Notre Dame Prep was only in peril one time Friday night as the Saints hit the road to Gilbert High.

Quarterback Jake Farrell threw a pick on the first play from scrimmage leaving Notre Dame's defense to come to the rescue with Gilbert at the Saints 17-yard line. Gilbert's opportunity to break on top was thwarted as the Tigers finished the series on NDP's 32 with a quick kick on fourth down.

From that point forward it was Farrell's night has he tossed five touchdown passes to lead Notre Dame to a 47-0 thrashing of Gilbert in a matchup of unbeatens at Tiger Stadium.

Notre Dame, last year's 5A runner-up, improved to 3-0 with its most impressive effort of its three games. Gllbert (2-1) was bidding to open a season 3-0 for the first time since 2006, but that was pretty much ended by halftime with Notre Dame holding a 26-0 lead.

"We're young, we're getting better and we're learning," Notre Dame coach  George Prelock said. "The defense stepped up the first series and played well all night. (Farrell) didn't let the start of the game shake him up. He played well."

Farrell now has thrown 12 TDs for the season. He was 12 of 22 for 237 yards and the one pick in three quarters of action.

Notre Dame broke through with the game's first points with 3:43 left in the first quarter. The Saints added a second TD 14 seconds later putting Gilbert on its heels. Farrell, a senior who put in some relief work in several games last year and performed well, tossed a 4-yard TD to Luke Roberts for a 6-0 lead. Gilbert fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Notre Dame recovered at the Tigers'18. On the first play, Farrell hooked up with standout Jake Smith for an 18-yard score to boost the margin to 12-0.

It was the only TD of the night for Smith, who has committed to the University of Texas. Smith scored 11 of the teams 12 TDs in the first two games.

"If he doesn't get the ball much, he opens up opportunities for other guys and they took advantage tonight," Prelock said.

Farrell ended up throwing his scoring passes to four different receivers - Roberts, Smith, Zach Gray (2) and Dominick Mastro. Mastro scored twice on two long plays -- an 82-yard pass late in the first quarter and a 54-yard run early in the third period.

The lead grew to 47-0 as Notre Dame scored 21 points in the third period. The last TD came on the final play of  the quarter as Grayson Fleitz pounced on a fumble by Roberts as Roberts tried to bull into the end zone. The final period was played with a running clock.

Gilbert mustered just 51 yards of offense in the first half as constant pressure on Gilbert quarterback Will Plummer resulted in a 6-of-16 effort for 53 yards in the first half. Plummer threw for 85 yards in the third quarter, but the Tigers couldn't strike paydirt.

"Not a good night," Gilbert coach Derek Zellner said, as time wound down in the third period. The only good thing for the Tigers was the lightning-fast final quarter.

Notre Dame plays at home next week taking on Apollo while Gilbert takes to the road to Goldwater.