Just as they did in 2006 and 2008, the Mount Carmel Caravan and the Lincoln-Way East Griffins went head to head in the IHSA high school playoffs on Saturday, November 15, with the game once again ending in a Caravan victory.  Now MC moves on to face CCL Blue rival Providence Celtics in the semi-finals  Saturday at noon at Gately Stadium. Despite a slow start to the season that included a 30-14 loss to the Celtics in week 3, and barely making the playoffs for the first time in 29 seasons, the Caravan look to stay hot at the right time.

Mount Carmel’s defense was dominant, accumulating eight sacks and holding Liam Morrissey (Griffin’s running back) to only 43 yards. After orchestrating a 17-play, 78-yard drive, Lincoln-Way East jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but after tying the game early in the second quarter, the keys to the Caravan win became ball-control, effective defense, and taking advantage of two Lincoln-Way East penalties to keep alive drives that led to touchdowns.

The Griffin’s first mistake came in the second quarter with a roughing-the-punter penalty just outside the Caravan’s end zone, which led to a 46-yard touchdown run by  junior quarterback Anthony Thompson that gave MC a 14-7 led.  Another 1-yard sneak by Thompson 40 seconds into the fourth quarter followed a pass interference penalty call on fourth down.

Anthony Thompson finished the game 7-for-10, 110 yards with one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns. Anthony Ries, junior running back, had 20 carries for 80 yards. The one negative in th game was an early injury to junior running back A.J Lewis, who went down with an apparent knee injury.  However, senior running Jaquan Buntyn, (seven carries for 25-yards) stepped up to help the Caravan offense control the ball and seal the victory.