Notre Dame came out running Friday night and defeated visiting Arcadia 40-20 under the bright lights of Scottsdale Community College.

(More photos, click here).

The Saints took advantage of a early errors by the Titans, including a short punt, a dropped pass and shoddy defense, to jump to a 20-7 halftime lead. The Arcadia offense played better in the second half, but it could not overcome the deficit.

“We had a couple of bad breaks early, but that’s football,” said Arcadia coach Jim Ellison. “How we respond to this will define us for the rest of the season.”

The Saints took a 13-7 lead following a Titan fumble on the Arcadia 1-yard line. After Ricardo Boggs’ punt placed Arcadia at the 1, defensive lineman Connor Gallagher recovered the fumble. Luke Taffuri ran for the score.

Arcadia lost two chances to take the lead in the second quarter and allowed Notre Dame to widen the gap.

The Titans put together a 15-play drive at the beginning of the quarter and drove the ball to the Saints 7, but the offense sputtered in the red zone and turned the ball over on downs.

Notre Dame immediately drove into Arcadia territory on a 66-yard run by Jones. Arcadia safety Brendan Satran saved a touchdown on the play when he ran down Jones from behind.

The Saints scored several plays later, however, on a 14-yard run by Dex Hiland.

Arcadia squandered another scoring chance at the end of the second quarter.

With 1:21 remaining, the Titans took the ball from their own 24 to the Saints 28 with seconds to spare. After a tough dropped pass in the end zone, Poupore grabbed an interception and took it back to his own 31.

Notre Dame put the game away on the first play of the fourth quarter when quarterback Jordan Gehrke connected with Brian Canavan for a 59-yard score. Canavan slipped past the Arcadia secondary unnoticed and ended up all alone downfield. The score gave the Saints a commanding 33-7 lead.

Although the Saints ran the ball early on, Gehrke finished 6-of-10 with 175 yards and a TD.

The Arcadia offense responded to the score with a 10-play, 77-yard scoring drive of its own. Quarterback Cole Richardson found some rhythm with the Arcadia running backs and went 4-for-4 with 60 yards on the drive.

Richardson found running backs Bradley Tefft and Sosaia Maafu for 21-yard gains to put Arcadia in scoring position. The junior quarterback then ran for the score from 4 yards out.

Richardson finished the game 8-for 17 for 121 yards with two interceptions. He also ran the ball 14 times for 72 yards and a touchdown.

Arcadia suffered a scare on the drive when Tefft limped off the field with an injured knee after taking a big hit on the tail end of a 14-yard reception. There appears to be no ligament damage, said Ellison.

The Saints jumped on the board quickly in the first quarter thanks to a short punt that put Notre Dame on the Arcadia 30. Running back Korey Jones did all the work from there, running the ball four straight times for 30 yards and the score.

Jones finished with 18 rushes for 161 yards and three touchdowns.

Arcadia found its running game on its next drive and looked poised to keep pace with Notre Dame. The Titans offensive line dominated the Saints en route to an eight-play scoring drive. Running backs Ryan Fochtman and Marty Chavez reeled off nice runs before Maafu punched in the score from 8 yards out. Richardson had a 24-yard run during the drive.

The Notre Dame defense keyed out Tefft, and Maafu took advantage. The big back ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

The Saints passing game took advantage of the Arcadia secondary on several occasions in the game. After recovering an Arcadia onside kick attempt in the middle of the fourth quarter, Gehrke found Poupore for a 39-yard gain to set up a 10-yard scoring run by Jones. Gehrke found Canavan earlier in the game on a 59-yard bomb.

“We had some mistakes in the coverage,” said Ellison. “But their kids out there, and it happens. We’ll work to correct it, and we’ll get better.”

Following an interception by Saint Casey Scott and the ensuing Notre Dame punt, Arcadia put together a quick scoring drive with just under three minutes left in the game. Maafu busted through for a 43-yard gain on the second play of the drive and scored two plays later on a 12-yard run.

Arcadia kicker Ross Richardson then recovered his own onside kick when he out-jumped the Saints special teamers for the ball. Despite the shift in momentum, the big plays came too late for Arcadia, and the Titans failed to put any more points on the board.