St. Viator suffers tough loss; Pittman explodes for 5 TDs for Maine West
A tough last-minute loss after a long trip to Gately Stadium in Friday night rush hour traffic made it a rough night for St. Viator's football team on Friday.
The Lions had nearly a two-hour bus ride to the historic stadium at 103rd and Cottage Grove to play Chicago Public League power Morgan Park. The Mustangs tallied the winning touchdown with 1:29 to play to beat St. Viator 30-22.
"It was cool to be there and good to see the place," St. Viator coach Dave Archibald said. "Morgan Park's speed was as advertised. We have a had a couple of hard games to start the season and our young team has been really tested. But we are growing up and we will get better."
Morgan Park took an early 8-0 lead.
Viator quarterback Charlie Dolson, who took over last week from Alex Konopka (season-ending knee injury), stepped up for the Lions (0-2). Dolson, who is a sophomore, connected with Michael Nix for a 28-yard touchdown pass. Dolson then threw to Nicky Pastore for the conversion to tie the game 8-8.
The Lions went heavy to take a 15-8 lead in the second quarter. Carson Eggebraten, who is getting some Division-I looks at linebacker, powered over from the 1 and Taylor Petrillo added the conversion to give the Lions the lead.
It was 15-14 halfway through the third quarter when Dolson delivered again. He found junior tight end Ryan Camblin on an 11-yard touchdown pass and again Petrillo nailed the kick to make it 22-14 Lions.
Morgan Park (1-1) tied it again late in the third quarter on a touchdown and conversion run by Tysean Griffin to make it 22-22.
Viator had a chance to pull ahead midway through the fourth quarter when the Lions scored a touchdown. But it was called back due to a holding penalty.
The Lions could not convert a first down after that. Morgan Park then drove for the winning score.
"All across the board, we have grown in weeks one and two," said Archibald, whose team comes home next Friday to host DePaul Prep. "I am really proud of our guys."
Maine West 49, Hubbard 16:
Isaac Pittman waited until after the spring season to come out for football. The junior had played basketball in the winter and as a sophomore, wasn't ready to make the jump right into football.
He is ready now.
Pittman, who is 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds, exploded for 5 touchdowns as the Warriors (1-1) cruised past Hubbard to win their first game of the season.
"He is developing and getting adjusted to the varsity game," Maine West coach George Klupchak said. "He is learning where the holes are. He ran hard and made some very nice cuts."
Leyden 27, Proviso West 0:
Diego Mendoza had a big night for the Eagles. The junior scored 3 touchdowns as Leyden improved to 1-1 on the season. Mendoza had touchdown runs of 30, 13 and 2 yards while rushing for 135 yards on 25 carries. For the season, Mendoza has 255 rushing yards.
Round Lake 26, Maine East 7:
It looked good early for Maine East (0-2). The Blue Demons took a 7-6 lead on a touchdown run by Idarius Walton. But Maine East couldn't sustain the lead and fell for the 35th consecutive time. Round Lake (1-1) won for just the 14th time in the last 15 seasons.