CHICAGO | Mt. Carmel created its own version of the Patriot Act on Friday night.
What it detained was visiting Stevenson at the Caravan's 10-yard line in the late stages of the fourth quarter. After traveling 69 yards in 16 plays and using up nearly seven minutes, the Patriots threw incomplete on the 17th play and remained both out of the end zone and seven points in arrears.
Mt. Carmel needed only three snaps to run out the clock and secure a 23-16 win in its Class 8A second-round matchup. The Caravan will meet the winner of today's Loyola Academy-Warren game in next week's quarterfinal.
"We were kind of worried," said Mt. Carmel senior Milton Greer, who knocked down a Stevenson pass near the goal line during the visitors' final possession. "Some of our players were tired, but I just couldn't believe (the Patriots) drove down there."
That No. 2-seeded Stevenson went down swinging didn't faze Caravan coach Frank Lenti. He simply was glad his defense responded to the challenge set before it.
"We had to find a way to stop the other team, and it was good they had the confidence to do that," Lenti said of his players. "Earlier in the year, we didn't have that."
Mt. Carmel (8-3) played with a lead the entire way. It scored just 38 seconds into the game, when Craig Fagan jarred the ball loose from the Patriots' return man and the Caravan took over at the Stevenson 5-yard line. Two plays later, Chris Sujka scored on a 1-yard keeper.
"That was a big momentum shifter," Mt. Carmel running back Denzel Thompson said of the early miscue.
"We were going nuts and they got all quiet," defensive back Jack Sherlock said.
A field goal and Greer's 1-yard run gave the Caravan a 16-0 halftime lead, but the Patriots (10-1) sliced it in half on their initial series of the third quarter. After holding Mt. Carmel to a five-play possession, Stevenson ventured back into Caravan territory, only to have Sherlock choke off the march with an interception.
The pickoff eventually led to a 15-yard TD dash by Greer.
"We turned both turnovers into points," Lenti said. "That's what you're supposed to do."
Mt. Carmel would not score again, but its defense made sure 23 points were enough to triumph.
"We did not want to lose at all," Sherlock said.
"We knew it was going to be another battle," Thompson said, "but I'm so happy right now."
PREP FOOTBALL
Class 8A Playoffs
Second Round
No. 10 Mt. Carmel 23, No. 2 Stevenson 16
The Caravan's Denzel Thompson and Milton Greer each rushed for more than 100 yards.
