Brandon Hirneise of Notre Dame Prep gets past Iggy Castro of Queen Creek High School during the 4A-II quarterfinal playoff football game held Friday night at Scottsdale Community College in Scottsdale.

Lisa Olson, Tribune

Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep showed on Friday night there’s a big difference between having finesse and simply being soft.

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After getting questioned throughout the week on its ability to stop the Queen Creek running game, the Saints defense held the Bulldogs to 55 first-half yards on 24 carries. Once Queen Creek had to throw, it was playing right into Notre Dame’s hands.

The Saints put the pressure on with two early touchdowns, and consecutive interceptions within a minute of each other late in the first half put the game away as Notre Dame rolled into the 4A-II state semifinals with a 42-15 win over Queen Creek at Scottsdale Community College.

Defensive back Andy Wilder took one of the picks back 31 yards to make the score 28-0, and quarterback Sean Renfree found Brandon Hirneise in the end zone for the third time moments after the next interception for a 35-0 halftime lead.

“We always hear that we’re finesse, we’re finesse, we’re finesse,” Notre Dame coach Scot Bemis said. “We’ll spread you out offensively, but on defense we’re going to come after you. The kids bought into it and took it a little personal being called finesse and shut down a pretty good running game.”

The only suspense came in the third quarter, when Renfree went down after a hit and grabbed his knee in pain. He sat out two plays, but returned and should be available to play in two weeks against Gilbert Higley.

“I’ll go home and ice it,” Renfree said.

Bemis screamed at the referees for a late hit penalty, but it was not called.

“It’s just kind of bad when you see stuff get out of hand like that when (the referees) don’t take control of the game,” Bemis said.

Renfree said the knee was severely bruised, and it adds to a laundry list of ailments he’s dealt with this season. Renfree missed a game with a back injury earlier this season and is still dealing with a bothersome ankle.

“It’s been bad, but I’ll be fine,” Renfree said. “We get two weeks off.”

The Notre Dame offense was clicking early as Renfree threw for 230 yards and four touchdowns in the first two quarters. He finished 17-of-28 for 292 yards and the four scores in just under three quarters of work.

Hirneise had 10 catches for 194 yards and three touchdowns. All three TD receptions were for 20 yards or more.