Five Rock Island turnovers lead to loss
to Mt. Carmel
By Marc Nesseler, Sports editor
November 23, 2002 10:01 PM
CHICAGO -- In order to get past nine-time state champion Chicago Mt. Carmel in the
Class 6A football semifinals at Gately Stadium on Saturday, Rock Island coach Vic Boblett
knew his team had to play flawless football.
Mt. Carmel's Caravan, though, made the Rocks' attack look more like clawless football,
forcing five turnovers -- two interceptions and three by fumbles.
The Caravan turned the first four into touchdowns en route to a relatively easy 48-20
victory and a trip back to the state title game, next Saturday in Champaign.
``We went 11-2 and won our sixth straight Western Big 6 title; it's been a great year
for us,'' said RI coach Vic Boblett. ``But to get back to the state title game (the Rocks
were a 5A runner-up in 1997), we knew it would be difficult and that we'd have to go
through Mt. Carmel.
``The five turnovers took any chance we have out the door.''
With the Rocks unable to dodge the Caravan offense -- Greg Owens (finishing with 171
yards on 13 carries) running 38 yards for a touchdown and quarterback Dan O'Brien hitting
Frank Lenti for a 24-yard strike, Mt. Carmel coasted to a 14-0 first-quarter lead. When
RI's offense got untracked with a 10-play drive to the Caravan 12, its first interception,
in the end zone, spelled a worse deficit. It was 21-0 after Owens' second of three TDs.
RI finally got on the board with 15 seconds left in the first half. Another long drive,
15 plays for 76 yards, culminated with Waylond Ryan leaping over both lines from one yard
out.
Ryan, the Rocks' most dangerous offensive threat with his state track-and-field speed,
didn't have a carry in the second half. Netting 52 yards on 12 first-half carries, he hurt
his left knee returning a kickoff with the Rocks down 41-7. He walked off the field after
the game in a full-leg immobilizer.
``We felt like it should have been 21-14 at the half,'' Boblett said. ``We were able to
move the ball. We'd have the wind (in the third quarter). And then we get a stop,''
forcing Mt. Carmel to punt from midfield to start the second half.
That's when the turnover bottom fell out.
-- RI returners Brandin Smith and John Saldana collided on the punt, and the Caravan
pounced on the loose ball at the RI 12. Two plays later, it was 28-7.
-- On the ensuing kickoff, the ball thumped returner Dillon Smith in the facemask.
``And he's such a reliable kid,'' Boblett said of the oddity of the turnover. Getting the
ball at the 25, it took just one play, a second TD pass to Lenti, for Mt. Carmel to make
it 35-7.
-- On RI's only play in the first 8 1/2 minutes of their wind-aided third quarter, an
interception set up O'Brien's third TD pass.
The Caravan had turned three turnovers into 20 points in a span of four minutes. It
made RI's final two second-half scores -- a 34-yard yard pass from Tom DeBroeck to Brandin
Smith and a two-yard run by Saldana -- nothing but scoreboard dressing.
``We always emphasize that the giveaway/takeaway ratio is one of the keys,'' said
Boblett. ``We needed one of those games where we won the giveaway/takeaway number by two
or three to have a chance to knock them off.''
Even then it might have been tough. Mt. Carmel, which takes a 12-1 record to Champaign,
outrushed the Rocks 337-164. Even deep reserve Bill Smith had a 70-yard touchdown run late
in the game.
``This was our second-place game,'' Brandin Smith told his Rocky teammates. ``I believe
Mt. Carmel will take state.
``Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.''
Copyright 2001, Moline Dispatch
Publishing Co. |
