Thirty-five years after their only previous meeting, Midwest football powers Mount Carmel and Cincinnati Moeller renewed their rivalry on Aug. 30.
The rematch was worth the wait.
Nathan Samuels scored from 2 yards out on the last play of the fourth quarter and Emmett Dowling hit Quentin Burrell for the decisive two-point conversion, giving Mount Carmel a stirring 43-42 win in its season opener in Ironton, Ohio.
In 1990, the teams met on the banks of the Ohio River at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. The Caravan won 20-7 en route to an undefeated 14-0 record and a Class 5A state championship.
Mount Carmel has won a state-best 16 IHSA championships while Moeller has nine Ohio state championships.
While the names of the players may have changed in the three-plus decades, both programs are still among the best in the country.
“It was a great win,” Burrell said via text. “We are a team and a family. We played great (Saturday) and we had each other’s backs.”
Dowling completed 25 of 43 passes for 382 yards and four touchdowns, and also ran for 64 yards in his debut as Mount Carmel’s full-time starter. He started one game last year while serving as the backup to Jack Elliott, who threw for 7,101 yards and 87 TDs in winning back-to-back state titles in 2023 and 2024. Elliott is now at Vanderbilt.
“When adversity hit, we didn’t back down,” Dowling said via text. “We came together as a team which is why this group of guys is so special.”
Dowling also received an ample amount of help in defeating the Crusaders. Samuels found the end zone while running the ball as did teammate Madden Wilson, who scored from the 1 yard out. Victor Friar also contributed a key blocked punt in the fourth quarter to swing the momentum back to the Caravan.
Burrell finished the game with two TD receptions, including a 14-yarder with four minutes remaining in the second quarter to give Mount Carmel a 21-14 advantage. The duo of Dowling and Burrell later collaborated on an 18-yard TD toss in the third quarter.
Dowling also threw a 16-yard TD to Marshaun Thornton in the first quarter. The game was tied at 21-all at halftime.
“It felt amazing to get an opportunity to make that play for my teammates in a big moment in the game,” Friar said via text. “It was something that we had worked on this (past) week and it was great to see it pay off.”
Moeller (1-1) took a 42-35 lead when quarterback Matt Ponatoski threw a TD pass with 1:17 to play in the game.
Ponatoski, who will play football and baseball at Kentucky, led the Crusaders to a 14-2 record last season and a berth in the OHSAA Division I final while winning the Mr. Football in Ohio award.