Wilson tosses 4 touchdown passes, leads St. Francis over St. Viator for second straight win
For both St. Francis and St. Viator, the first five weeks of this season weren't very kind to either squad as they combined to go 1-9.
A week 2 home win over Chicago Clemente by Bob McMillen's Spartans accounted for the only win between the two teams.
However, both were given a combination of rebirth and renewal in Week 5 to their respective fall campaigns as each found victory the previous weekend including the first triumph for Robbie Gould's Lions over Marian Catholic in a Saturday home matinee.
They entered their Friday night Chicago Catholic League crossover match seeking to keep that momentum going.
From the second snap forward, the visiting Spartans seized it and never relinquished control as it cruised to a dominant 52-0 win at Morris Field in Arlington Heights to nab its second straight win and move their overall mark to 3-4.
"We're very proud of what this team is doing right now," McMillen said. "It's not the start we wanted, but we're starting to get healthy. I'm just really proud of how we work each week to try and get better."
That second play from scrimmage by the Lions became the game's turning point. St. Francis defender Donovan Humphrey's interception of a Danny Traver pass at the St. Viator 38-yard line led to a touchdown when junior QB Jadon Wilson found Noah Turner for a 35-yard strike and a 7-0 lead with 9:14 left in the opening quarter.
That became the first of Wilson's four TD tosses on the night as he would go 12 of 22 for 217 yards.
He threw a pair to Alijah Valeri including a 28-yarder in the first and an 18-yarder that Valeri scooped up off a fellow teammate that closed out the first half scoring with 35 seconds left.
Valeri (four receptions, 118 yards) nabbed a third TD from reserve QB Mason Fort, a 56-yard score with 1:45 left in the third period.
Wilson also found Brady McKinney with 2:18 remaining in the first from five yards out as his night ended after just one half of play.
"It was great tonight," Wilson said. "Me and my guys put it all together. We got a big win. A good team win. With two games left in the (regular) season I just feel like we're peaking at the right time."
Freshman tailback Noah Wasielewski added a two-yard scoring jaunt in the second as he went for 102 yards on 13 carries in addition to a 28-yard catch from Wilson out of the backfield.
Meanwhile, the Spartans defense held the Lions (1-6) to just 40 yards of offense and one first down in the first 24 minutes of play.
St. Viator would get no closer than the Spartans 19-yard line after a trio of unsportsmanlike conduct calls with 5:29 left in the third before turning the ball over on downs.