Mount Carmel comes back to top Loyola, finishes regular season unbeaten
By Steve Millar
Correspondent
With his team trailing Loyola by 10 points at halftime in a battle between two unbeaten teams, senior quarterback Blainey Dowling had a message for his Mount Carmel teammates.
Dowling called upon them to remember who they are.
“I gathered the team up and I said, ‘Hey, the first half didn’t go our way. We’re a second-half team,’” Dowling said. “It’s about dealing with adversity and how you overcome adversity.
“Those 4 a.m. workouts in two inches of snow. That’s adversity. We have half the team getting up at 3 a.m. to take the train to school. That’s dealing with adversity.
“That’s what our team is all about. We dealt with that bad first half and came out and played ball.”
Dowling and the Caravan turned things around in the second half, scoring three third-quarter touchdowns and holding on for a 42-37 win over the Ramblers in Wilmette.
The victory clinched the outright CCL/ESCC Blue championship and a perfect regular season for Mount Carmel (9-0, 4-0).
“It’s awesome,” Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said. “It’s our goal. You come to Mount Carmel to win championships.”
Mount Carmel earned the top seed in Class 7A and is set to open the playoffs by hosting Buffalo Grove (4-5) — the only under-.500 team to make the postseason in any class — at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Against Loyola (8-1, 3-1), the Caravan turned the tide by scoring two touchdowns in a 21-second span early in the third quarter.
On Mount Carmel’s opening possession of the second half, Dowling ran for a 13-yard TD.
“We knew what we had to do in the second half,” Lynch said. “We came out fast and hard.”
On the next play from scrimmage, the Mount Carmel defensive line got heavy pressure on Loyola quarterback Jake Stearney. Senior lineman Bobby Medina hit Stearney and knocked the ball out of his hand.
Linebacker Parker Startz jumped on the fumble to give the Caravan the ball at the Loyola 15-yard line.
“It was the game plan we had all week to get pressure on the quarterback,” Startz said. “We kept going at it. We came out kind of slow, but we made adjustments and we came out hard in the second half.”
Two plays after the fumble, Damarion Arrington ran for a 7-yard touchdown to give Mount Carmel the lead for good.
Dowling was grateful to the defense for giving the Caravan the ball in the red zone.
“They made a huge play and we capitalized,” Dowling said. “We scored after that. It came down to the defense stepping up for us right there.”
Mount Carmel’s special teams came up with a big play, as well.
With the Caravan holding on to a 35-30 lead and facing a fourth-and-nine at the Loyola 39-yard line early in the fourth quarter, Lynch called for a fake punt.
Sophomore punter Jack Elliott, who is also the team’s backup quarterback, hit Arrington for a 19-yard pass for a first down.
That set up a 12-yard TD pass from Dowling to Darrion Gilliam.
Dowling completed 15 of 24 passes for 157 yards and also threw TDs of 22 yards to Denny Furlong and 13 yards to Danyil Taylor.
Furlong had four catches for 77 yards and a touchdown and ran for 64 yards on six carries.
Alonzo Manning ran for an 18-yard TD, stepping up after star running back Darion Dupree got injured, keeping him out the entire second half.
Down 42-30 with just over five minutes left, Loyola scored on a 23-yard pass from Stearney to Spencer Leadbetter.
The Ramblers forced a punt and got the ball back at their own 24-yard line with 2:24 to go, then drove to the Mount Carmel 38.
But the Caravan held there, forcing an incompletion on fourth down to seal the win.
“Our defense got the pressure and the tipped passes when it came down to it,” Lynch said.
