Rock Island coach Vic Boblett offered the most accurate assessment of his team’s Class 5A quarterfinal game against Mt. Carmel.
“It was just a good old butt-kicking,” Boblett said.
It was Mt. Carmel that did the kicking, handing the Rocks a 42-0 defeat Saturday at Gately Stadium. The Caravan (11-1) scored 35 points in the first half en route to its third consecutive playoff shutout and a semifinal matchup with Oswego.
“It’s a credit to the entire group to not give up any points in three playoff games,” Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti said.
Although the Caravan defense was at its best, holding Rock Island to 58 total yards in the first half, it was the offense that led the rout.
Quarterback Brad Cozzie, taking advantage of a Rock Island defense geared to stop running backs Don Dorham and Marty Quinn, rushed for 97 yards before halftime. Cozzie capped Mt. Carmel’s 11-play, 80-yard opening drive with an 18-yard touchdown run. Cozzie shook off an interception to find tight end Joe Gildein for an 11-yard touchdown pass and a 14-0 Mt. Carmel lead.
“I was just taking what (Rock Island’s) defense gave me,” Cozzie said. “We did a good job of sealing the end and they kept picking up the pitch man on the option. Once I got outside it became a footrace.”
On the first play after a fumble recovery by linebacker Kareen Timbers, Cozzie found wideout Mike Wilson for a 30-yard score. Mt. Carmel’s special teams then had some fun, as defensive back Stan Mucenski blocked a punt and returned it 5 yards for a score.
The Caravan defense harassed Rock Island (10-2) quarterback Bryce Palar into a 1-for-8 performance. Eric Harshbarger and Matt Piotrowski each intercepted Palar, while linebackers Andrew Curran and Frank Hutchinson recorded Mt. Carmel’s two sacks.
Dorham, who finished with 108 yards rushing in 15 carries, capped the first-half barrage with a 1-yard dive in the final seconds.
Pat Rooney.
Providence 13, Rockford Boylan 10: For a quarter, at least, it looked as though the much-anticipated Providence-Mt. Carmel championship matchup in Class 5A might not be possible.
Rockford Boylan jumped out to a 10-0 after the first quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Matt Callahan and a 32-yard field goal by Eric Morales.
Then the Providence defense went to work.
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The Celtics (11-1) intercepted three passes and got just enough offense to earn a berth in next week’s semifinals against Marian Catholic.
Kevin Rigsby put Providence on the board with 9:14 left in the first half with a 4-yard run. Rigsby rushed 28 times for 149 yards on the day.
Providence grabbed the lead in the third quarter. An interception by Brian Glynn gave the Celtics the ball at the Rockford 34. Pat Flynn eventually connected with Luke Lokanc on a 19-yard TD strike. Providence missed the extra point, however, and it almost proved costly.
Boylan (11-1) had one final attempt at the end of the game and was facing a fourth and 4 from the Providence 20 with less than a minute to play. But with a strong wind blowing in Morales’ face, Boylan coach Bill Thumm decided to go for a first down instead of a field goal. Providence held and ran the clock out.
“To have to kick at the 20 would have been a 37 yard kick and that’s not realistic with the wind the way it was,” Thumm said. “You can’t make turnovers against a quality team (and) you can’t allow a good back (Rigsby) to have that kind of day.”
Marian Catholic 49, Glenbard South 7: Mike Gavin completed 5 of 10 passes for 104 yards and threw three TD passes to guide Marian Catholic (9-3) into the semifinals. Teammate Deon Bradley gained 188 yards in 17 carries, scoring on runs of 4 and 9 yards and catching a touchdown pass.
Ted Karagias and Quentin Sykes each had two sacks for Marian, which led 35-7 at the half.
“We knew if we came out fired up they wouldn’t know what hit them,” said Tom Bijak, who rushed for 101 yards. “I think we come from a much tougher conference than they do and we wanted to prove it. We were able to run the ball up and down the field.”
With Marian, Providence and Mt. Carmel winning games Saturday, the Catholic Metropolitan Blue has three teams advancing to next weekend’s 5A semifinals.
Glenbard South finished 8-4.
Class 3A
Montini 22, Yorkville 21: Montini scored 15 fourth-quarter points to rally past Yorkville and earn a semifinal berth.
Mike Bosellino’s 3-yard scoring run with 3:27 remaining and Pat Pfluger’s extra point proved to be the game-winners for Montini (9-3). After trailing 21-7 at the half, Montini dominated possession in the second half, keeping the ball for 18:30 of the 24 minutes.
But Montini was unable to captalize. Twice in the third quarter, Yorkville denied Montini on fourth-and-goal. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Broncos were able to turn possession into touchdowns.
Quarterback Pete Mastandrea ran 1-yard for a touchdown and then hit Billy Krisch for the two-point conversion with 7:28 remaining to cut the Yorkville lead to 21-15. Before the TD run, Mastandrea had been effective with his arm, completing 24 of 33 for 315 yards. In the second hald alone, Mastandrea was 13 of 18 for 192 yards. He also rushed for 54 yards and didn’t throw an interception.
Montini then pinned Yorkville deep in its own end on the ensuing possession and took over on the Yorkville 29 after a 19-yard Yorkville punt.
“We were at odds with each other at halftime, and that could have killed us,” Mastandrea said. “But everybody concentrated on their own job a little better, and I think that’s why we were able to execute at the end.”
The victory spoiled a fine day by running back Dan Niles, who scored all three of Yorkville’s touchdowns. After rushing for 55 yards in the first half, Niles was held to just 10 in the second.
Krisch, aside from catching seven passes for 84 yards and the key two-point conversion, intercepted a pass in the Montini end zone on the final play of the game to seal the victory.