Carmel back on track, thumps CLS
Joliet Catholic who?
OK, OK. So maybe Carmel hasn't completely forgotten about the beating it took from Joliet Catholic last week.
But Friday's 35-7 thumping of No. 10 Crystal Lake South in the first round of the Class 7A playoffs put the seventh-seeded Corsairs well on their way.
They struck early and took a commanding 21-0 lead into the locker room at halftime to do to Crystal Lake South what was done to them by Joliet Catholic.
Last week, Carmel trailed Joliet Catholic 31-0 at halftime before losing 45-8.
"(A big, early deficit) can (deflate) any team -- that's what happened to us last week and that's what probably happened to (Crystal Lake South)," said Carmel quarterback David Venegoni, who rushed for 2 touchdowns and 69 yards. "After last week's game, we needed to come out and play well right away and show other teams in our bracket that we can play and that we're not some pushover.
"We needed to just hunker down and get going."
The Corsairs, who move to 8-2 and will next face the winner of today's Fenwick at Glenbrook North game, got their running game going again.
It's what they do, only they didn't do much of it at all against Joliet Catholic.
Carmel rushed for 230 yards and 5 touchdowns against Crystal Lake South. Last week, the Corsairs mustered only 112 rushing yards.
"It was huge to be able to rush the ball like that," Carmel coach Andy Bitto said. "Joliet completely stopped our run game and that's our bread and butter.
"It's a tough week of practice any time you lose like that, but I knew by Wednesday that they had gotten rid of the whole Joliet thing just by the way they practiced. We had a great practice and we came out ready to play. It wasn't anything magical that we did out there tonight, we just methodically took (Crystal Lake South) out of the game."
Venegoni, Mike Taylor and Geoffery Fields all scored on short runs in the first half. And Fields and Venegoni each rushed for touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
"It was really important for us to set the tone because we needed to bounce back," said Fields, who rushed for a game-high 78 yards. "It boosted our morale tremendously to come out like we did.
"After about the third drive, it seemed like (Crystal Lake South) didn't want to play any more."
But the Gators (7-3) did.
Despite getting just 3 first downs and 48 total yards in the first half, Crystal Lake South didn't just go through the motions in the second half.
The Gators fought not only Carmel, but a driving rain to score on their second possession of the third quarter. Quarterback Ian Ormseth hit Colin Masterson with a 2-yard touchdown pass.
"It's always tough playing from behind, especially against a good team," said Ormseth, who completed 11-of-24 passes for 92 yards. "Then you have to work extra hard. It just feels like you're in a hole."