On Saturday, November 30, the Mount Carmel Caravan football team completed a perfect 14-0 season by defeating the Nazareth Roadrunners 37-13 in the IHSA 7A State Championship game.  The contest, held at Huskie Stadium on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, was played under adverse weather conditions that undoubtedly favored the Caravan’s ground game, and disrupted the Roadrunner’s vaunted passing attack.

Led by Coach David Lenti’s suffocating defense, and effective play by quarterback Justin Lynch and running back Kenenna Odeluga, the Caravan brought an end to what previously had been a perfect season for Nazareth Academy.

The victory marked the 13th state championship for Caravan football, and the first under Head Coach Jordan Lynch.  It also represented the 24th IHSA state championship for Mount Carmel, with other trophies having previously been earned for water polo, wrestling, baseball, basketball, and hockey.

The school celebrated the accomplishment and honored the team with an assembly on Monday, December 2.  The celebration continued on Tuesday morning, when hundreds of students, faculty, and parents came to school at 6 a.m. to participate in a remote broadcast of the Channel 26/WCIU morning news program “The Jam.”