Breathtaking road triumph for Johnston, St .Viator
Tyler Johnston can leave you breathless.
Just ask his St. Viator coaches and teammates. Just ask any opposition coach or player.
Just ask him.
Johnston, despite turnovers and miscues that might have disheartened a team emotionally or otherwise killed its chances to win, somehow picked himself up, threw 3 improbable touchdown passes and helped St. Viator register a crucial 21-14 win at Nore Dame, a win that keeps the Lions' playoff torch brightly lit.
His battle against adversity typified St. Viator's effort all evening in Niles. Johnston recovered from a pick on the opening series to toss an in-stride 87-yard bomb to Ben Dickey for a first-quarter TD. He led a second-quarter scoring drive with just 1:22 left on the clock after Notre Dame had driven 80 yards to tie the game on an eight-minute sequence that concluded with slippery Quentin Grays' 1-yard plunge. Grays punished St. Viator all night, finishing with 138 yards on 26 carries.
But Johnston had the last word against Notre Dame, doing in 1:22 what they did in 7:47. His clutch 21-yard pass to halfback Thomas Swiderski kept the drive alive before he let Sal Cannella use his 6-foot-6 frame to catch a right-corner TD pass with 6.2 seconds left before the half finished. Cannella had 6 catches, half of them coming on that drive.
Finally, Johnston rolled right out of the pocket and while scampering away from trouble, slinged a perfect strike to streaking Darreonta Jackson, who turned on the afterburners and outran the secondary to the end zone for the game's final points with 9:40 left in the third.
Otherwise, it was nailbiting and hold-your-breath time.
"He's always trying to make a play," sometimes trying too hard, according to St. Viator coach Brandon New, whose team moved to 3-2 overall to keep itself on the good side of playoff contention. The Lions are 1-1 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
Three touchdowns and three interceptions are not going to get it done though, New said. So did Johnston.
"Our offense has got to be better," starting with the quarterback, Johnston said. "Twenty-one points are not going to get it done for us. We have to score more than that.
"I can't have 3 interceptions."
Fortunately, though, his defense showed up. Despite yielding all those rushing yards to Grays, the defense stood tall, even after having to make a goal-line stand with 1:51 left, after penalties helped Notre Dame get to the 1 before another penalty drove them back. Brian Peters knocked down a pass in the end zone on fourth down to end that threat while Luke Fulton did what he did all night - keep the pressure on Notre Dame QB Tyler Tsagalis. Dickey knocked down a Hail Mary in the end zone to end the game.
"Our defense was there with its playmakers," said a grateful Johnston.
"I thought we got off the field," New said of the defensive effort, even after penalties kept them on the field. "We made a few defensive adjustments at halftime," he added, which shoed in limiting Grays to 48 yards after halftime contrasted to his 90 in the first half.
Still, New is feeling the angst with every snap.
"I'm aging by months," during the course of the game, he kidded afterward of watching Johnston be spectacular, unpredictable, and sometimes a combination of both.
"We have to correct the mistakes. We have to limit the turnovers. We have to tackle better," he emphasized.
"Despite all that, we learned how to win today," said Johnston.