Notre Dame tops St. Viator

Unfortunately for the Lions, the Dons' 'D' was just a little bit better.

Viator limited high-flying Notre Dame quarterback Eric Hennessey and the Dons' spread attack to only 8 completions in 28 attempts for 56 yards, but the Notre Dame defense intercepted Lions quarterback Julian Sipiora 3 times, the final time for a game-clinching touchdown.

St. Viator, led by a stifling effort from defensive backs Anthony Ferrazzuolo, Dan Faerber, David Alameda and Rory Mullen (interception), allowed the Dons only 163 yards of total offense.

But the Lions offense could muster only 140 yards of offense themselves.

"I guess I didn't have our offense ready to play," said St. Viator coach Chris Kirkpatrick. "Our defense played very well, but you can't win with as many turnovers as we had."

Viator (3-5, 1-5) drove the Notre Dame 1 midway through the second quarter but could only come away with a 21-yard field goal by John Sandmeir.

Notre Dame (5-3, 3-3) finally broke through with 3:56 remaining in the third quarter when Hennessey found Joe Gutierrez in the corner of the end zone on fourth down from the Viator 5 to take a 6-3 lead.

The Lions had a chance late in the game when they drove into Notre Dame territory looking for the lead, but senior linebacker Sean O'Hara picked off Sipiora and raced 62 yards to the end zone to put the game out of reach.

"I read the quarterback," said O'Hara, "and I saw his eyes peek over. I stepped in front and got the ball right in my hands."

Sipiora was 8-for-20 through the air for 113 yards, while Notre Dame running back Julian Burgos rushed 18 times for 60 yards for Notre Dame.

Tyler Tangney had the other 2 interceptions for the Dons.

"We played four quarters tonight," said O'Hara.