St. Viator 42, St. Joseph 7
It didn't take long for St. Viator to establish a little dominance in Friday's game against St. Joseph.
The host Lions kicked off to the Chargers, who fumbled on the return only to be recovered by St. Viator's C.J. Cesario.
On the first play, Mike Landuyt ran in a 27-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 with just 16 seconds ticked off the clock.
The Lions then scored on 4 of their next 5 possessions en route to a 42-7 East Suburban Catholic Conference football victory at Forest View in Arlington Heights.
The win snaps a 3-game losing streak by the Lions (4-3, 2-3) before it got out of hand while possibly shifting the momentum in a more positive direction.
"It felt great (to get the win)," said St. Viator assistant coach Jamie Bucaro. "We worked hard. We haven't been that successful in the last few games, but they're all out there working hard and trying hard.
"This was a good game for us. Now we just get ready for Carmel (next week for St. Viator's Homecoming). Next week will be a big test for us. This should get us going."
Bucaro and his assistants had to step up after a scare on the sidelines that sent head coach Chris Kirkpatrick to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights with chest pains.
"They're doing some tests on him but he's doing OK," Bucaro said. "He had some pains in his arm and some chest pains. He's doing OK."
Landuyt was a part of the Lions' team effort and found himself in the end zone two more times in the first quarter -- on a 32-yard pass from quarterback Dan Faerber and on a 2-yard run. He rushed for 49 yards and caught 2 passes to rack up 48 more.
"It felt pretty good," Landuyt said. "Our line was really working good and our offense was firing on all cylinders for the most part. The offensive line creates big holes for me every week."
Faerber should also be grateful to the offensive line.
The junior produced a total of 209 yards in the air with 4 touchdowns -- 2 of which ended in the hands of Eric Huber (101 yards receiving). Richard McLoughlin caught a 31-yard TD pass.
It was more of the same old, same old for the Chargers, which fell to 0-7, 0-5 and stretched their winless drought to 43 games.
Down 42-0 in the third, the Chargers broke through with a 4-yard run by QB James DeSanto.
But St. Viator's defense didn't do them any favors by forcing 6 turnovers -- 4 of which led to touchdowns.