Carmels falls short in Cincinnati

Carmel is still undefeated.

In Illinois.

It took a team from Ohio to do what no other team has done so far this season: beat the Corsairs.

Carmel traveled to Cincinnati this weekend to fill a Week 9 slot that suddenly became open last year when former East Suburban Catholic Conference foe St. Joseph left the league.

The Corsairs rode all the way home Saturday night sitting with the sting of a 21-14 loss to Cincinnati Elder, a fellow Catholic school that scored the game-winning touchdown with just 29 seconds remaining in the game.

The loss drops Carmel to 8-1 on the season, but that doesn't tarnish its outright ESCC championship, which was secured last week with a win over Notre Dame.

Elder, which was Ohio's Division I state runner up in 2008, played in the state semifinals last year and won state titles in 2002 and 2003, improves to 3-5 overall. The Panthers have endured a brutal schedule and were playing their fifth undefeated team of the season.

“It's disappointing,” Carmel quarterback Brian Serio said of his team's only blemish this season. “Overall, it was a fun experience going over there. It was neat to play a team from another state and see what that is like. We played in an awesome (10,000-seat) stadium in front of tons of fans and it was a fun trip to travel there as a team.

“But we're wishing that we could have come out with a win to finish out the (regular) season undefeated.”

Elder was able to crack the Carmel code with an aggressive defense that featured a strong, physical line.

While the Corsairs finished with 280 yards of offense, they weren't able to move up and down the field as effortlessly as they usually do.

“Their defense was unbelievable,” Serio said. “They had our option shut down. They were very well-coached and they had a bye last week, so maybe that helped them because it gave them extra time to prepare for us.

“Our offense just wasn't able to move the ball in the second half.”

Actually, both teams sputtered in a scoreless third quarter, and that set the stage for a do-or-die fourth quarter. The score was tied 14-14 heading into the final 12 minutes.

Elder had gotten on the board quickly with 2 first-quarter touchdowns.

The Panthers forced a Carmel fumble and Jacob Lindsey scooped up the ball and sprinted 18 yards to the end zone. After a Carmel three-and-out, Elder put together a 50-yard drive that was capped off by a 4-yard touchdown run by star running back Ben Coffaro.

But Carmel dug deep in the second quarter and scored 2 touchdowns in the final 2:30 before halftime.

Jordan Kos (22 carries, 168 yards) finished off a 70-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. The extra point was blocked.

Then, Carmel safety Sean Brennan picked off an Elder pass on the very next series. The Corsairs scored just 28 seconds before halftime on a 23-yard pass from Serio to Ryan Cappis. Serio made up for the previous blocked extra point by running in the two-point conversion.

That made the halftime score 14-14.

“From there, it just became a defensive struggle, back-and-forth,” Carmel coach Andy Bitto said. “We still had more overall yards than them (280 yards to 190), but I think the physical play of their defensive front threw us off. Our defense was tough, too, though.”

With 1:30 left in the game, the Carmel defense made what looked to be a game-changing play when cornerback Michael Fitzgibbons intercepted an Elder pass at the Carmel 6-yard line.

But then the Carmel offense fumbled the ball at around the 30-yard line and Elder scored about a minute later on an 8-yard run by Coffaro.

“It's hard, but I think we're still feeling pretty good about things,” Serio said on the long bus ride home. “This could actually be a good lesson for us. We need to remember what this feels like and we need to do everything we can to avoid it.”