Last stand seals upset for Caravan
Stevenson loses for first time this season
CHICAGO -- Mount Carmel defensive back Milton Greer was in disbelief as Stevenson worked its way down the field in the final minutes of their Class 8A second round game on Friday.
The Caravan seemed to be a lock to pull off the upset over unbeaten Stevenson. But now the Patriots were 11 yards from tying the game with 1:10 left, having moved the ball 69 yards in 17 plays.
Just as Mount Carmel's defense was getting tired, losing confidence and about to break, it made one last stand. On fourth-and-four from the 11, the Caravan pressured Stevenson quarterback Kevin Earl out of the pocket and forced an overthrow as Mount Carmel held on for a 23-16 win at Gately Stadium.
Greer, and everyone else on the home side, exhaled.
"What was going through my mind was, 'I can't believe they're driving on us like that,'" said Greer of the final minutes. "We just kept our game going."
From the start, it appeared the game was going to belong to the Caravan (8-3). On the opening kickoff, Stevenson fumbled and Mount Carmel's Randy Berryhill recovered on the Patriots' 5-yard line. Two plays later, Mount Carmel quarterback Chris Sujka ran the ball into the end zone.
"That was a big momentum changer," Mount Carmel running back Denzel Thompson said. "Our team got hyped up after that. We knew we were going to win this game."
By halftime, the Caravan added a 25-yard field goal by kicker Eric Calleros and a 2-yard touchdown run by Greer to go ahead 16-0.
Stevenson (10-1) fought back in the second half. The Patriots went to the air and a hurry-up offense to get some momentum going in the third quarter. Stevenson ended a nine-play, 52-yard drive with a Matt Harris touchdown run from the 1 with 7:34 remaining in the third quarter to cut Mount Carmel's lead to 16-8.
The Patriots forced Mount Carmel to punt on its following possession. But Caravan defensive back Jack Sherlock intercepted a pass four plays into the drive.
Greer then gave his team some breathing room with a 9-yard touchdown run to put them ahead 23-8 with 1:03 left in the third quarter. Stevenson answered on its next possession with a 12-yard touchdown run by Harris. Earl hooked up with wide receiver Nate Johnson two-point conversion to make the score 23-16.
Greer and Thompson each finished with 107 rushing yards. Mark Weisman had a team-high 68 rushing yards for Stevenson.
"Our players can finally wake up and read in the newspaper that Mount Carmel upset someone," Caravan coach Frank Lenti said.
Scott Powers covers high school and college sports for ESPNChicago.com and can be reached at preps@espnchicago.com.
