Nazareth rallies past Carmel
Big brother wasn’t about to let little brother hog all the highlights. Not this time, anyway.
With 110 rushing yards on 18 carries, freshman running back Ivory Kelly-Martin paved the way for Nazareth’s 27-17 come-from-behind East Suburban Catholic Conference victory over host Carmel on homecoming.
Big brother Decxavier Kelly-Martin eventually sealed the deal with a 19-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
“I was pretty happy about that and was trying to go hug (Decxavier),” Ivory said. “When we do well, we always appreciate each other. It’s always awesome when we’re both producing in a game.”
Decxavier, a linebacker, doesn’t get many opportunities to score touchdowns, so that made his trip to the end zone even more special.
“This is the first time we’ve ever scored in the same game,” Decxavier said as he smiled at his brother Ivory. “I know my parents are happy.
“I think we’ll probably go out somewhere special (to eat).”
The Roadrunners, who improve to 3-2 overall and 1-2 in the ESCC, feasted on some big Carmel miscues.
Not only did they convert on the interception, they scored after a failed Carmel fake punt just before halftime. And they stopped another fourth-quarter Carmel drive with a second interception.
“Carmel is going to move the ball, that’s what they do,” Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. “I told our kids we had to stay patient and stay disciplined. Kind of bend but don’t break. We were also able to take advantage of some things they did.”
Nazareth was down 17-14 in the fourth quarter when some nice runs by Ivory Kelly-Martin set up its go-ahead touchdown, a 6-yard run by Julian Love. That capped a 13-play drive that took four minutes off the clock and made the score 20-17.
Decxavier Kelly-Martin’s interception return came on the next series and an interception by Robbie Brindley on the series after that really put Carmel on its heels.
The Corsairs were a different team in the first half, quickly going up 7-0 and moving the ball with relative ease.
“That’s how it’s been the whole year,” Carmel coach Andy Bitto said. “We’ve had a lead in four of our five games. We just can’t stay consistent. We started out well, but just figured out a way to kind of chip away at ourselves. We said all week long that we need to play with more consistency. We just haven’t been able to get that on track.”
Carmel sophomore Noah Turner opened up the scoring by hauling in a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Nick Grandolfo midway through the first quarter.
The Roadrunners tied up the game in the second quarter on a 30-yard run by Love, but Carmel answer just three minutes later as Grandolfo struck again. This time he ran in a 12-yard touchdown to put Carmel ahead 14-7.
But Nazareth came storming back again after Carmel’s botched fake punt and a 2-yard run by Cyle Tucker knotted the halftime score at 14.
“I thought we moved the ball real well all game,” said Carmel running back Joe Hoy, who rolled up 152 yards on 19 carries. “They just came out and played harder in the second half than we did.”
Carmel sophomore Darrius Crump added 90 rushing yards for the Corsairs, who must win all four of their remaining games to have a chance to make the playoffs on points. One more loss would give Carmel its second-straight non-playoff season after 12 consecutive makes.