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St. Viator back on track after downing Deerfield

This is how you bounce back from a disheartening loss.

With a resounding, hard-hitting win.

St. Viator shook off last week's defeat at the hands of Rolling Meadows - a contest in which they held a 20 point lead early - to excel in all phases of the game in a 45-20 victory over host Deerfield.

"We're a young team," said Lions coach Brandon New, "and one of the hardest things for a young team is to learn how to win.

"I challenged the guys this week, and they responded."

The Viator defense, led by Oliver Perry who recorded a sack in the opening minutes, forced three Deerfield fumbles in the first quarter.

They recovered two of the miscues and the offense quickly turned them into first-quarter touchdowns.

"Great job by the defense," said Lions senior wide receiver Matthew Darling of the quick turnovers. "They had a big game. That set the tone and helped us out a lot."

Darling caught 7 passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Tyler Johnston completed 14 passes for 202 yards and 4 scores.

"That loss (to Meadows) was heartbreaking," said Darling. "We came back as a team today. Our offense did well and our defense was able to hold them down."

Deerfield played old-school football, pounding the ball on the ground while attempting only one pass, which fell incomplete.

"That's their style," said New. "Sometimes you'll look at the stats and you'll see that they (Deerfield) went only 3-of-4 through the air, but passed for 200 yards."

"You've got to stay disciplined against them."

Viator took a 14-point lead in the first quarter after recovering the Warriors fumbles as Johnston ran in from 3 yards out, then threw a perfect end zone fade to Ben Dickey for a 2-yard score.

The Lions opened it up to 35-7 at halftime on an 8-yard scoring strike from Johnston to Darling, a 1-yard run by Joey McIntrye, and a 50-yard pass from Johnston to Dickey.

The Lions QB connected to a wide-open Darling again in the third quarter from 18 yards away, while senior kicker Joe McCullom completed Viator's scoring with a 35-yard field goal.

Deerfield quarterback Anthony Ranallo ran for two touchdowns while running back Johnny Fisher had the Warriors other score.

"We gave one away last week," said New. "I asked them to focus on eliminating mistakes this week and they did that."

Dickey finished with 5 catches for 75 yards including the two scores, while Sal Cannella caught 3 passes for 37 yards.

"These are high school kids," added New, "so they were pretty down about they way we lost the first game. But I told them there's an entire season still to be played, and if they looked back at the end of the season and had only lost that one game, they'd probably be pretty happy.

"I think they understood."

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