Every year the Mount Carmel’s varsity football team sets out to become state champions, but for this year’s Caravan team that goal was ended by a 7-0 loss at Glenbard West in the second round. However, the Caravan still had a chance to finish its season with a victory and earn a Prep Bowl ring.

On Friday, November 27, the Caravan defeated Curie 49-15 behind five rushing touchdowns by senior A.J. Ries, improving its record to 10-3. With this win the Caravan can boast a record 14 Prep Bowl titles.

In order to qualify for the Prep Bowl championship, the Caravan first had to get by St. Rita’s Mustangs. With light snow falling on Friday, November 20, the Caravan beat St. Rita 7-6 thanks to a blocked extra point attempt by Mount Carmel’s Terrell Greer.

The Prep Bowl, which in the past was played at Soldier Field, was viewed as a great opportunity by Head Coach Frank Lenti. “The Prep Bowl allows our seniors to be together for a few more weeks, and our younger guys have the opportunity to get an extra few weeks of practice.”

However the Prep Bowl is not what it once was. Before 1974, when the state playoffs started, the Prep Bowl was the biggest game in town. Over 125,000 people came out to the 1937 Prep Bowl between Leo and Austin high school, one of the largest crowds at a sporting event ever.

Although as a student Lenti was told he was “too small to play football,” Lenti still can recall his junior year when the Caravan played in the 1967 Prep Bowl vs Dunbar, “It was the first Saturday in December, and the atmosphere there was amazing.”

Over the years Mount Carmel has been in 18 prep bowls and currently holds a record of 14-3-1; Lenti has been a part  of 5 Prep Bowls going 5-0 in his career.

In recent years, participation in the Prep Bowl tournament has been limited to Chicago public and Catholic teams that either do not qualify for the IHSA playoffs, or bow out within the first two rounds of playoff competition.  Consequently, Lenti is often asked how he gets his team motivated to play after a disappointing playoff loss.

For Lenti the answer is simple: “18 teams are still practicing (in the final week of the season); 16 for the state championship and 2 for the Prep Bowl. And only 9 teams can end the season on a win.”  This year, one of those was Mount Carmel, the Prep Bowl champion.

In fact, four of the last five seasons have ended on Thanksgiving weekend for the Caravan. The only year the team was not playing was last year, when the Caravan suffered a  semi-final loss to Providence in the state playoffs.

Since the University of Illinois and Northwestern University  had a game on the November 28, this year’s Prep Bowl was held at Gately Stadium, which Lenti felt made for a special experience.  “The seniors had a great chance to play their final game at their home stadium. Most classes don’t have that chance, so this is special.”

(Staff Writer Jake Gurgevich also contributed to this article.)