in running back Brice Hawkins, who rushed for 202 yards and scored four touchdowns.

"It was a shootout, and they had the ball last," Notre Dame coach Evan Yabu said.

Hawkins' seven-yard run in the final minute earned Simi Valley (10-1) a first down to run out the clock and allowed the Pioneers to have another home game next week against La Habra.

Pizzella passed for 362 yards with two interceptions and ran for 173 yards in his final high school game before heading to Washington State. Simi Valley coach Jim Benkert knew all about Pizzella's talents, because he was his coach for his first two years of high school.

"Oh my gosh," Benkert said. "He's special. He was making great plays with his feet, he was making great plays with his arm."

Freshman cornerback Micah Hannah, who made an interception for Simi Valley on the Knights' opening possession, was familiar with Pizzella because his older brother, Malachi, played with Pizzella at Simi Valley.

"He's a great player," Hannah said. "He's real fast."

Two lost fumbles and an interception in the first half by Simi Valley helped Notre Dame reach halftime trailing only 28-26. There were big plays by the Knights. Weaver had a 66-yard touchdown catch on broken coverage and a 25-yard touchdown. Caden Sliwoski returned a fumble 65 yards for a touchdown. Pizzella ran 80 yards up the middle for another touchdown.

Hawkins scored three touchdowns in the first half for Simi Valley. Evan Rodriguez caught a 74-yard touchdown pass from Tagg Harrison to start the third quarter for the Pioneers, and that started a back-and-forth scoring duel. Weaver, a 6-foot-3 junior, was tough to cover. He had eight receptions for 196 yards. Sophomore Tahj Skinner had two interceptions for Notre Dame.

A decisive moment came in the fourth quarter when Jayden Graham came up with an interception in the end zone for Simi Valley after miscommunication between Pizzella and his receiver with Simi Valley ahead 42-40. Hawkins scored on a two-yard run with 4:48 left.

The victory added to a remarkable accomplishment for a Simi Valley program that has beaten four private-school powers this season in the Knights, St. Bonaventure, Bishop Diego and Oaks Christian.

Simi Valley's coaching staff is filled with prolific former head coaches. There's Richard Fong (L.A. Baptist), 82-year-old Bob Richards (Thousand Oaks) and defensive coordinator Doug Semones (Kahuku, Hawaii), who lives in Puerto Rico but left his wife and 12 rescue dogs for three months to help Benkert. There's also 88-year-old tight ends coach Ron Rescigno, a former head coach in New York.

Benkert has won six Southern Section titles at Westlake, Oaks Christian and Simi Valley, where he took over in 2018 and won the Division 6 title last season. He also was the offensive coordinator as a 25-year-old at Crespi in 1986 when the Celts, led by sophomore running back Russell White, won the Big Five Conference championship. "Give the ball to Russell," was his simple play call, and it worked.

"They believe," Benkert said of his current players.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.