Corsairs leave Woodstock with a 'W'

Wearing extra football pads, just in case his Carmel Catholic team needed to him to quarterback, Andrew Nerup managed a well-earned smile as he walked off Woodstock's Larry Dale Field.

He played. And survived.

And so did the Corsairs.

Carmel allowed a lengthy touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter but held on for a 10-7 win over hard-hitting Woodstock on a cold, wet Friday night, improving to 10-1 with its eighth straight win.

Carmel (10-1) advances to the Class 7A state quarterfinals for the second straight year and will next play the winner of today's 1:30 p.m. game between Geneva and host Hononegah in Rockton.

"We knew our defense had to play good," said free safety Jake Sinkovec, who had 2 interceptions in the final six minutes, the second coming on a desperation heave on the final play of the game. "We had a couple of injuries on offense but they came through and got us 10 points, and the defense held up. So it was a good victory."

Carmel started backup Larry Amato at quarterback for the second straight week in place of Nerup, who sat out the team's playoff opener against Wheeling with mono. But after Amato fumbled the ball away at midfield with the Corsairs protecting a 3-0 lead early in the third quarter, coach Andy Bitto called on Nerup.

Nerup had practiced during the week but without pads. He got medical clearance to play Thursday.

"I was expecting not to play but things kind of work out like that," Nerup said. "I had to pad up the whole spleen and make sure I was going to stay alive."

"I wasn't going to use him at all if I didn't have to," Bitto said. "But I felt that we had a better chance of winning at that point - or at least increasing our lead - with Andrew in the game."

Woodstock (7-4) forced a three-and-out on Nerup's first series. But Ryan Kloss' innocent-looking punt hit the grass and then an unsuspecting Woodstock player, and Carmel's Malcolm McCleary recovered the ball at the Woodstock 36.

Five plays later, after a 23-yard run by Eric Stevenson, Mike Taylor scored from 6 yards out with 1:50 left in the third quarter.

"They were stingy," Nerup, who gained 38 yards on 6 carries, said of Woodstock's defense. "They were stopping a lot of plays that we've had a lot of success with."

Woodstock, which managed just 4 first downs through three quarters, was facing a fourth-and-31 from its own 16 with about three minutes left when quarterback Derek Brown hit Zach Shannon over the middle. Carmel's Jack Berg finally tripped up Shannon, but not until the play covered 67 yards.

After a defensive pass interference penalty, Brown threw a 9-yard TD pass to Tom Wilson with 2:36 left.

"They just got underneath us and we had a few missed tackles," Sinkovec said of the fourth-and-31 play. "Thank God someone (Berg) caught him at the end."

Carmel didn't secure victory until Sinkovec's interception around Carmel's 40 with no time left.

The Corsairs overcame 3 lost fumbles. Taylor managed 89 rushing yards on 25 carries, while Stevenson carried 16 times for 84 yards.

"It was a tough game," Taylor said. "The field conditions were bad, but that's no excuse. Our offense is normally a lot more high-powered. We were slipping a little bit out there, but eventually we got things together."

"They're pretty resilient," Bitto said of Woodstock. "I knew they were great on defense and we knew we were going to have to earn each yard."