Carmel rebounds vs. Benet

Keeping a team this good down? Forget about it.

Carmel Catholic's football team responded from a disappointing East Suburban Catholic Conference loss to Marist the previous week and ran past visiting Benet Academy 49-13 on Friday night in Mundelein.

Corsairs running back Mike Taylor (22 carries, 178 yards) rushed for 3 touchdowns, quarterback Andrew Nerup (14 carries, 117 yards) also had a pair of rushing touchdowns and threw for another to Matt Felicelli. Eric Stevenson scored the other rushing touchdown.

Carmel (3-1, 2-0) racked up 460 yards on the ground out of 481 yards of total offense. They also scored on every possession.

"We (had 7 touches for 7 touchdowns," Carmel coach Andy Bitto said. "It was nice to come back with a lot of enthusiasm. We learned from our mistakes from last week."

Taylor had 3 rushing touchdowns for the Corsairs, going in from the 1, the 7 and then breaking free on a 63-yard scamper in the third quarter.

"I just ran straight and the line did the rest in making the holes," Taylor said. "I just followed their blocks. The 63-yard run was the best. I haven't had one of those in a while."

Benet Academy (1-3, 1-1) had a tough time moving the ball all game and Carmel's defense stepped up to the task of stopping them. The Redwings were held to minus-1 yard on the ground in the first half and 48 for the game and a total 183 yards of offense.

"Any time you catch a top-notch football team after a loss it's bad timing," Benet Academy assistant coach Pat New said. "To compete with Carmel your need to bring your 'A' game. They've got one of the premier programs in the state.

"Their offense is a machine. They can execute well and they've got great athletes behind them."

Benet Academy's Phillip Smith caught a 10-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Jimmy Riley (9 of 21 for 99 yards and an interception). and Luke Terna scored on a 1-yard run.