Caravan 'D' stalls Stevenson

Mount Carmel's Milton Greer runs against Stevenson.
(Art Vassy/SouthtownStar)

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Markell Brown and the Mount Carmel defense heard the talk all week that they needed to step up and deliver.

With No. 10 Stevenson facing a fourth-and-3 with just over a minute to go, a big rush by Brown forced an incompletion and gave the No. 17 Caravan a 23-16 victory in the second round of the Class 8A playoffs Friday night at Gately Stadium.

“I talked to the defense and Markell about being consistent,” Mount Carmel coach Frank Lenti said. “Tomorrow, these kids can read the paper about how they got this upset.”

The Patriots fumbled the opening kickoff. It was caused by Craig Fagan and recovered by Randy Berryhill to give Mount Carmel (8-3) the ball at the Stevenson 5 and two plays later quarterback Chris Sujka ran it in from a yard out for a 6-0 Caravan lead.

“That put us in great position,” Lenti said. “And the kids were good enough. With the records and the seeds, this was a nice upset.”

“I just knew that I had to do something,” Brown said. “We knew they were not going to quit, and when it got close, we had to make big plays.”

“They were the higher seed,” Sujka said. “And when you start, like we did, by getting a fumble, it gets us wound up.”

On Mount Carmel's next possession, a 25-yard field goal from Eric Calleros, a recent pickup from the soccer team, made it 9-0.

Stevenson’s deepest drive in the first half was halted on a third-down sack by Nathan Ollie. After a punt Mount Carmel drove 88 yards in 10 plays capped by a 2-yard scoring run by Milton Greer with 27 seconds to play in the half to go up 16-0.

Denzel Thompson had runs of 16 and 40 yards in the drive. The ensuing kickoff was recovered by Lavell Southern.

Stevenson (10-1) got on the board in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Matt Harris. A two-point conversion made it 16-8.

But an interception by Jack Sherlock on Stevenson’s next possession led to a 15-yard touchdown run by Greer and a Calleros kick made it 23-8.

Stevenson answered with a 13-yard scoring run by Harris. A two-point conversion pass from Kevin Earl to Nathaniel Johnson cut the deficit to 23-16.

The Patriots drove down the field before Mount Carmel’s defense made its big stop on a fourth-and-3.

“This was big,” Thompson said. “We’ll watch tapes and see what we did wrong, but winning has a big upside, like a game next week. Stevenson has a great offense and sure, we were all nervous down the stretch.”

Stevenson rushing leader Mark Weisman was held to 72 yards on 11 carries.