Notre Dame Prep safeties ready to face fathers' alma mater in 5A quarterfinal

Brian Imwalle took out his Tucson Salpointe Catholic letterman's jacket to wear in front of his son Cameron this week just to "mess with him."

But on Friday, at his alma mater, Imwalle will be decked out in purple, cheering for his son and his Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep football team against the Lancers in the 5A quarterfinals.

"Obviously, there are a lot of memories that come back," Imwalle said. "It will be exciting to be back at the school. I haven't stepped foot on campus in more than 30 years."

It's the same for Timmy Romano, whose son Tommy plays for the Saints.

Tommy Romano, 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, a junior, is the starting free safety and Cameron Imwalle, 5-11, 180, a senior, is the strong safety on a team that feels confident it can make a run to the 5A championship.

Both of their fathers were starting safeties at Salpointe Catholic three decades ago. Timmy graduated from Salpointe in 1992. Salpointe reached the state championship game in 1991, losing to Phoenix St. Mary's.

Brian graduated in 1988, receiving a football scholarship to play at the University of Arizona. Concussions shortened Brian's college career.

Naturally, this is an emotional week in the two households as they get set to return to their old school to see their kids try to beat the Lancers, whose only two losses this season have come against Valley schools Saguaro and Pinnacle in back-to-back weeks that kept them from a third straight trip to the Open Division playoffs.

"Yeah, my wife graduated from (Salpointe), too," Timmy Romano said. "We like to say we bleed maroon and gold. But when we're watching our own kid, we're wearing purple and gold."

Both Notre Dame players grew up in Scottsdale, so they can only relate to the Salpointe connection through their dads and the stories they tell.

Tommy heard stories about Salpointe growing up.

"Honestly, it's just the same feeling every week," Tommy Romano said about facing Salpointe. "It's just another team, in my opinion. We'll prepare like we do every week."

Salpointe won a state title in 2013. Notre Dame won back-to-back crowns in 2007 and '08 under the late coach Scot Bemis. It's been since 2012 the last time the schools met on the field, with Salpointe winning the first-round playoff game 45-9.

"This is an exciting game for me and my dad, going down to his old high school," Cameron Imwalle said. "It's going to be pretty exciting."

Imwalle says his dad has shown him his old high school film growing up.

"If you had told me my freshman or sophomore year, I'd be playing Salpointe, I wouldn't believe you," Cameron said.

Romano said his dad ups the ante a little bit, regarding coming into Salpointe. Timmy Romano also played free safety in high school.

The Saints (9-2) are riding momentum, being in a one-touchdown game late against Saguaro, beating top 5A seed Horizon, and getting past Glendale Apollo last week when Gavin Smith had his greatest game, amassing 200 all-purpose yards and three TDs.

"I really feel our offense has kicked it up the last couple of weeks, and that's helped us a lot," Tommy Romano said. "If our team plays well as a whole, we have a lot of chemistry, we can win a state championship."

Coach George Prelock, who led Notre Dame to state final appearances in his first two seasons as head coach in 2017 and '18, understands the task ahead at Salpointe Catholic.

"We know it's going to be a challenge, but we'll do everything we can to prepare and give a good show," he said.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: NDP safeties Romano, Imwalle ready to face fathers' alma mater