St. Viator runs an impressive victory past Marist
St. Viator's offense started quickly, building a 20-0 lead over Marist in the first quarter.
And the Lions were able to make that nice beginning stand up, holding on to a 35-28 East Suburban Catholic Conference opener over the Red Hawks on Friday at Forest View.
Receiver Ben Dickey caught touchdown passes of 39 and 27 yards from quarterback Tyler Johnston in the first quarter to help the cause.
Later, Dickey scored on a 19-yard end around with 2:11 left in the game to give the Lions (2-1, 1-0) a 35-21 lead.
Marist (1-2, 0-1) scored with :11 left in the game.
“A lot of people know that we can throw the ball,” said Dickey. “But to keep them off balance we have to run the ball also. We did a pretty good job doing that tonight. Running is a big part of our offense.”
Behind the offensive line of Connor Phelan, Tony Valentino, Adam Kujawa, Jack Lopez, and T.J. Birmingham, the Lions rushed for 275 yards. Johnston completed 17 of 30 passes with 1 interception for 200 yards.
Dickey caught 8 passes for 99 yards and rushed twice for 53 yards.
“Our offensive line did a great job of blocking, and we had downfield blocking from Sal Cannella and Cole Kmet,” added Dickey.
“St. Viator hit us right away,” said Marist coach Pat Dunne. “They put us in a bad position to begin the game. We had opportunities in the fourth quarter but we just didn't get the job done.”
The St. Viator defense bent a few times but when the chips were on the line they came through.
Luke Fulton came up with a interception on the Lions' 5 just before halftime and returned the ball to the Red Hawks' 9. That helped preserve Viators 20-7 halftime lead.
In the fourth quarter, the Lions defense stopped the Red Hawks on their 46, forced a punt, and again at the St. Viator 41. Darling and Kmet made the key stop on running back Micah Awodiran, a bulldog sophomore running back who rushed 35 times for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns, with 4:41 left to play.
That set up Darling's run, which clinched the win.
“We were able to stop them (Marist) when we had to,” said Fulton. “The defense just came up with big plays in the fourth quarter.”
Marist pulled to 20-14 to start the second half on Awodrian's 20 yard run. Joey McIntyre countered on a 1-yard run on the Lions' next possession to build the lead back to 28-14. McIntyre rushed 16 times for 114 yards.
Marist quarterback Brandon Skalitzky connected twice with Lian Keffer on touchdown passes pf 16 and 8. Skalitzki was 21 of 38 with a interception for 167 yards.
“I'm very proud of the way the offense and defense played tonight,” said St. Viator coach Brandon New. “We knew it would be a fight. Marist is a team that just reloads each year. It was just a great game. This team believes that it's not the best player that wins the game, but the best team.
“Tonight, when we had to we came up with big plays on offense and defense. There's a lot of trust in this team.”