Carmel 34, Nazareth 12
After Carmel suffered a 28-6 set back in Week 1 of the season against Morgan Park, coach Andy Bitto had a message for his team.
"I just told them that if we can put this one behind us and get better each week, we can get to our goal of getting to state," he said. "I'm real excited about this football team now and where we are headed."
Where the Corsairs are headed is back to the state football playoffs for the eighth consecutive year after cruising to a 34-12 win over visiting Nazareth in a East Suburban Catholic Conference contest in Mundelein Friday night.
"Defensively, we have been good from the very start," Bitto said. "Offensively, we have gotten better each week and I liked what I saw tonight."
What Bitto liked most was the play of seniors David Venegoni and Geoffrey Fields.
"I thought David really had a great game tonight," Bitto said. "He made some great calls at the line and that last touchdown (a 44-yard run by Mike Taylor) was his call."
Carmel (6-1, 5-0) wasted little time getting its offense cranked up. The Corsairs used an 11-play, 62-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions to get on the board. Fields tallied his first score of the night by breaking away for a 17-yard touchdown and an 8-0 Carmel advantage.
Defensively, senior Ryan Williams and the Carmel defense weren't about to let the Roadrunners run over them like they did in a 40-28 stunning defeat a year ago. Carmel limited Nazareth (4-3, 3-2) to just 48 yards in total offense in the first half and just over 200 yards in total offense for the night.
"It's the new defense we are in that is making a big difference," Williams said. "With seniors like me, (Charlie) Wilfer and Chris (Salvi), we have all been stepping up and doing the jobs we have to do."
With the defense doing its part, Carmel's offense kept rolling in the second quarter with a trio of scores to help the Corsairs pull out to a 21-0 halftime advantage.
Fields added his second score of the night, a 3-yard run to open the third quarter, then topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight week, rushing for 138 yards on 18 carries.
"After the first game of the season coach told us we weren't inexperienced anymore and that we were all varsity players," Fields said. "I think now our confidence is building that since we have been together."
Venegoni (19 carries, 92 yards) also had a pair of scores, including a 28-yard sprint into the end zone that put Carmel up 21-0.
St. Viator 42, St. Joseph 7:ŒIt didn't take long for St. Viator to establish a little dominance in Friday's game against St. Joseph.
The host Lions kicked off to the Chargers, who fumbled on the return. It was recovered by St. Viator's C.J. Cesario.
On the first subsequent play, Mike Landuyt ran in a 27-yard touchdown to make it 7-0 with just 16 seconds off the clock.
The Lions then scored on 4 of their next 5 possessions en route to a 42-7 East Suburban Catholic football win.
The win ends a three-game losing streak by the Lions (4-3, 2-3) and possibly shift the momentum in a more positive direction.
"It felt great (to get the win)," said St. Viator assistant coach Jamie Bucaro. "We worked hard. We haven't been that successful in the last few games, but they're all out there working hard and trying hard.
"This was a good game for us. Now we just get ready for Carmel (next week for St. Viator's homecoming). Next week will be a big test for us. This should get us going."
Bucaro and his fellow assistants had to step up after a scare on the sidelines that sent coach Chris Kirkpatrick to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights with chest pains.
"They're doing some tests on him, but he's doing OK," Bucaro said. "He had some pains in his arm and some chest pains. He's doing OK."
Landuyt was a part of the Lions' team effort and found himself in the end zone two more times in the first quarter -- on a 32-yard pass from quarterback Dan Faerber and on a 2-yard run. He rushed for 49 yards and caught 2 passes to rack up 48 more.
"It felt pretty good," Landuyt said. "Our line was really working good and our offense was firing on all cylinders for the most part. The offensive line creates big holes for me every week."
Faerber should also be grateful to the offensive line. The junior produced a total of 209 yards in the air with 4 touchdowns -- 2 of which ended in the hands of Eric Huber (101 yards receiving). Richard McLoughlin caught a 31-yard TD pass.
It was more of the same old, same old for the Chargers, which fell to 0-7, 0-5 and stretched their winless drought to 43 games.
Down 42-0 in the third, the Chargers broke through with a 4-yard run by QB James DeSanto.
But St. Viator's defense didn't do them any favors by forcing 6 turners throughout the game -- 4 of which resulted in touchdowns.
-- Bill Swick