Carmel 21, St. Joseph 0

Chris Salvi is a big part of Carmel's defense, and he knows how to make big plays.

On Friday night, Salvi recovered his first fumble and picked off his fourth pass of the season. Both takeaways led to Carmel touchdowns in the opening quarter and helped give the Corsairs a quick 21-0 advantage against visiting St. Joseph.

"We've got playmakers and people who want to make plays," said Salvi, a senior defensive back. "Our linebackers clog up the run and our linebackers stop the pass. So people have a hard time moving the ball against us.

"We've been able to make big plays with interceptions and forced fumbles."

All of which helped Carmel roll St. Joseph 56-8 Friday. It's the Corsairs' fourth straight victory in East Suburban Catholic Conference play.

Carmel senior quarterback David Venegoni rushed for touchdown of 18 and32 yards; senior running back Geoffery Fields had scoring runs of 10 and 11 yards. Senior Matt Berg (25 yards), and juniors Mike Taylor (30), Sean Madison (2) and Andrew Rapinchuk (1) also had touchdowns.

"We had some great blocking and some big holes," Taylor said. "Nobody was there to get me on my touchdown. Nobody was even close, and it was all good blocking. Once I saw the open field, I knew it was a touchdown."

Carmel (4-1, 3-0 in ESCC) racked up 369 yards of total offense, of which 327 came on the ground. The Corsairs held St. Joseph 77 total yards and just 8 in the first half.

"The score was really irrelevant -- it was a matter of if we played better," Carmel coach Andy Bitto said. "Our first unit offense and defense along with the second unit did a great job.

"Our pass protection was better. Our blocking was also better on the perimeter. Defensively, we did a nice job gang tackling, which we had problems with early in the season.

"Now the defense is really playing great and looking to win every time. Now we're looking for the offense to come with it."

St. Joseph scored a late touchdown in the final minute as Tom Kelly broke loose for a 66-yard run on a fake punt for the Chargers' only score.