Friday night's game at Hanson Stadium was expected to be a shootout between two of the top quarterbacks in the state as Tom Barrett and the Saint Patrick Shamrocks hosted Jared Funk and the Lions of Saint Viator, but that shootout never materialized as the Lions dominated the Shamrocks in a 35-14 win.

The teams played a seesaw first half with five total turnovers. Saint Viator got on the board first as Pat McAvoy capped a four-play 68-yard drive with a 10-yard run around left end. With 5:30 remaining in the second quarter the Lions went up 14-0 when Funk ran the ball in from 19 yards out. With 25 seconds left before the half, and the ball at their own 28, Saint Viator decided to call a timeout instead of letting the clock run out. That decision was nearly disastrous because on the next play, Funk’s pass was deflected by Scott Petracco to Bobby Polli who snatched it out of the air and ran the ball in from the 20 yard line to make the score 14-7 at the half.

Given the Shamrocks knack for second half comebacks this season, this play looked like a turning point that would get the momentum on the Saint Patrick side. The Lions stopped any momentum with a 72-yard touchdown drive to open the second half, with Funk scoring from 21 yards out to make it 21-7. After forcing a three and out the Lions embarked on a 10-play 66-yard drive with Funk hitting Dan Carter for a 15-yard touchdown to go up 28-7. Saint Patrick answered on the next play from scrimmage with a 71-yard touchdown pass from Barrett to Paul Lombardi to cut the lead to 28-14. The Lions finished the scoring with a 68-yard drive finished off by a Funk to Pat Guth 26-yard touchdown.

The Lions did a great job controlling the ball and keeping the Shamrock offense off of the field, particularly in the second half. Saint Viator had the ball for 19:53 of the 24 minutes in the second half. Saint Viator rushed for 265 yards, but Saint Patrick was unable to get a ground attack established, rushing for 20 yards on 18 carries for the game. The Lions converted seven of ten third down opportunities, while stopping the Shamrocks on seven of eight third downs

Neither of the two quarterbacks played their best game of the year. Funk finished the day 13 of 22 for 192 yards passing and rushed for 81 yards on 16 carries, but turned the ball over three times on a fumble and two interceptions. Barrett completed 10 of 20 passes for 155 yards and a touchdown, well below his season averages.

Saint Patrick will travel to Park Ridge to take on Maine South in a first round IHSA Class 8A playoff game this Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1:00pm.