Copyright Shaw Local Enewspapers
Here are highlights and notes from Week 9 results around the Chicago Catholic League/East Suburban Catholic Conference. Mount Carmel, Loyola set to clash in first round of IHSA playoffs Just one week after squaring off in the final week of the regular season, three-time defending state champions Mount Carmel and Loyola will face each other a second time in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs. The Caravan totaled over 400 yards of offense in their 35-24 win over the Ramblers in Wilmette on Friday. Quarterback Emmett Dowling threw for 298 yards and accounted for four touchdowns to lead Mount Carmel (9-0, 3-0 CCL/ESCC Blue), which clinched the outright Blue Division title with the win. Wide receivers Quentin Burrell (seven catches for 133 yards) and Marshaun Thornton (six catches for 75) delivered key plays for the Caravan, who ended the regular season as the AP’s No. 1-ranked 8A team and earned a No. 1 seed in the 8A playoff bracket. Running back Nathan Samuels churned for 113 yards and a score on 18 carries to aid the Mount Carmel offense Friday. Loyola (4-4, 1-2 CCL/ESCC Blue), which has won the last three 8A state championships, snuck into the postseason as the No. 32 seed in the 8A playoff bracket. Quarterbacks Matthew Lee and Dom Maloney rotated in and out of the game Friday night, combining for 230 yards and three touchdown passes. Running back Melo Maldonado posted 81 rushing yards in the game. Mount Carmel, which brought home three straight 7A state championships before moving up to 8A this season, is attempting for a fourth straight state title and the program’s first four-peat since the 1988-91 seasons. Both schools have a rich history of state trophies, as the Caravan have won 16 state titles, while the Ramblers have six titles and five runner-up finishes. Loyola has made the playoffs in each of the last 22 years (excluding the shortened COVID season). Meanwhile, Mount Carmel is synonymous with playoff football, missing the postseason only once since the 1986 season. The winner of the first-round playoff rematch, which will be played Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Mount Carmel, will face West Aurora or Belleville East next. Rushing offense ignites St. Rita during win over IC Catholic Prep Head coach Martin Hopkins said earlier this month that running the football would be a key factor in whether or not St. Rita could make a late push for the postseason. The Mustangs have done just that, as Brandon Johnson Jr. went for a team-high 158 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries during St. Rita’s 38-21 victory against IC Catholic Prep on Friday evening. “Our guys were up to the challenge,” Hopkins said. “We said that this would be playoff football and we started saying that three weeks ago. If we wanted to get to the playoffs, then we had to take things one week at a time... We were able to run the ball and when we’re two-dimensional, it’s harder for the defense to defend you. Being able to control the clock was a good thing.” Johnson Jr. has been a spark plug for the Mustang offense, which has put up 40 or more points in three of St. Rita’s last five games. With the ground game working and the defense getting off the field on late downs, St. Rita (5-4, 1-2 CCL/ESCC Green) went 4-1 over its last five games of the regular season and qualified for the 7A playoffs as the No. 25 seed in the bracket. “Brandon’s done a tremendous job over the last couple of weeks and the O-line has done a good job as well,” Hopkins said. “We talked about getting back to the basics and focusing on the fundamentals... Brandon was out most of the summer dealing with an injury, so his first real practice was Week 1 of the season. We’ve gotten him comfortable and up to speed.” Defensive back Jaiden Blunt finished with five tackles and a tackle for loss in Friday’s win over the Knights. Over the last five weeks, St. Rita’s defense has held opponents to an average of 20.6 points per game. The Mustangs will face No. 8 seed Guilford in the first round of the playoffs. St. Rita and the Vikings met in the playoffs last year, with St. Rita winning 45-3. “We’ve done a better job of tackling,” Hopkins said. “We’ve been practicing better. Too many times, kids go through the motions during the week and that shows up on Fridays. On both sides of the ball, we’ve been locked in during the week and we’re starting to see that success on Friday nights.” Quarterback Nate Lang rushed for a team-high 152 yards and threw for 140 yards to lead the IC Catholic Prep offense. Senior linebacker/running back Foley Calcagno reached the end zone twice once, finishing with 34 rushing yards on five carries for the Knights (6-3, 1-2 CCL/ESCC Green). IC Catholic Prep will open the 3A playoffs with a game against Hope Academy. Marist beats Niles Notre Dame, falls just short of reaching playoffs Several CCL/ESCC teams were on the playoff bubble entering the final week of the regular season. Among those teams was Marist, who had an outside shot of making the 8A bracket despite being 3-5 over its first eight games. The Redhawks took care of business Friday night, as senior quarterback Luke Detampel completed 15 of 20 passes for 173 yards and five touchdowns to lead Marist over Niles Notre Dame 42-14. Junior running back Conor Hunt sprinted for 171 yards and a score on 30 carries for the Redhawks (4-5, 1-2 CCL/ESCC Orange), who won four of their last five regular season games. “To have a chance, the only part of the equation we could control was winning,” Marist head coach Michael Fitzgerald said. “I thought it was the most complete game we played offensively, defensively and on special teams. I was really proud of the way we executed and we did our part.” While Marist did all it could over the second half of the season, the team fell just short of reaching the 8A playoffs. The Redhawks had 47 playoff points, one fewer than three-time defending state champion Loyola, which grabbed the final spot in the 8A bracket with 48 playoff points. For only the third time since 2008 (excluding the COVID season), Marist isn’t playoff bound. The Redhawks were beaten out for the 256th and final spot on a tiebreaker. “We have to handle our business first,” Fitzgerald said. “It was definitely a roller coaster ride over Friday and Saturday... I had no idea until the IHSA put it on its website and that’s when we knew we missed the cut. There were a lot of emotions and our team has been through a lot with injuries. It was heartbreaking to see some seniors have their season cut short.” Offensively, Marist will graduate multiple seniors including its starting quarterback Detampel, Purdue offensive line recruit Rico Schrieber and 6-foot-7 wide receiver Stephen Brown. Defensively, linebackers Eddie Scheel, Finn Kelly and safety/cornerback Pat Wynn are among the departing senior players. Juniors like Hunt and Tommy Hosty are players eligible to return. “We overcame a lot,” Fitzgerald said. “We had a tough start and we finished the right way... A lot of guys got experience and it’s a great lesson moving forward in terms of the sense of urgency we need. The margin of error in this league is so small and every detail matters. You never want to be one short in anything. We need to have a sense of urgency in everything we do.”
