Shot at history eludes St. Viator in tough loss to Joliet Catholic
History was within reach for St. Viator against one of the state's most storied football programs Friday night in Joliet.
But a couple of fourth-quarter loose balls on a bad snap and an onside kick just slipped away from the Lions' grasp. So did their chance to finally win for the first time in 25 tries against 13-time state champion Joliet Catholic as it held on for a 31-28 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory at Memorial Stadium.
"It was right there in our hands," said senior quarterback Julian Sipiora of John Sandmeier's perfect onside kick after Viator drove 80 yards in 1:27 with only 1 timeout to get within a field goal.
But the bounding ball eventually ended up in the hands of Joe Holy at the 37 of Joliet Catholic (3-1, 2-0) and it ran out the final 1:12.
"It's like I told the kids, I thought if we played our best we'd win," said Viator coach Chris Kirkpatrick of the matchup of state-ranked teams. "We didn't play our best and we had our chances."
One of the biggest came after an electrifying 69-yard run by Sipiora (21 carries, 159 yards; 18-for-30 passing for 206 yards). He escaped three defenders in the backfield and raced down the left sideline to cut the deficit to 24-21 with 4:54 left in the third quarter for Viator (3-1, 1-1), ranked sixth in Class 6A by The Associated Press.
The Lions' defense turned away the Hilltoppers, ranked second in 5A, two times. The second one ended with Sean Conerty reading a screen perfectly for a 9-yard loss and Jack Etchingham sacking Anthony Maddie.
"We were really able to fly to the ball," said Viator senior inside linebacker Matt Barry of allowing only a field goal on three trips inside its 31. "It was really a great game plan by coach (defensive coordinator Joe) Brinkman."
Viator drove from its 36 to a first-and-goal at the 6 but the snap sailed over Sipiora's head and Joliet Catholic fell on the loose ball at the 22 with 8:18 left.
That led to a drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Maddie (5-for-10, 93 yards) on fourth-and-5 with 2:44 left which Viator thought skipped off the ground to Josh Ferguson.
"That's not what beat us," Kirkpatrick said.
Sipiora hit 7-of-8 passes on a drive he finished with a 7-yard run with 1:16 left. But it turned out to be the Lions' last shot.
"I really felt we could have done a lot better defensively," said Joliet Catholic coach Dan Sharp. "We have to do a better job."
Viator took leads of 7-3 and 14-10 as Jake Mastrangeli (5 catches, 61 yards) tiptoed the sideline for a 24-yard touchdown and Sipiora fought for a 7-yard score after Conerty recovered a fumble at the Hilltoppers' 22.
Maddie put them ahead to stay at 17-14 with 2:21 left in the first half on a 4-yard run three plays after hitting Malin Jones for 62 yards. Jones (14 carries, 138 yards) also scored on a 66-yard run.
The Hilltoppers started the second half with an 11-play, 72-yard drive and led 24-14 when Maddie scrambled and found Alex Kolodziej in the back of the end zone from 15 yards.
The Lions continued to respond until time finally ran out.
"We had a couple of missed executions and a couple of bad plays," Sipiora said. "They drove the ball well and played hard and we couldn't come away with it."