A heartbreaker for Carmel in Joliet

Carmel went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in just 51 seconds.

After tying Joliet Catholic on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Larry Amato to Matt Felicelli with 51 seconds left, Corsairs kicker Nick Battilini's point after attempt went wide left.

Then Joliet Catholic quarterback Anthony Maddie led the Hilltoppers on a 10-play, 55-yard drive culminating in a 35-yard field goal by Rob Cranmer as time expired to defeat the stunned Corsairs 19-16 Friday at Joliet Memorial Stadium.

Maddie, who was 2-for-5 going into the final drive, completed 5 of 9 passes (two incompletions were clock-stopping spikes) for 64 yards.

"He's a sophomore quarterback," Joliet Catholic coach Dan Sharp said. "He never played a sophomore game. This is his first varsity game, and this is what he did for us."

All five of those completions were to junior receiver Alex Kolodziej, who hauled in a key 11-yard pass and stayed in bounds before stepping out of bounds in front of the Joliet Catholic sideline. This came on a fourth-and-10 from the Carmel 45, when Sharp elected to go for it rather than punt.

"The way this guy was throwing the ball, we knew that if we got it into field goal range we'd have a shot," Sharp said. "I didn't want the game to go into overtime."

Joliet Catholic took a 9-0 lead early, scoring a safety when a high snap rolled 18 yards into the end zone. On the next drive, Maddie hit tight end Andrew Elliott on a rollout pass to make it 9-0.

Carmel answered back in the second quarter when linebacker Mike Cohen picked up a bizarre punt by Jordan Lyles and ran in back 9 yards for a touchdown. Sharp called it a "Sean Landeta-type play," referring to the whiffed punt by the New York Giants kicker in the 1985 Divisional playoffs against the Bears, but it might have reminded others of Joe Theismann's 1-yard punt earlier that year. The punt hung up in the air and landed on the 9-yard line, where it was surrounded by Carmel jerseys. Cohen picked it up and scampered in the end zone.

"We tried to give it away a few times," Sharp said. "But the only touchdown we really gave up was that last seam route."

Both defenses set the tone for most of the game. Joliet Catholic got one other big play, a 71-yard run by running back Josh Ferguson later in the second quarter. But all Carmel could manage was a 21-yard field goal by Battilini until the last minute of the game.

Carmel's game-tying touchdown came after a miraculous turn of events. With Carmel out of timeouts with 1:08 left, all Joliet Catholic had to do was run out the clock. But Malin Jones coughed up the ball and Carmel senior Connor Sexson recovered it, setting up the final drive.

Carmel coach Andy Bitto now turns his attention to Libertyville, which comes to Carmel next week.

"When you play a good time like Joliet Catholic, win or lose, you start to expose things about your team you can work on," he said.

Junior Eric Stevenson led the Carmel ground attack with 90 yards on 7 carries.