Carmel picks up a win against St. Viator
It seemed at the time to be a rather inconsequential play, but in the end, the pass that was knocked down by Carmel sophomore Zaire Barnes on the final play of the first half of the Corsairs' homecoming night contest with St. Viator turned out to be decisive.
With the visiting Lions knocking on the door at the Corsair 13-yard line, Barnes stepped in front of a Tom Majerus pass to preserve the first-half lead. Barnes also teamed with his older brother, Zavier, for 3 of the Corsairs' 4 interceptions. The last of them came with 1:37 left as the Corsairs earned their third straight win by topping St. Viator 21-7.
The loss drops St. Viator (1-5, 0-4) out of playoff consideration, while Carmel improved to 3-3 overall and 3-1 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
"I think our defense has kind of been the undercard by accident this year," said Carmel coach Andy Bitto. "Our defense has been pretty good all year and I think they're getting better."
Throughout much of the first half, the Carmel defense made life miserable for the Lions. Viator was held without a first down before it mustered up a long drive to close the first half. Thanks to the running of Majerus, Darreonta Jackson and Joey McIntyre, the Lions drove inside the 15 before Barnes knocked the ball away.
"(Getting that stop) really allowed us to leave the first half on a high note," Zaire Barnes said. "It gave us a lot of confidence for the second half."
The Carmel defense was able to play with a plenty of confidence in the second half after the work done by the Carmel offense in the first half. Junior running back Rondel Jamison ran the ball only 12 times in the first half, but 3 of those carries went for scores as the Corsairs found the end zone on each of their first three possessions.
Jamison's first score came as he busted through the Lions' defense for a 48-yard run, giving the hosts a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter. On the second play of the second quarter, Jamison got loose again, running around the left end for a 61-yard scoring play. Jamison finished with 190 yards on the night giving him 930 on the season.
His 12-yard scamper capped a 10-play drive moving the advantage to 21-0 with 4:18 to go before half. All this before the Lions could get their offense going.
"I think that drive near the end of the half happened because we just played," St. Viator coach Brandon New said. "When you're going fast like that, it doesn't give the kids time to think they just played. And I think even though we didn't get any points, it was a huge momentum boost for us there."
When Viator did reach the end zone early in the fourth quarter, a huge pass play from Majerus to junior Cole Kmet set the Lions up at the Carmel 1. One play later, Darreonta Jackson cut the lead to 21-7 with a one yard scoring run.
The day itself was a bit of a relief for Kmet. Late Thursday night, the prized tight end recruit made his decision by giving a verbal commitment to play the Notre Dame in two years.
"Today I didn't feel the stress at school - it was kind of relief," Kmet said. "It was a tough decision, going back and forth a lot ... but in the end I knew that Notre Dame was the place for me."
And what type of player are the Irish getting?
"Notre Dame is getting a man-child.," New said with a smile. "You look at Cole and he is 6-5, 230 and he's only 16. I think his best days are ahead of him."