St. Patrick puts clamps on Lions offense

St. Viator's bid for its fourth consecutive 3-0 start came up short as the Lions fell to host St. Patrick 14-0 Friday at Hanson Stadium in Chicago.

"If you don't score it is tough to win," St. Viator football coach Chris Kirkpatrick said. "I was proud of the performance of our defense. I thought it played quite well."

Four St. Viator turnovers helped drown out the Lions (2-1, 0-1) in the East Suburban Catholic Conference opener.

After an interception thwarted a first-quarter drive, the Lion defense, led by Tom Supplitt, Rory Mullen, Matt Barry and Shane Martin, came up with a defensive stop.

"We had a very good scheme," Supplitt said. "We worked hard to stop them from running the ball."

After the Lions forced a punt, they gave the ball right back as they fumbled a punt on their own 15 and St. Patrick (3-0, 1-0) recovered at the Lions' 12.

Adam Nitsche scored on the very next play to make it 7-0 with 16 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Lions had trouble getting their offense in gear, but did manage to drive to the Shamrock 22. But a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.

St. Patrick took advantage of the Lions' final turnover at midfield in the fourth quarter. Nine plays later Nitsche scored from the 2 on a fourth-and-1 play to make it 14-0 with 8:15 to play.

The Lions mounted their best drive of the night thanks to a 30-yard pass from Julian Sipiora to Richard McLoughlin.

But on fourth-and-goal at the 1, Nick Niro got stopped for no gain.

"We got handled up front offensively," Kirkpatrick said. "They are a good defensive team."

Evanston 21, Maine West 0: The first home night game in Evanston (1-2) was a success as former Driscoll coach Mike Burzawa got his first victory at the school in the Central Suburban League crossover.

Maine West dropped to 1-2.

Hinsdale S. 21, Leyden 20: Leyden fell to 1-2 overall as it lost the West Suburban Gold opener. Hinsdale South is now 1-2.