No. 1 Scottsdale Notre Dame got a scare. Welcome to the state playoffs, said Saints coach Scot Bemis.

SLIDESHOW: Friday night football action

Defending state champion Notre Dame trailed 13-7 in the third quarter before rallying to beat No. 16 seed Sahuarita 28-13 Friday night in the first round of the 4A-II playoffs at Scottsdale Community College.

“We came out flat, had some turnovers early,” Bemis said. “Good game plan on their part. We’ve got to coach a little harder and play a little harder and we will.”

Notre Dame will host No. 9 Cottonwood Mingus next week at SCC in a quarterfinal matchup.

The Saints (11-0) fell behind at the outset Friday, as Sahuarita got its running game going on the first drive.

Although Notre Dame’s Andrew Stutz quickly answered the Mustangs’ opening scoring drive, the Saints trailed 13-7 at halftime. Notre Dame was still down after Shane Wolfe threw an interception deep in Sahuarita territory in the third quarter.

However, Taylor Malenfant returned a punt 23 yards to the Sahuarita 29 to set up the go-ahead score midway through the third quarter and order was restored. Patrick Foley scored from a yard out to put Notre Dame ahead and then rumbled 49 yards for another score with 56 seconds left in the quarter.

The Saints led only 21-13 in the fourth quarter with Sahuarita driving, but they stopped the Mustangs on the Notre Dame 33 when Garrett Riggio sacked Mustang quarterback Kody Day on fourth-and-4.

“We knew they were overlooking us, we thought they were overlooking us and we had a heck of roll going and everybody just pulled it together and we were ready,” Day said.

The vaunted Saints defense that had only given up 80 points all season coming into the game, settled down to stop Sahuarita in the second half, but Mustang running back Allonte Singfield still gained 205 yards on 19 carries.

The Notre Dame attack was paced by Andrew Stutz, who had 149 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Foley added 139 yards.

The Saints secured the win after pinning Sahuarita on its own 1 with 8:15 to go after a 72-yard punt by Andrew Wilder. The ball got behind the Mustang safety and was downed by Matt O'Connor before trickling into the end zone.

Wolfe connected with Ryan Reardon on a 10-yard score with 2:17 left for the Saints’ final score.