The Battle of the Catholic schools.

The Notre Dame Saints and Brophy Prep Broncos squared off for the third time ever.

The success of the run-heavy teams was dependent on the play of the offensive and defensive lines. Judging by the smiles after the game, Notre Dame’s linemen did their job in the 20-7 win at Brophy’s home away from home, Central High.

"Our message at halftime was to set the tone early up front,” Notre Dame Prep head coach George Prelock said. “We knew we had to control the line of scrimmage in their (Brophy) first second half drive to turn the momentum back to us."

Mission accomplished.

Senior defensive end Ben Roberts batted some passes and had a sack. Linebacker Deacon Shea (16 tackles) and strong safety Tommy Romano (10 tackles) were some of the other players who contributed as well for Notre Dame.

"We did a great job battling adversity from the first half and not allowing points,” Roberts said. “We prepped all week on stunts to control the line of scrimmage and I believe we accomplished that tonight."

Notre Dame held a 10-7 halftime lead but shutout Brophy in the second half.

In the third quarter, Luke Liborio’s second field game of the game extended Notre Dame’s lead. The two field goal attempts were the first ones of the year for Liborio.

The fourth quarter was highlighted by Notre Dame junior quarterback Noah Trigueros showing off his legs, extending drives with scrambling passes and runs to convert third downs. Trigueros capped off the scoring with a 30-yard touchdown run with just a minute left in the game.

And senior safety Tommy Romano sealed the game on Brophy's last drive with an interception, Brophy’s third turnover of the game. The Saints were on the board first after a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter.

Heading into the second quarter, Brophy struggled to establish its offense partly because some of its inside runs and jailbreak screens were halted by the Saints.

The following possession for Notre Dame led to a touchdown from junior running back Jameson Bush, who punched in the 2-yard score to give the Saints 10-0 lead. But later in the second quarter, the "big fella," junior defensive end Trey Markham, tipped a pass and secured an interception to give the Broncos prime field position on Notre Dame’s 31.

Brophy senior RB running back David Lopez then finished the late second quarter drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. But that’s all the scoring Notre Dame would allow the rest of the way.

Notre Dame (4-1) will now shift its focus to 5A Northeast Valley Region play. Its first region game may be its biggest of the year, a matchup at undefeated Desert Mountain on Friday.

Brophy (1-4) won’t play until Oct. 14, when it travels to play highly ranked Liberty.