Carmel wears down St. Viator to win CCL/ESCC Purple opener

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Carmel leaned hard in St. Viator Friday in Arlington Heights.

Carmel wore Viator down and dominated play in the second half as the Corsairs cruised past the Lions 28-14 in the CCL/ESCC Purple opener.

Carmel (4-0, 1-0) is off to its best start since 2010 when it opened its season with eight consecutive wins. The Corsairs broke away from a 7-7 tie at the half, scoring three touchdowns, including two in the final quarter, to put the game away.

They also dominated the action, running 72 plays to Viator’s 29.

“We came out in the second half and played true to who we are,” Carmel coach Jason McKie said. “We started figuring them out. They did some things that we did not see before.”

Carmel had a 16-play, 66-yard drive early in the third quarter to pull ahead for good. Kyle Lynch scored on a 3-yard run to make it 14-7.

Carmel then used its huge offensive line of Tommy Lamberti, Kristan Coleman, Anthony Ruscitti, Jackson Reasoner and Logan Zupancic to wear down the Lions.

Phillip Goodrich scored on a 1-yard run and Lynch had a 14-yard run to make it 28-7.

“We came out in the second half and played hard,” said Lynch, who had 21 carries for 127 yards. “Our O-line came out and blocked hard on every single play.”

Carmel and quarterback Jonathan Weber (22 of 28, 238 yards) had an impressive drive to put the Corsairs up 7-0.

After a St. Viator punt, Carmel took over at its own 1-yard line. The Corsairs then drove 99 yards in 10 plays with Weber completing 6-of-7 passes for 97 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Del Re.

St. Viator then came up with a pair of plays to get the Lions back in the game.

Ethan Angst came up with a huge interception to thwart a Carmel drive. Two plays later Charlie Dolsen connected with Nicky Pastore for a 67-yard catch and run that set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Michael Nix to tie the game at 7-7 with 7:18 left in the first half.

The Carmel defense, led by Nicholas Junge, Blake Wendt, Harlon May, Kwintin King, Phillip Goodrich and Trent Zimay, stymied St. Viator in the second half.

The Lions did finally break free late in the game and scored on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Dolsen to Nix to cut the lead to 28-14 with 1:48 to play.

St. Viator recovered the ensuing onside kick. But May ended the threat with an interception to seal the win.

“I thought we came out firing,” St. Viator coach Dave Archibald said. “I was proud of the first half effort. Not that were lacking effort in the second half, we just didn’t execute.”

https://football.dailyherald.com/sports/20220916/carmel-dominates-st-viator-in-2nd-half