Lake Forest blocks St. Viator in overtime
A strong effort from St. Viator fell just short Friday night against Lake Forest at Morris Field in Arlington Heights.
The Lions rallied two times against the Scouts, once late in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
But two big plays in OT by Lake Forest senior Bryan Ooms, one on each side of the ball, lifted the visiting Scouts to a 20-14 win.
Viator coach Dave Archibald applauded his team's play despite the defeat.
"I'm proud of our guys," said Archibald. "They got down twice, and they got back in it twice.
"It felt like we were playing a playoff game in Week 2."
Lake Forest opened the scoring in the second quarter on a 77-yard touchdown pass, but Viator tied the game before halftime.
A 1-yard run by quarterback Bryce Hellgeth knotted the score at 7, and the drive was helped along by a nifty 21-yard run by Elijah Black.
The Scouts took the lead back 14-7 in the third quarter when Ooms broke through the line for a 15-yard touchdown run.
But the Lions defense, helped along by big plays from Niko Weder and Casey Kmet, stalled the Scouts' offensive attack in the fourth.
Then a late 21-yard TD pass from Hellgeth to Matt Doersching sent the game into OT.
"After we scored I felt like we had momentum for sure," said Archibald.
The Lions got the ball first in overtime, but their drive stalled at the 5-yard line and Ooms blocked a Viator field goal attempt.
"I was getting close (to a block) earlier," said Ooms. "Each time they tried a field goal or extra point I was lining up on the right side, but the last time they put me on the left side. I saw a 2-foot gap and knew I'd get there."
The Scouts then got the ball and took only 2 plays to score the game winner, as quarterback Jack Mislinki rushed 9 yards to the 1, then Ooms did the rest, plunging in from the 1.
Hellgeth finished with 179 yards through the air in the contest. Doersching caught 7 passes for 74 yards, while teammate Ben Whalen had 5 catches for 51 yards.
"It was kind of a rollercoaster ride on both sides tonight," said Archibald. "We missed some plays we could have made early and I thought that changed the trajectory of the game."