Carmel wins a classic
Addison Trail and Carmel met for the first time in the playoffs and gave the sellout crowd a game for the ages.
The contest also gave Carmel coach Andy Bitto — and everyone else watching — some extra heart stress.
“I took my blood pressure medication this morning,” Bitto joked. “That’s probably a good thing.”
The Corsairs defense batted away a Trevor Bermingham pass with no time left as visiting Carmel held on 28-20 in the opening round of the IHSA playoffs Friday night.
The game was an explosive physical battle that featured a dominant Addison Trail defense and a punishing Carmel option offense.
The Blazers marched 75 yards in just more than one minute but fell short on second-and-10 from the Corsairs 11.
“We were playing a prevent kind of thing,” Bitto said. “We weren’t going to give up a big play. I’m glad we were able to tackle them in bounds because they were out of timeouts. That was kind of our strategy.”
“It was pretty nerve-racking,” Carmel quarterback Brian Brennan said of the final Addison Trail drive.
“We ran out of time,” Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet added. “I give them a lot of credit, and it’s hard to stop them. We just came up short and ran out of time.”
Carmel started the scoring in the first quarter with a 10-play, 80-yard drive that took five minutes off the clock. Senior Jordan Kos dashed into the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown, giving the Corsairs an early 7-0 lead.
Both teams traded possessions for the rest of the quarter before Carmel struck again in the second quarter with a 1-yard run from Brennan.
With a 14-0 lead Carmel appeared to be in control.
But the Blazers answered quickly. Senior Anthony Messina started the charge as he galloped to the Corsairs’ 40 on the kickoff. Bermingham then worked quickly, completing passes of 15 yards and 17 yards.
Messina finished off the drive with a 1-yard plunge, cutting the lead to 14-6. The Blazers faked the extra-point try and instead converted a pass, pulling Addison Trail closer at 14-8.
Carmel scored midway through the third quarter on a 52-yard drive, 13-yard touchdown run punched in by senior Mike Panico. The Corsairs once again had breathing room, but the Blazers answered very quickly. Bermingham found a wide open Nick Wisniewski, who scampered 80 yards to pull Addison Trail within 21-14.
“When they score in less than two minutes, that kind of scares you,” Bitto said.
It was the final quarter of the game that elevated into a classic. The Corsairs scored once again, this time on another Brennan touchdown run from 1 yard out.
“The offensive line played great tonight,” Brennan said. “I didn’t get touched going in there.”
The Blazers responded swiftly on a 12-yard pass from Bermingham to senior Greg Schultz. But the Blazers missed the extra point, making it a 28-20 affair. After forcing a Corsairs punt, Bermingham threw an interception on second down with 2:52 left. The Blazers defense stood tall, and Parpet burned all three timeouts, setting up the final Addison Trail drive at its own 14-yard line.
After converting twice on third down, and once on fourth down, the Blazers saw their season end on the pass that fell incomplete as time expired.
“This program made a lot of progress,” Parpet said. “We can only get better here on out. My hat’s off to our senior class because they’ve done nothing but rejuvenate our program. They should be very proud of what they did for us.”