Local News
College Report: McAuley grad Swiatek plays hero for St. Francis
Spread the loveBy Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Hannah Swiatek comes off the bench for the University of St. Francis and is averaging 3.1 points per game. But when called on for the biggest shot of her college career, the 5-foot-8 junior guard from Oak Lawn delivered. Swiatek scored the winning basket in a wild 99-97…
Evans, Adams lead Argo past Shepard on Alumni Night
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Corrspondent Argo’s Davonte Evans and Will Adams both knew it was just a matter of time before the Argonauts would find a way to beat Shepard. That time came in the third quarter of a South Suburban Red matchup, when Argo outscored Shepard en rout to a 61-52 on Jan.…
Cruz booted from SD 229 school board in Oak Lawn
Spread the loveBy Dermot Connolly There is a vacancy on the Oak Lawn Community High School District 229 School Board, after members voted 6-1 last week to remove Robert Cruz for allegedly violating his oath of office, school board policy and state statutes. Cruz, a property developer, was elected to the District 229 board in…
Tax exemptions will be automatic, Kaegi says
Spread the loveFrom staff reports In response to the ongoing pandemic, the Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office will continue the automatic renewal of the Senior Freeze, Veterans with Disabilities and Persons with Disabilities Exemptions. The Homeowner and Senior Exemptions will continue to auto-renew every year. If a homeowner received any of these five exemptions…
Oak Lawn officials rip governor, legislators over crime
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Two Oak Lawn officials are calling for Gov. J.B. Pritzker and local legislators to re-evaluate a police reform law that they say has resulted in a rise in crime. Trustee Alex Olejniczak (2nd) served as mayor pro-tem during the Oak Lawn Village Board meeting Tuesday night in place of Mayor Terry Vorderer,…
Troop 1441 Scout earns Eagle rank
Spread the loveFrom staff reports A journey that began years ago for Adrian Ayala recently culminated in Boy Scouting’s highest honor. Ayala, a member of Boy Scout Troop 1441 (sponsored by the St. Mary Star of the Sea Holy Name Society) was honored at an Eagle ceremony at Duggan Hall on Jan. 13. The Eagle rank…
Hog Wild to open Monday in Oak Lawn
Spread the loveBy Kelly White Dining choices will get a boost in Oak Lawn with the arrival of Hog Wild. The restaurant is scheduled to open Monday, January 17, at 4040 W. 111th St. That’s a week later than originally scheduled. “We are very fortunate here in Oak Lawn to have attracted Hog Wild,” Oak…
Neighbors
Capitol Briefs: Senate advances elections bill, measure targeting ‘predatory’ lending
By PETER HANCOCK & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – A bill that would put more controls on certain kinds of high-cost loans to small businesses cleared the Illinois Senate Thursday. Senate Bill 2234, known as the Small Business Financial Transparency Act, targets a relatively new kind of nontraditional lender in the credit…
Law enforcement community honors fallen officers at Illinois Capitol
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Six fallen police officers were honored at an annual memorial service outside the State Capitol Thursday. The Illinois Police Officers Memorial occurs annually on the first Thursday of May to honor officers who died in the line of duty and to support their families. “No one…
Democrats muscle through changes to ballot access, advisory questions
By JERRY NOWICKI HANNAH MEISEL & PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Supermajority Democrats in the Illinois House moved quickly Wednesday to push through a change to state election laws that partially limits ballot access and adds three nonbinding referendums to the 2024 general election ballot. It’s a move that caused minority party…
After 3 years, state poised to enforce law aiming to end lending discrimination
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois phancock@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – In 1977, then-President Jimmy Carter signed into law the Community Reinvestment Act, a federal law that sought to wipe away the last vestiges of racial discrimination and redlining in America’s home mortgage industry. The idea was simple. By requiring lenders – primarily banks – to make…
Capitol News Illinois partners with ‘Illinois Lawmakers’ program to bring it back to air
Capitol News Illinois announced today it will produce the long-running “Illinois Lawmakers” program this spring, in partnership with longtime host and producer Jak Tichenor. “This new partnership is absolutely critical to providing Illinois residents with reliable, independent, in-depth, up to date coverage from the Illinois Capitol after many newspapers and broadcasters shuttered their Statehouse bureaus over…
Election officials to weigh whether Darren Bailey and GOP operative Dan Proft illegally coordinated
By ANDREW ADAMS & HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com CHICAGO – A year and a half after Republican Darren Bailey lost his campaign to challenge Gov. JB Pritzker, state election officials are weighing whether he illegally colluded with conservative radio show host and political operative Dan Proft in the 2022 campaign. The State Board…
Immigrant advocates tout new report showing benefits of state-funded health plans
By PETER HANCOCK and JERRY NOWICKI Capitol News Illinois news@capitolnewsillinois.com SPRINGFIELD – Immigrant rights advocates on Friday continued to push for one of their top budget priorities: full funding for state-run health care programs that benefit noncitizens, regardless of their immigration status. Those programs offer health coverage for low-income individuals who would otherwise qualify for…
As state continues to inventory lead pipes, full replacement deadlines are decades away
By COLE LONGCOR Capitol News Illinois Clongcor@capitolnewsillinois.com Lead pipes in public water systems and drinking fixtures have been banned in new construction since 1986, when Congress amended the Safe Drinking Water Act, but they are still in use across the U.S. and in Illinois. The presence of lead pipes has persisted due in part to…
Capitol Briefs: State unveils report on racial disparities among homeless populations
By ANDREW ADAMS Capitol News Illinois aadams@capitolnewsillinois.com Tackling homelessness requires addressing racial injustice, according to a new report commissioned by the state’s Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. The report found that Black people are eight times more likely to experience homelessness than white people. Remedying this disparity, according to the report, would require “long-term…
Flooding is Illinois’ Most Threatening Natural Disaster. Are We Prepared?
by Meredith Newman, Illinois Answers Project April 16, 2024 This story was originally published by the Illinois Answers Project. The electricity in Mary Buchanan’s home in West Garfield Park was not working – again. The outage lasted four days, starting just after a crew dug up her front lawn to install a check valve in…