St. Viator opens it up, downs Dunbar

A week ago, St. Viator found itself stuck in the mud offensively.

But Friday Night at Forest View, the Lions were on the fast track as they ripped visiting Dunbar 48-14.

The Lions were unstoppable in the first half, scoring everytime they had the ball while piling up 23 first downs in the half.

"We played better offensively," St. Viator coach Chris Kirkpatrick said. "We were more consistent. We ran the ball better and Julian (Sipiora) threw the ball well."

St. Viator (2-0) had its offense in gear from the opening series. The Lions took the ball and marched 58 yards on 5 plays with Pat O'Malley scoring on a 5-yard run.

Julian Sipiora scored on the next possession on a 9-yard run.

After the Lions recoverd a fumble on their own one, they marched 99 yards on 6 plays with Sipiora sneaking over from the one and the rout was on.

"We finally put some points on the board," Sipiora said. We executed well and the holes were ridiculously huge. We were clicking on all cylinders."

Sipiora threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jake Mastrangelli and 9-yard touchdown pass to Louie Cairo before leaving the game on his own with 9:35 left in the first quarter. Sipiora rushed for 118 yards on 10 carries and was 5-of-10 for 61 yards.

Derek Noel tackled the Dunbar punter for a safety, John Sandmeier converted a 35-yard field goal and Jimmy Manges scored on a 2-yard run to close out one of the highest scoring halfs in Lion history.

The defense, led by Jack Etchingham, Mike Krzoska, Sean Connerty, Matt Barry and Connor Ptacin put together its second consecutive strong performance. The Lions limited the speedy Mightymen to 129 yards of total offense in the first half while forcing 4 turnovers.

"We still need to play better," Kirkpatrick said. "We are headed into conference play next week and we have not been that successful there the past couple years."