Carmel figures it out, edges Notre Dame
One day at practice this week, Carmel defensive coach Jim Rejc wore a t-shirt that had the letters F.A.W.T.W on the front.
Rejc asked the Corsairs defenders to see if they could unscramble the letters on the shirt.
"We took a few guesses," said Carmel senior Dirk Wagner. "But no one could get it - I guessed, but it made him mad."
The code was solved, and the shirt translated into "Find A Way to Win."
Wagner and the Carmel followed their instruction to the letter in an East Suburban Catholic road contest at soggy Notre Dame in Niles on Friday night.
In the second overtime of a wild one, Wagner picked off Dons quarterback Drew Diaz to set up a 24-yard game-winning field goal by Nick Battalini. As the kick sailed through the uprights giving Carmel a crazy 20-17 double overtime win over Notre Dame, Wagner and the defense celebrated.
"We really did find a way to win tonight," Wagner said of his first interception this season. "We had to do whatever it took to get the win tonight and the defense really stepped up."
Carmel (4-2, 3-1) appeared to have taken control of the game after its first drive of the second half. Subbing for injured starter Brian Serio, Larry Amato played admirably. His 51-yard run on the Corsairs' first offensive play of the second half set up a short Jordan Kos touchdown run, giving Carmel a 10-0 advantage with 8:31 to play in the third quarter.
"I am really proud of the way that Larry came in and played tonight," Carmel coach Andy Bitto said. "As a senior he could have hung his head, but instead, he came in and stepped up when we needed him tonight."
The 10-0 cushion looked to be insurmountable with the way the Carmel defense had things going. Led by senior Steve Lester and junior linebacker Mike Cohen, the Corsairs' defense held the Dons to 197 yards in total offense all night while keeping the Notre Dame offense out of the end zone.
"This is a good rivalry that we have with Carmel," Notre Dame coach Mike Hennessey. "We had some chances on offense tonight but made some critical mistakes that hurt us."
One critical mistake by Carmel changed the game and ultimately forced overtime. With 3:51 to play in regulation, Amato was hit as he was trying to hand off. The ball popped loose and bounced right into the hands of Notre Dame's Jeremy Burgos, who proceeded to take it back 25 yards to tie the game at 10-10.
"Earlier this year against Marist, the offense helped us out a lot so we knew tonight we needed to return the favor," Wagner said.
On Carmel's first series of the overtime on offense, Amato rushed in from 10 yards out. One play later Notre Dame answered with a score to force the second overtime. On the first play of the second overtime is when Wagner found a way to make a play.