St. Viator gets must win

Marian Catholic coach Dave Mattio had the feeling it was going to be a long night, to go along with the long journey from Chicago Heights.

"We're 6-0 and they (St. Viator) needed this game for a chance to make the playoffs," Mattio said. "This could be a 'In the tank' game for us."

Mattio was right. The Lions (4-3, 2-3) snapped their three-game losing streak in blanking the Spartans, 25-0, in the East Suburban Catholic Conference game Friday night at Forest View.

"The defense was just terrific," said Viator coach Chris Kirkpatrick. "This was a big win for us. We had to change things a little bit. Marian's the type of team that just hangs around and they use breaks to beat you. We had to put pressure on them. Make them make mistakes, and then take advantage of them."

The Lions defense stopped Marian Catholic (6-1, 4-1) cold.

St. Viator's defense sparked by Anthony Pensa, Connor Ptacin, Will Tumberger, Sean Conerty, Jack Etchingham, and Matt Barry limited the Spartans to 24 rushing yards and 55 passing yards.

"We played with much more discipline," Tumberger said. "Coach Kirkpatrick said we had to go and be proactive this week, to make something happen."

"This was a game we needed," said Conerty who was in on 8 tackles and had 4 assists. "We know we need to get six wins to be in the playoffs. From my spot, I had to stop their man in motion.

"We we're able to take away their outside game. They just weren't able to get anything going."

Things went the Lions way from the get-go.

The Spartans mishandled the opening kick which went into the end zone. On third down the Lions' Conner Murphy recovered a fumble at the Marian 18.

Quarterback Julian Sipiora scored from the 15 on second down for a 6-0 lead.

St. Viator went with an onside kick following the touchdown which Jimmy Menges recovered on the 50.

"I'll take credit for calling that," Kirkpatrick said with a laugh. "I preached all week for the kids to be proactive, so I had to prove it with that call."

Viator reacted by going the 50 yards in six plays, capped by Sipiora's 16-yard run with 7:52 left in the first quarter. Sipiora (12-for-28, 212 yards) completed passes of 31 yards to Quinn Murray and 12 yards to Nick Frett.

The Spartans could get no deeper that the Lions' 41 near the end of the first quarter.

John Sandmeier booted a 26-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the half for a 15-0 lead.

Sipiora connected for a 62-yard touchdown pass to a streaking Richard McLoughlin down the right sideline midway through the third quarter for a 22-0 lead.

Sandmeier hit for a 20-yard field goal later in the fourth quarter.

"The defense was just great tonight," said Sipiora, who was playing with a slight hip pointer. "They were incredible."

Spoken like a true quarterback.