'Dog' tag: Mount Carmel wears it well, topples No. 1 St. Rita
September 15, 2007
By Tim O'Reilly
It's not often Mount Carmel is an underdog on the football field, but that was the case heading into Friday's showdown with longtime rival St. Rita before a capacity crowd at Gately Stadium.
In the week leading up to the Catholic League Blue contest, Mount Carmel coach Frank Lenti made sure to use the "underdog" tag to his advantage.
"We told the kids the pressure is on (St. Rita)," Lenti said. "We told the kids everyone is coming out to see how good St. Rita is, so let's show them how good Mount Carmel is."
That's exactly what the No. 3 Caravan did during an impressive 35-19 dispatching of the No. 1 Mustangs.
After St. Rita grabbed an early lead, Mount Carmel's option offense took control of the game behind an inexperienced offensive line (Joe Kogut, Tim Houghton, Mike Husar, Andrew Lang and Joe Ramos) that came into its own. Edwin Williams (12 attempts, 89 yards) collected three touchdowns, scoring on runs of 7, 41 and 4 yards.
Avenging last year's 7-6 loss to the Mustangs (3-1, 0-1), Mount Carmel (4-0, 2-0) leads the all-time series, which began in 1924, 56-27-2, and has won 18 of the last 21 encounters.
"They took advantage of more opportunities than we did," St. Rita coach Todd Kuska said. "I thought we would make more plays than we did. The good thing is it's Week 4 and not Week 13."
St. Rita jumped out to a 6-0 edge with 8:08 left in the initial quarter on a 6-yard touchdown run by elusive quarterback Jason Kafka (22 attempts, 136 yards; 3-of-11 passing 74 yards). An extra-point kick by Steve Flaherty was no good, the ball hitting the left upright.
A 40-yard sprint on a reverse by Dan Dispensa (5 attempts, 37 yards) helped set up the first score, which capped a four-play, 50-yard drive.
Mount Carmel took advantage of a St. Rita miscue en route to assuming a 7-6 lead with 8:57 left in the second period. Eight plays after St. Rita's Dave Marciano muffed a punt, the ball recovered by Mount Carmel's Jordan Morgan, the Caravan reached pay dirt via a 7-yard run up the middle by Williams. A kick by A.J. Nichols gave Mount Carmel the edge.
The Caravan's eight-play, 48-yard drive included a 13-yard swing pass from Jordan Lynch (5-of-9 passing, 69 yards; 13 carries, 43 yards) to Tim Brown (3 receptions, 33 yards; 16 carries, 84 yards) on a third-and-8 and a 23-yard pass from Lynch to Brent Butler on a fourth-and-7.
With 6:33 left before halftime, Mount Carmel went up 14-6 after a 41-yard TD burst by Williams, who ran up the middle and slipped a couple of tackle attempts. Nichols added the kick.
The Mustangs cut their deficit to two points with no time left on the clock in the first half on a 69-yard interception return for a TD by the speedy Dispensa, who picked off a halfback-pass attempt by Brown. A St. Rita 2-point attempt was snuffed out by the Caravan's Lawrence Henning (5 tackles), who wrapped up Kafka in the backfield.
Mount Carmel extended its lead to 21-12 with 8:28 left in the third quarter via a 58-yard interception return for a TD by linebacker Steve Filer (6 tackles) and a kick by Nichols.
"I've been waiting my whole high school career for that," Filer said of his return TD. "We wanted to get revenge for our brothers who lost last year. It was nice being the hunted and not the hunter."
After the turnover, the Mustangs started driving again, going 80 yards in four plays, the capper a 25-yard TD pass from Kafka to Dan O'Neill with 6:37 left in the third. Kafka had runs of 16 and 35 before the TD and a kick by Flaherty.
The Caravan didn't take long to increase its lead again, making it a 28-19 game after an amazing run by Lynch, who appeared to be stopped a couple of times before breaking free for a 47-yard TD. The score completed a four-play, 71-yard drive. Nichols added a kick.
Down 28-19, the Mustangs drove to the Caravan 30 before turning over the ball on downs. On a fourth-down play, Henning tackled Dispensa at the line of scrimmage. Dispensa injured his leg on the play, but Kuska said he believed the two-way back would be OK.
Mount Carmel put the game away with a textbook march that covered 70 yards in 13 plays. A 4-yard TD run by Williams capped the drive. Nichols added a kick, making it 35-19 with 5:35 left in the game.
After the TD, Mount Carmel linebacker Jeremy Johnson (6 tackles) deflected a Kafka pass into the hands of defensive back Keith Nunez.
Defensive leaders for St. Rita included linebackers Martin Hopkins (8 tackles) and Ken Stoklosa (7 tackles) and lineman Darius Fleming (7 tackles).
