How Notre Dame football unleashed young linebacker pairing in blowout win over Navy

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SOUTH BEND —Freshman linebacker Madden Faraimo played a season-high 29 defensive snaps in Notre Dame football’s 49-10 win over Navy, and for many of those he was paired with his friend and mentor, Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa.

“It was very fun, man,” Viliamu-Asa said Tuesday evening after practice. “I’m so proud of that dude, and playing next to him is such an honor and such a blessing. It’s cool to see.”

Faraimo, who has become a core special teamer while playing only sporadically on defense, finished with four tackles against the complex Navy triple option.

“I gave him some tips on what I saw last year, it being my first time and it being his first time this year,” Viliamu-Asa said of his fellow southern Californian. “It’s amazing to see him doing a hell of a job.”

The Faraimo stop that stood out the most to Vilamu-Asa came on a fourth-and-2 keeper for quarterback Braxton Woodson from the Navy 33 early in the second half.

“There was a fourth-down stop that (Faraimo) made a really great play and got over the top,” Viliamu-Asa said of the 6-foot-2, 235-pounder. “Had great feet to get in that position and then great violence to finish the play.”

That gave the Irish defense its first stop coming out of halftime since the N.C. State game a month earlier.

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With five tackles against the Midshipmen on just 30 defensive snaps, Viliamu-Asa’s highlight play came late in the first half. It was a pinball-style blasting of both the lead blocker — 6-foot, 199-pound fullback Alex Tecza —and Woodson for a 1-yard loss.

Faraimo was at inside linebacker on the play, with the 6-3, 230-pound Viliamu-Asa setting the edge to the left of the defense.

“As soon as I saw the slotback motion return, saw the flow go to my left to the field, there’s obviously a lot of space out there,” Viliamu-Asa said. “We talked all week and all year about just going to set a physical edge. As soon as I saw ‘46’ out there, lead blocking, I just decided to go through his face.”

The one-man demolition derby was so memorable, the sophomore broke it down for cornerback Isaiah Dunn on the team’s social media account.

“Shoutout to the Marauders and the scout team that got us right, gave us a great look,” Viliamu-Asa said during the clip. “It’s funny because we actually got this play in practice, and I did something similar. Shoutout my boy Henry Garrity.”

A walk-on tight end whose father, Pat, now serves as general manager of both the men’s and women’s basketball teams for Notre Dame, the younger Garrity goes 6-3 and 227 pounds.

If “KVA” could throw Garrity out of the way on his path to scout team quarterback Blake Hebert, the Navy duo had no chance on game night.

“For Kyng it’s about energy,” linebackers coach Max Bullough said recently. “He plays with every muscle fiber in his body.”

Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football unleashed young linebackers against Navy

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