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Football: Mount Carmel too strong for Simeon in Prep Bowl
Updated: November 25, 2011 5:04PM
Mount Carmel’s Brandon Greer drove into second gear in the second half to help lift the Caravan past Simeon 34-20 in the 78th annual Prep Bowl Friday at Soldier Field.
Greer rushed for 137 yards and two touchdowns in the second half as the Caravan (10-4) defeated Simeon for the second time this season.
“We just had to work on some things,” said Greer, who finished with 221 yards on 26 carries and was named MVP. “We went into the locker room and our coach [Frank Lenti] got on my butt and he got on the offensive line. We came out pretty well in the second half.”
“We weren’t getting enough movement in the interior,” Lenti said. “We told the kids that we would set the tempo in the first five minutes. We did exactly that.”
Simeon (10-4) was in control until quarterback Robert Gregory injured his right ankle in the first quarter.
Gregory (6-for-11, 91 yards) threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Cywettnie Brown on the Wolverines’ first possesion to put them ahead 7-0.
Simeon then drove to the Mount Carmel 5-yard line, but Gregory fumbled and Derrick Bryant Jr. recovered for the Caravan. Gregory injured his ankle on the play and did not return.
Don Butkus Jr. threw touchdown passes of 39 yards to Jason Gasser and nine yards to Frank Kelly to give Mount Carmel a 14-7 lead with 3:48 left in the first half.
“I don’t get many opportunities,” said Butkus, who finished 4-for-7, 92 yards. “So when I do, I try to take advantage of them.”
Simeon responded on its first play from scrimmage when quarterback Elcee Burke, who replaced Gregory, connected with Paris Ratliff (four receptions, 127 yards) with a 79-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-13.
Greer’s second-half rushing helped the Caravan regain momentum. Greer had touchdown runs of 35 and one yards to help Mount Carmel open a 27-13 lead with 7:21 left in the third quarter.
Burke (11-for-23, 205 yards) kept Simeon in the game. The junior threw 12-yard touchdown pass to Brown (nine receptions, 140 yards) to close to 27-20 with 11:54 to play.
But that was as Simeon would get. Butkus clinched the game with a one-yard run with 56 seconds to play.
“They (Simeon) are a very good team,” Lenti said. “The thing I like best about our team is that they showed character. We were down early and came back. We never quit.”
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