Carmel crushes Loyola behind Taylor’s 384 yards, 5 TDs
Carmel Catholic football coach Jason McKie knows his team can compete with anyone in the state.
After a one-point loss to Montini Catholic two weeks ago, McKie wanted the Corsairs to prove it on the field.
Mission accomplished as Carmel earned a 42-14 win over defending Class 8A state champion Loyola Academy at Hoerster Field on Friday in Wilmette.
After leading 14-7 at halftime, the Corsairs (5-2) took control in the second half outscoring the Ramblers (4-3) 28-7.
“When we don’t have self-inflicting mistakes, we can play with anybody,” McKie said. “We showed that tonight. We showed that in the close games that we had, but we didn’t finish.”
The win gives Carmel an automatic playoff berth.
“It’s huge,” Carmel junior quarterback Trae Taylor said. “It puts us in a situation where we can end the season at 7-2. (We have a) big playoff advantage now. I think it shows we can go out and really go out and compete with the best.”
The Corsairs finished with 475 total yards. Taylor — a 2027 Nebraska commit — completed 30-of-36 passes for 384 yards and four touchdowns, while also adding 26 rushing yards and a score.
Taylor spread the ball to his receivers, with four catching at least six passes and six different pass catchers gracing the box score.
“The game plan was to win,” Taylor said of the high-profile passing performance. “That’s what we did. We don’t ever go into games to air it out. That happens to be what we did today and it worked.”
Kai Owens led all receivers with seven receptions for 113 yards, while Eli Jackson added eight grabs for 88 yards. Greg Bess-Henning had seven catches for 86 yards and two scores and Kyron Hart finished with six catches, 73 yards and a TD.
“We just trust in each other and we always push each other to be better,” Owens said. “We know the talent we have in this room. We have high expectations for ourselves.”
Running back Jaquel Edmonds had seven rushes for 25 yards and a touchdown. The Corsairs finished with 76 rushing yards in the second half after just 15 in the first half.
While the offense did its job, the defense did as well, limiting Loyola Academy to 269 yards of total offense. Melo Maldonado had 101 scrimmage yards on 15 touches and a touchdown for the Ramblers, while Jordan McKinley finished with five catches for 44 yards and a TD.
Jackson and Jameer Miles each had interceptions for the Corsairs, both of them coming in the end zone.
“I mean, I play receiver, so it’s really natural,” Jackson said jokingly of his leaping interception in the end zone.
After Matthew Lee threw his second interception of the game on the final drive of the first half, with Loyola driving in the red zone with a chance to tie the game, Dom Maloney replaced him as the signal caller in the second half.