How can you stop a team on a roll?

That was the question on Notre Dame football’s mind when it hosted Cecilia in a Week 5 non-district matchup. The Bulldogs offense, which went scoreless last week, had much more success as it scored touchdown after touchdown in front of hundreds of fans at Gardner Memorial Stadium.

“We were playing one of the best teams in the state, and it’s no accident that Cecilia played for the state championship last year,” Notre Dame football head coach Lewis Cook said. “They returned a lot of those good players and Diesel is out there on one leg throwing touchdown passes. The guy’s a warrior.”

With senior quarterback Diesel Solari leading the charge, Cecilia snagged its third win of the season by securing a 50-46 in over the Pios.

Going for the home run

The Bulldogs are known for their lethal offensive approach with Solari at the helm. The 5-foot-7, 175-pounder didn’t hesitate to launch the ball and kicked off the game with a 65-yard pass to senior Ellis Stewart. Solari followed that up with his first touchdown of the game, an eight-yard dime to Stewart.

The home-run pass would become a theme for the rest of the night as the Pios' secondary could not keep up with Cecilia’s speedy wide receivers. Stewart finished the night with two touchdown catches and around 167 yards on six catches. Solari spread the wealth to senior Brent Gordon Jr. and sophomore Braylon Calais, connecting for touchdowns with each.

“I threw for five touchdowns for the first time in my career and it feels good but there’s more to come,” Solari said. “I just be launching the ball, but it’s the chemistry me and my wide receivers have that make it happen. I feel like they’re going to go get it, and I know they’re going to go get it.”

Aside from Stewart, Solari’s next go-to target was Calais who made explosive plays all night long. The 6-foot-2 sophomore caught for a 44-yard touchdown to cap off six catches with around 80 yards. On the ground, he was even more dangerous. He ended the night leading the Bulldogs with 119 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

“We got a lot of tough kids on this team,” Cecilia football head coach Dennis Skains said. “Braylon he’s gonna be a big one for us. I think he's our next guy, but he put the ball on the ground twice tonight so we're gonna have to fix some things with that. We have kind of been waiting for him to break out a little bit he did that tonight so we're proud of him.”

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Notre Dame won’t go without a fight

While the Bulldogs went for home runs on most of their play calls, the Pios kept it on the ground and picked up solid yardage to move down the field. In the first half, the ground and pound was successful with senior quarterback Parker Faust leading them.

The 5-foo-9 slinger wasn’t hesitant to take it himself, ending the game with four rushing touchdowns — including the Pios final score in the final seconds of the game. He played a key role in helping his team, which trailed by two points heading into the halftime.

The third quarter was the difference-maker as the Bulldogs went off for three touchdowns and the Pios went scoreless.

“If you want to know what went wrong, it's not taking advantage of the offensive situation,” Cook said. “Several possessions that we had. I mean, we down there inside the five, and snap the ball over our heads. You get one there, and a couple of big plays that, you know, we couldn't get the guy on the ground.”

Third-quarter blues had Notre Dame trailing by 16 points heading into the fourth quarter. With Faust, and its home crowd still locked in, the Pios never stopped fighting. Faust ended the night with a total of five touchdowns, connecting with junior ATH Drew Lejeune for a 49-yard touchdown for his one passing touchdown.

Senior running back Jackson Casanova also went into the endzone in the fourth quarter for the Pios, finishing the game with around 50 rushing yards and a 3-yard score. In the end, the Pios' comeback was too little too late and they go to 2-3 on the season.

Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Cecilia football survives a shootout vs. Notre Dame in Week 5