There will be a local connection to Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship game in Atlanta between No. 7 Notre Dame and No. 8 Ohio State.
Two players from high schools in Forsyth County are part of Notre Dame’s program seeking its first national title in football since 1988.
Sam Pendleton, a 6-4, 310-pound redshirt freshman offensive lineman for the Fighting Irish, was a four-year starter for Reagan who graduated in 2023.
Pendleton
JaDon Blair, a 6-4, 190-pound defensive back, played at Mount Tabor and has been working out with the team since mid-December when he joined the program.
Both Pendleton and Blair are early enrollees at Notre Dame–Pendleton in Jan. 2023 and Blair in Jan. 2025–after fulfilling their high school course requirements a semester early.
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Pendleton, who is No. 72, started the first seven games of the season and has played in 13 games on the offensive line and on special teams. His last game experience came in the team’s first-round win against Indiana on Dec. 20.
Mount Tabor senior safety JaDon Blair on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Blair has been traveling with the Irish to all of their games since the playoff began. He will not be playing in the game but will be on the sidelines.
Blair was recently named the Defensive Player of the Year in the Central Piedmont 4-A Conference and for the Journal’s All-Area team for the second straight season.
He announced his commitment to Notre Dame on Friday, July 5, 2024 which was his 17th birthday.
