Matt Miller needed to dig deep into his playbook to give St. Ignatius a chance to win the CCL/ESCC White title.

The Wolfpack trailed Fenwick 21-19 with a minute and half left in the game and faced third-and-17 with no timeouts. St. Ignatius had the wind behind it but a 50-yard field goal seemed too risky and Miller wanted to pick up a first down but didn’t have too many plays to choose from for this situation.

He chose a hook-and-ladder play he added to the playbook late in the week.

Quarterback Jack Petrow completed a pass to Clement Cary, who immediately tossed it over to a streaking Thomas Bloss. The senior sprinted down the sideline to score and give St. Ignatius a 26-21 lead, its first of the game.

“I figured we needed something and decided to pull the trigger,” Miller said. “It worked out.”

The Wolfpack defense held on for one last stop and St. Ignatius won its first outright division title under Miller with a 26-21 win.

St. Ignatius wanted revenge Friday after suffering its first loss of the season to Fenwick last year, losing the White title as a result. Winning on a trick play only added to an electric win.

“It’s definitely something these kids will never forget,” Miller said. “It’s winning a championship, for one, that’ll go on a banner in the gym for the rest of time, and you etch your name into the history books. But then the way that it happens is even more unforgettable and cool for the kids to always have that memory.”

The Wolfpack finished the regular season at 7-2 and earned the No. 4 seed in the top half of the Class 6A bracket and will host Deerfield on Friday. St. Ignatius doesn’t have too much experience playing Deerfield or any Central Suburban League team, but Miller knows both teams will be motivated to take their next steps as growing programs.

“They want to take the next step just like we want to in the playoffs,” Miller said. “They’ve had a nine-win season, a 10-win season, so I’m sure that they’re looking forward to playing us too.”

Caravan show off depth in Dupree’s absence

Mount Carmel showed off its depth when starting running back Darrion Dupree didn’t play in the second half against Loyola on Saturday because of an injury.

The Caravan overcame a 24-14 halftime deficit to win 42-37 thanks to different players stepping in with Dupree’s absence.

“When one person goes down, we have another person to fill the spot,” Alonzo Manning II said. “We’re very versatile, we know what to do when we face adversity like we did today.”

Quarterback Blainey Dowling rushed for 30 yards and a touchdown in the second half while wide receiver Denny Furlong added rushing 30 yards. Manning II totaled 17 yards in the second half while Damarion Arrington added 7, both rushing in a touchdown each.

Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said Dupree should be fine for the Caravan’s Class 7A playoff opener against Buffalo Grove on Saturday, but he’s happy to have depth if anything happens to any player.

“I just had to step, show my talents and make sure the team gets the win,” Manning II said. “Just play ball.”

Ramblers look at the tape

Loyola coach John Holecek was quick to look how to get better after the Ramblers fell to Mount Carmel on Saturday.

“You want to watch the tape and see all the plays that we gave them,” Holecek said. “You always feel regret after a game when you don’t come out on top. I thought the kids believed in themselves, it was a good first half, but the third quarter was a disaster and we need to see why. The wind and momentum was obviously some of it.”

The Caravan came back after trailing 24-14 at the half. Mount Carmel scored 21 points in the third quarter and took advantage of field position, scoring after taking over at the Loyola 23 after a punt return from Furlong and the Loyola 15 after Ramblers quarterback Jake Stearney fumbled.

The team scored on its third drive of the third quarter after taking over on its own 46.

Holecek thought plays like when Jack Elliott faked a punt on fourth down in the fourth quarter were the difference. Although the Ramblers were in their usual defense with a punt returner in for a free safety, Loyola couldn’t get a tackle on Arrington and the Caravan picked up a first down. Mount Carmel went on to score and take a 42-30 lead.

Loyola will try to learn from the tape quickly and use it to its advantage in the Class 8A playoffs.

“There’s a ton of things that coaches and players can learn from this game, knowing what we were doing well and what they were doing to us,” Holecek said. “It’s a learning experience for sure. I think our players and coaches will take a lot from this film.”

St. Rita’s early tests leads to success

St. Rita defensive lineman Pat Farrell hopes his team replicating last season’s start and finish will lead to a successful playoff run.

The Mustangs started 1-2 for the second consecutive season, with the two losses both years coming against Mount Carmel and Loyola. The Mustangs followed a similar path and finished the regular season 7-2, earning the No. 12 seed in the Class 7A playoffs and an opening matchup with Geneva on Friday.

Mount Carmel won the opener against St. Rita, 35-3, and then Loyola took down the Mustangs, 34-14, in Week 3. While Farrell wanted to win both games against the top two teams in the state, he thought losing early in the season helped his team develop into the playoff team it is now.

“It was really important to see where we were starting out, what we could become after that,” Farrell said. “Going into those games you know it’s going to be a struggle and dogfight right away. We went in there with the same mindset every single game, but we didn’t come on top in those two games. I feel like it really helped us come out as a team that we have a loss but we’ll come out on top at the end of the regular season.”

In the Mustangs’ seven games excluding Mount Carmel and Loyola, St. Rita’s defense held opponents to an average 10.7 points per game while the offense averaged 32.3 points per game. Now St. Rita will try to win a state title after losing in the 7A title games the last two playoffs.

Coach Todd Kuska thinks his team has found its way throughout the regular season thanks to a couple early lessons.

“It just gets you ready for the playoffs and that’s why we have success in the playoffs,” Kuska said. “We’re hoping to continue that this year.”

Niles Notre Dame’s quick rushing adjustments

Niles Notre Dame will try to quickly learn what to do when an opponent takes away the line of scrimmage after St. Rita negated anything on the line Friday.

The Dons finished with 24 rushing yards in the game, most of those yards picked up on Niles Notre Dame’s final drive when the Mustangs essentially secured the win.

“They took away the line of scrimmage,” Niles Notre Dame coach Mike Hennessey said. “They put seven, eight guys in the box and it’s very difficult for us to run the ball. We were able to get the ball to the outside with our passing game, but sometimes with the pressure they gave us, we were limited in what we were doing.”

Hennessey’s offense quickly adjusted after going three-and-out on its first drive and the Dons called 18 running plays, six of which came on their last drive. Niles Notre Dame did move the ball well in the air, quarterback Vincenzo Ricciardi completed 12 of his 33 passes for 205, yard Hennessey knows his team will need to making adjustments in the run game if Antioch takes away the rush in their opening Class 6A playoff game Friday.

“It’s always about doing better and being positive about it,” Hennessey said. “There’s a lot to learn but we’re happy with where we’re at.”

CCL/ESCC playoff numbers

Thirteen CCL/ESCC teams qualified for the playoffs this year, two more compared to last year. It’s the second-most teams to qualify from the mega-conference since it formed in 2019; 16 teams qualified in 2019.

Mount Carmel (9-0), Loyola (8-1), St. Rita (7-2), Joliet Catholic (7-2), St. Ignatius (7-2), Marist (6-3), Niles Notre Dame (6-3), Carmel (6-3), Nazareth (5-4), Brother Rice (5-4), Fenwick (5-4), Providence (5-4) and St. Viator (5-4) all qualified for the postseason. All four teams in the CCL/ESCC Blue are in the playoffs while the CCL/ESCC Green had three teams.

No CCL/ESCC will play each other in the first round.