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St. Viator outlasts Marian Central in overtime

St. Viator coach Dave Archibald compared his team's 2-1 start to that of a mountain climber making an attempt at reaching the summit wherein a base camp is established serving as a rest stop before making that final push.

Making a translation to his squad, a win over an undefeated, unscored upon Marian Central Catholic team could serve as a huge boost toward a return to the postseason summit it had a very distant view of a year ago.

Thanks to its ability to survive a late scoring avalanche and a pair of key defensive plays, it successfully withstood a comeback attempt from the Woodstock visitors, 28-21 in overtime at Morris Field Friday night in the CCL/ESCC Purple Division opener for both teams.

"We took another step in our climb up the mountain tonight," a relieved Archibald said. "I'm so proud of our kids for the way they were resilient, and how we came through at some critical times on offense and defense."

St. Viator (3-1, 1-0) became the first team to get on the scoreboard against Marian when it completed a 10-play, 58-yard drive that senior signalcaller Jack Mahoney took in from the 8 at 10 seconds past the midway point of the first quarter, giving it a 7-0 advantage.

His second touchdown run (6 yards) with only a tick to spare in the first gave the Lions a 14-0 lead.

Marian Central sliced the deficit to 14-7 on sophomore quarterback Brendan Hernon's 2-yard keeper with 4:10 remaining in the first half. It wrapped up a 12-play, 58-yard drive that took 4:17 off the clock.

A pair of fumbles set up touchdowns for each squad in the second half when a Daniel Niesman recovery of muffed exchange put the Lions in business at the Marian Central 22. The tandem of Mahoney (182 combined yards passing and rushing) and Owen Hickey found pay dirt on a 9- yard pass that gave the Lions a 21-7 lead with 4:38 left in the third.

Marian Central's Ryan Conlon recovered a Viator miscue early in the fourth to jump-start the Hurricanes' comeback. Hernon's second quarterback keeper from a yard out had them within 7 points (21-14) with 7:31 left in regulation.

After getting a key stop on Viator's next series at their 36, the Hurricanes completed a 7-play, 64-yard march to the game-tying score as Hernon (9 of 19, 115 yards) found Joe Cimino in the end zone from 3 yards out with 54 seconds left to force extended play. He had twice connected with Owen Stanko for 56 of those yards to get Marian Central (3-1, 0-1) in scoring position.

A pair of Mahoney runs set up junior running back Lucas Barisas' game-winning 2-yard run in the Lions' overtime series. Barisas ran 13 times for 87 yards in the game.

Then, the Viator defense overcame a 5-yard offsides penalty by surrounding it with a pair of defensive plays to preserve the win as Niesman sacked Hernon for a 5- yard loss, and Hickey brought Austin Geils down at the 5 on a fourth-and-goal at the Lions' 6, a play he credited to instinct.

"I saw the ball and the layered routes and I made the play," Hickey said. "It comes natural."

In the meantime, Mahoney begins to look ahead to three straight road games after beginning the year with 4 home games. The road trip starts Friday night in Lombard against Montini.

"Our goal was to go 4-0, but coming out of this 3-1 we know our schedule only ramps up from here and we'll flip the page tomorrow (Saturday) morning," he said.

Images: St. Viator vs. Marian Central football

  St. Viator's PJ Scales carries in the first quarter for yardage in the varsity football matchup against Marian Central at Robert Morris College in Arlington Heights on Friday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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