Okwo Stirs Memories for Notre Dame Staff

The coaching staff at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame had assembled before the start of spring football.

The coaches went into a room where they watched film -- a room where English was taught during school hours -- and sat down amid a bust of Shakespeare and walls that were filled with book posters. Then they popped in a tape of a real classic -- two-way star Michael Okwo of Manhattan Beach Mira Costa.

Back in March, Notre Dame coaches were watching film of the running back and linebacker, a 6-foot, 215-pound turbine that powers the Mustangs. Notre Dame had experienced his ferocity two seasons ago, when as a sophomore, Okwo carved up the Knights for 253 yards and four touchdowns in 46 carries as Mira Costa won a Southern Section Division III playoff semifinal.

“We wanted to see the things we needed to do better fundamentally against physical teams,” said Notre Dame defensive coordinator Joe McNab of that film session. “We needed to get better. They were huge and tough.”

The Knights (13-0) will find out tonight if they are tough enough to stay with Okwo and Mira Costa (13-0) in the Southern Section Division III championship at El Camino College in Torrance.

As Notre Dame tries to win its first Division III title since 1994, talk at practice this week centered on Okwo, who has received offers from UCLA, Stanford, USC and Oregon State, among others.

It will not be easy to account for Okwo on defense -- he has seven sacks, five forced fumbles and 114 tackles.

Nor will it be easy to stop him on offense -- Okwo has 2,342 yards rushing and 30 touchdowns in 235 carries, an average of 10 yards per carry.

In his 23rd season at Notre Dame, Coach Kevin Rooney has seen plenty of dominant defenders, but he hasn’t seen an inside linebacker like Okwo.

“I can’t think of anybody with his combination of speed and toughness,” Rooney said. “If you run away from him, he gets to the ball. If you run right at him, he stuffs it.”

So what does Notre Dame plan to do tonight on offense?

Quarterback Marcel Marquez, a 6-foot, 195-pound senior, might be the Knights’ most versatile quarterback in Rooney’s tenure. Dangerous with the ball on an option keeper, Marquez can also throw with power and accuracy.

Marquez will need good blocking to spring free on the outside or to scan the field in throwing situations. Linemen will have to account for Okwo before every snap. He won’t be hard to find -- he usually lines up a few feet off the ball, across from a guard or tackle -- but he’ll be hard to stop.

“A guard will come out to block him and [Okwo] will rock him backwards,” Rooney said after studying Okwo on film. “We’ll need to get guys on him and get them to stay with him.”

The Mustangs’ closest call in the playoffs was a 21-17 quarterfinal victory over Santa Fe Springs St. Paul in rainy, soggy conditions. Okwo had 177 yards rushing in 35 carries and scored the go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Most important, he came up with a game-saving tackle in the final minute, tracking down a St. Paul receiver who appeared to have a clear path to the end zone after catching a pass inside the Mira Costa 30-yard line.

“There were just a few seconds to go and our guy broke free, but Okwo somehow ran him down,” St. Paul Coach Marijon Ancich said. “He was the difference.”

The margin of error is very slim for Notre Dame.

“They’ll need to keep the football away from [Mira Costa],” Ancich said. “Work the play-action and option game efficiently. And they’ll have to figure out some way to run at [Okwo] with a double-team [blocking scheme]. He’s a nasty guy, as good as anybody we’ve seen.”