Scouting Stevenson @ Mt. Carmel

Stevenson Patriots (10-0) at Mt. Carmel Caravan (7-3)

When 7 p.m. Friday

Where Gately Stadium, Chicago

Last week Stevenson def. New Trier, 28-7; Mt. Carmel def. Chicago Simeon, 19-14

Playoff experience Stevenson has qualified for 21 straight playoff berths, dating back to 1989. The last time the Patriots advanced past the second round was in both 2004 and 2005. In 2002, Stevenson advanced to its only state championship game, losing to Lockport in Class 8A action, 35-14. Last year, Stevenson lost in the first round to Maine South, 63-29-Mt. Carmel is also a perennial playoff team, having qualified for 24 straight berths dating back to 1986. The Caravan have won 10 state titles since 1980, nine under current head coach Frank Lenti. Mt. Carmel's last state title was in 2002. Since then, the Caravan has advance to the state semifinals all but one year and has finished second in the state twice, in 2005 and 2006. Last year, Mt. Carmel lost in the Class 8A semifinals to Hinsdale Central, 24-21.

Outlook There's a first time for everything, and now is the time for Stevenson and Mt. Carmel, two proud teams that have never before faced each other. Despite an obvious difference - big public school (Stevenson) against smaller Catholic school (Mt. Carmel), there are similarities between these two programs. Both feature longtime, veteran coaches, and both are among the best programs in the state year in and year out-Mt. Carmel is coached by Frank Lenti, who is in his 26th year. He's won nearly 300 games (291-50) and nine state titles. Meanwhile, Stevenson coach Bill Mitz is in his 28th year and has won nearly 200 games (197-97). He's guided the Patriots to 21 straight playoff appearances and a second place finish in the state in 2002-A good crowd should be on hand to see the game, including on the visitors' side. "Our school is doing a great job of making it easy for students to come to the game," Mitz said. "It's $10 and that covers round-trip bus and the ticket for the game. We've got the band coming and the parents are taking down charters. We're coming down as Patriot Nation."-The masses will see a Mt. Carmel team that is a bit different from most. Usually, the Caravan is mowing down the competition. But this year, turnovers, injuries and some inconsistent defense have caused problems for Mt. Carmel. "Earlier this season, St. Rita scored more points (54) on us than any team has in my 26 years of coaching," Lenti said. "We've just been really inconsistent defensively. We'll go from shutting people down to something like that."-Offensively, mistakes have haunted the Caravan, which is averaging 2 turnovers a game. Last year, Mt. Carmel finished with 7 turnovers in 13 games, barely more than one turnover every other game. "We run the option and people think we're fumbling the ball out of the option, but we're really not," Lenti said. "We're mostly getting the ball knocked out of our hands. We're just not being careful. We also have some interceptions this year."-Mt. Carmel's top option in the option is senior running back Milton Greer, who has tallied 891 yards and 12 touchdowns in 125 attempts. He will be playing next year at Miami of Ohio. Quarterback Chris Sujka and running back Denzel Thompson have also rolled up the rushing yards, 732 yards (11 touchdowns) and 602 yards (10 touchdowns), respectively. Sujka has passed for 644 yards but only 2 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. "It's a typical Mt. Carmel team," Stevenson coach Bill Mitz said. "They run the option really well so we're going to have to be very disciplined with our defense."-Mt. Carmel's defense will be on high alert every time Stevenson fullback Mark Weisman, a workhorse who has been known to get 30 to 40 carries in some games, gets the ball. "He reminds me a little bit of (former Joliet Catholic and NFL standout) Mike Alstott," Lenti said. "We're obviously not going to stop him, but we do want to slow him down so that we can get our offense back on the field and keep him off the field." But the Caravan will have more to contend with than Weisman. Stevenson quarterback Kevin Earl and receiver Nate Johnson can be a lethal combination and running back Matt Harris is not only good at blocking for Weisman, he's also a slippery runner-The Stevenson defense, led by Erick King, Evan Masters, Zachary Rose and Chris Duffy, has also been sharp the last few weeks, giving up just 11.2 points per game-Mt. Carmel is playing its second home playoff game in a row, but only because it played Simeon last week and Simeon's home field is also Gately Stadium. "People think it's such an advantage (playing at home), but I don't know," Lenti said. "We don't practice at Gately, we only play games there. Plus, in my 26 years at Mt. Carmel, we've definitely lost more games at Gately than we have on the road."

Next week inner gets the winner of No. 6 Warren at No. 3 Loyola