RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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There are two undisputable facts every time the Green Bay Notre Dame football team plays a game.
The Tritons have Kingston Allen , and the other team doesn’t.
Notre Dame beat Kaukauna 35-28 on Aug. 28 in a showdown between two of the top Division 2 squads in the state, extending its regular-season winning streak to 27.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Allen scored all five of the Tritons’ touchdowns, including a spectacular game-winning run late in the fourth quarter.
Allen took a snap out of the wildcat formation, went to his right, broke a tackle and then raced down the sideline and past the rest of Kaukauna’s defense for a 73-yard score with 4 minutes, 13 seconds remaining.
The Ghosts had a final opportunity to tie the game or go for a two-point conversion and a potential win. But Notre Dame senior linebacker Jonas Berndt ended their hopes with an interception on a fourth-down play that started deep in Kaukauna territory with 3:13 left.
Notre Dame gave the ball to Allen to run out the clock, which is exactly what the University of Wisconsin commit did.
A week after rushing for 458 yards and seven TDs in a thrilling overtime win at Neenah, Notre Dame's initial review of his numbers against the Ghosts came in at 46 carries for 453 yards.
Combine his talents with a standout offensive line, and it can make for a long night for a defense.
“It’s all the guys up front,” Allen said. “They opened the holes perfectly for me on that last one. All I had to do was run through them. Thankfully, that put us up ahead one score, and we got the win.”
Green Bay Notre Dame still has much to improve
The Tritons survived the first two weeks despite playing bigger schools with larger rosters.
Notre Dame has an enrollment of 729 students. Neenah’s enrollment is 2,022 and Kaukauna's is 1,206.
The Tritons are a D3 team that has proven it can play above its weight, but they also had some good fortune on their side against the Ghosts.
Notre Dame led 28-21 at halftime, and it somehow figured out a way to win despite a mostly disastrous final 24 minutes.
The Tritons' first drive of the second half ended with a fumble. Their second drive ended the same way.
Their third drive ended with yet another fumble, which occurred right as standout tight end and Iowa State commit Joey Massey was about to score. The ball came free right at the goal line and went out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.
The fourth drive of the half? Yes, it ended with a fumble. This one was by Allen, although he clearly made up for it on the next drive with his long TD run.
There were too many turnovers and a few too many penalties that negated big plays for the Tritons.
There was a reason Notre Dame coach Michael Rader wanted his players to celebrate the win, but at the same time let it sting a little bit.
He told them they had to play better than what they did on both sides of the ball. He told them he’d love to call a few more pass attempts, but they must secure the ball better in order for him to be able to do it.
Still, he must love that his squad found a way to pull out another victory, right?
“I think I will be more happy tomorrow when it settles in on kind of where we are at right now,” said Rader, who led his team to the D3 state title in 2024 and a D2 state runner-up finish in 2025. “This game just didn’t feel clean. As much as you want to win the game and it’s awesome and it’s a lot of fun, you want to do it the right way.
“The first half, we were in pretty good shape on offense. They challenged us on defense a little bit, and it was nice to have our defense step up at the end of the game and then have Kingston break that last one.”
Rader was right about that Notre Dame defense, which came up big.
The Ghosts scored three TDs in the final 13 minutes of the first half but were held to just one TD on six possessions in the second half despite the four straight turnovers by the Tritons.
Punt. Punt. TD. Punt. Punt. Interception.
“Our defense stepped up when they had to,” Rader said. “After the first half, it was really good for them to be able to do that. But that is definitely something we have to clean up.”
Green Bay Notre Dame prepares for conference
There won’t be many weeks the rest of the regular season in which the Tritons will be challenged the way they have been the first two games.
Notre Dame kicks off Fox River Classic Conference-South play by hosting Manitowoc in Week 3. It follows with games against Green Bay East and Sheboygan South.
It’s unfathomable to think any of those teams will beat the Tritons, but they still must figure out a way to get better even if the competition isn’t.
“We need to play clean, pick a word,” Rader said. “Whatever your job is, do your job and do it over and over again. Don’t be accepting of anything different than whatever the results are supposed to be.”
Even the best running back in the state isn’t content. There is a different level for everyone to reach by the time the playoffs roll around.
Making a third straight state title game in November begins with what they do now.
“We definitely have some improvements to make,” Allen said. “Tonight and last Friday were not clean games, offensively and defensively.
“We just have a ton of stuff to improve. We will get there eventually when we get to the playoffs, but right now, we are a shadow of what we could be.”
Week 2 scores (Aug. 28 games)
Green Bay Notre Dame 35, Kaukauna 28
Appleton East 17, Green Bay Preble 14
Ashwaubenon 42, Manitowoc 0
Green Bay Southwest 21, Green Bay East 12
Pulaski 21, Hortonville 16
Kewaunee 17, Luxemburg-Casco 6
Wrightstown 28, Lodi 21
Seymour 21, Oconto Falls 13
Shawano 16, Lakeland 15
Shiocton 34, Southern Door 13
Menominee 60, Marinette 6
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay Notre Dame football wins another thriller, edges Kaukauna
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