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Mount Carmel rushes past Brother Rice
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Updated: September 24, 2011 10:15AM
Brandon Greer and Mount Carmel’s well-oiled rushing machine was in fine form Friday night. And whenever Brother Rice got momentum, the Caravan was quick to respond with a big play.
Greer ran for 239 yards and three long touchdowns on 14 carries and No. 3 Mount Carmel was unhurt by a sloppy, wild fourth quarter in a 35-24 win over the No. 23 Crusaders in a Catholic League Blue game at Gately Stadium.
“I’ve got give credit to my O-line,” Greer said. “They open it up and once I hit the secondary, I try to put the ball in the end zone. I’m just trying to do my part.”
After Greer’s 51-yard touchdown run helped send Mount Carmel (5-0, 1-0) into the fourth quarter with a 35-16 lead, Brother Rice (3-2, 0-2) made things interesting late.
Rice capped a 22-play, 98-yard, 7:50 drive with a one-yard touchdown pass from Matt Page — who replaced injured starter Pat Parrilli late in the first half — to James Gannon, Martez Walker’s two-point run made it 35-24, and Kevin Salmon recovered an onside kick to give the Crusaders the ball back with 6:40 to go.
But Frank Kelly intercepted a Page (7 of 20 passing, 70 yards; eight carries, 55 yards) pass intended for Walker at the Caravan 1-yard line with 4:52 to go.
“We were in man-to-man coverage, but I saw the wheel play coming and I knew they were going to go to Walker,” Kelly said. “So I switched off my guy and luckily, I was in the right place at the right time.”
Rice had one last chance after a wild sequence that saw the Caravan go for and convert a fourth-and-one from its own 10 on a Greer run with 3:25 left but Rice get the ball back when Draco Smith (16 carries, 63 yards) fumbled in the Crusaders end zone.
The Crusaders, though, turned the ball over on downs.
The Caravan grabbed a 21-3 lead in the second quarter on touchdown runs of 3 and 23 yards by Don Butkus and a 46-yard jaunt to pay dirt from Greer, but Martez Walker’s 89-yard kickoff return touchdown gave Rice life.
Greer responded with a 25-yard run for a score and Rice turned the ball over inside the Mount Carmel five in the closing minute of the half.
Andrew Walker ran 14 times for 88 yards and a touchdown for the Crusaders.
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