Jack Elliott, Cooper Lehman connection leads Mount Carmel past Nazareth, 56-33

CHICAGO – Mount Carmel senior quarterback Jack Elliott knew senior wide receiver Cooper Lehman was set to have a big game sometime early this season.

That big game came Sept. 13.

Elliott and Lehman built a strong bond playing 7-on-7 football together that continued to grow once Lehman transferred to Mount Carmel this summer. The duo showed off their playmaking ability Friday night, connecting for 265 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Caravan past Nazareth 56-33.

[ Photos: Nazareth at Mount Carmel in Week 3 football ]

“He’s ready to go,” Elliott said after the game with a smirk. “This was a breakout game.”

The two were featured in a game that ended up becoming an offensive shootout pitting the two-time defending Class 5A champion Roadrunners against the two-time defending Class 7A champion Caravan. It was the first time the two programs had met since Mount Carmel defeated Nazareth in the 2019 Class 7A state championship game.

With a back-and-forth game, Mount Carmel’s defense knew it needed to make a stop. Senior Le’Javier Payne intercepted a pass with 5:52 left in the third quarter but the Caravan failed to score.

Mount Carmel (2-1) got another chance a few possessions later. With the Caravan up 42-33 at the start of the fourth quarter, junior Stephen Winkler intercepted Nazareth senior quarterback Logan Malachuk with 11:53 left in the game. Elliott then connected with Lehman for a 49-yard touchdown pass to steal the game’s momentum and give Mount Carmel a 49-33 lead with 9:41 remaining.

“We needed somebody to step up,” Winkler said. “I’m young, so I decided to step up myself. We had to turn it away somehow.”

The heroics came on a night when Mount Carmel’s offense exploited the Roadrunners (2-1) with the deep ball. Elliott completed five passes that were longer than 30 yards.

Elliott completed 17 of 25 attempts for 426 yards and six touchdowns to go along with 37 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Lehman had 265 receiving yards and two touchdowns, sophomore Quentin Burell had 70 receiving yards and two touchdowns and Danyil Taylor Jr. rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown to go along with a receiving touchdown.

Winkler also scored on a long pass.

“We knew Nazareth was a great offense, but we knew we were going to get our job done. We were going to beat them,” Lehman said. “As long as we did our job, we were going to win and that’s what we did.”

The Roadrunners’ offense didn’t disappoint either. Malachuk completed 16 of 35 passes for 200 yards and five touchdowns. Jake Cestone had 111 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

But Mount Carmel became too difficult to overcome after the interceptions.

“I just wanted to see my team demonstrate toughness, effort and resiliency. I definitely witnessed that tonight,” Nazareth coach Tim Racki said. “Obviously the second half got away from us but you have to give credit to Mount Carmel. They’re a tremendous football team.”

Both teams will start division play in Week 4. Mount Carmel will host St. Ignatius on Friday. Nazareth will host IC Catholic on Friday.

Each team wanted to see how it stacks up against one of the state’s best. Mount Carmel was happy to pick up a win over Nazareth.

“It’s awesome to be a part of this,” Winkler said. “Our boys worked hard for this. We obviously earned it.”