10/15/2022
BY JACK BULLOCK
MOUNT CARMEL - Mount Carmel junior quarterback Blayne Sisson had a near perfect afternoon on Saturday.

The 5-11 play caller completed all 12 of his passing attempts for four touchdowns and he ran for four other scores as the Golden Aces passed perhaps their toughest test of the season against a non-conference Northern Invader.

Sisson ended up with 305-yards in the air and an additional 148-yards on the ground on 20-carries in the Mount Carmel 62-38 victory over Woodstock Marian Central Catholic on Saturday afternoon at the Snake-Pit.

His prime targets on the afternoon; teammates Andrew Gillihan and Asher Kight, snagged nine of those completions representing two TD's apiece as the Golden Aces remained unbeaten.

Gillihan, a 5-11 junior wide out, caught seven passes for 163-yards and a pair of scores while 5-10 junior Kight added two catches for two TD's and 117-yards total.

Seniors Gage Kennard (two catches, 17-yards) and Gavin Smith (one catch, eight-yards) were the other targets from Sisson on the day as the Aces now sit at 8-0 on the season.

“We are blessed with good, skilled players. Blayne Sisson, Gage Kennard, Andrew Gillihan and Andrew Kight are all great players and we have other kids that can step up,” said Mount Carmel head coach Michael Brewer.

Coach Brewer wanted a good test in the last two weeks of the season in scheduling and he got one with the Hurricanes from the north suburbs of Chicago.

Marian Central Catholic, who play an independent schedule, is now 2-6 but don't let the record fool you.

They have played good teams and they have skilled players who put up good numbers against Mount Carmel.

Coach Liam Kirwan, in his first season at the helm, has a big-time college prospect in 6-5, 230 senior Christian Bentancur.

According to Rivals.com Bentancur is the #2 ranked player in Illinois, #4 ranked tight end in the nation and #101 ranked player in America.

Six-three senior quarterback Cale McThenia threw the ball around the yard on Saturday, completing 29-of-49 passes for 368-yards and four TD's.

Bentancur was his main target, catching eight passes for 185-yards and two of the touchdowns.

Three other receivers for the Hurricanes caught passes.

Senior WR Christian Stavroplos caught 10-passes for 89-yards, senior Jack Schmid added six-receptions for 39-yards and junior Rylan Dolter ended up with five receptions for 50-yards.

“It was a great test for us. We got to see a team that wants to spread you out and throw the ball all around like you would see in the playoffs,” said Coach Brewer. “They presented a lot of challenges for us. Even playing two kids on Bentancur on every snap, sometimes he still got loose. I thought we held up pretty well playing man coverage and we managed to get a pass rush. Those were kind of the things we needed to do defensively.”

It might be difficult to believe by looking at the score but the Mount Carmel defense played pretty well.

It showed up on the stats of Marian Central Catholic when they tried to run the ball.

McThenia rushed for 95-yards on 24-attempts, with two other runs by Bentancur and Schmid netting just 15-yards total.

This added up to just 110-total yards on the ground with the longest run being 14-yards by McThenia.

The Marian Central Catholic quarterback was sacked four times on the afternoon and was harassed on nearly every play.

Coach Brewer has seen his club dominate the Little Illini Conference again this season on a league winning streak that has reached 19 consecutive victories counting the Covid19 spring season.

Other than this year's Richland County game, most of the league games have been decided by halftime.

Saturday afternoon, however, the Aces regulars had to play the whole game, which is a plus for Mount Carmel heading into the playoffs.

The game began like most of the Aces' triumphs this season.

After taking the opening kick, Sisson led his club down the field on a quick 59-yard, six-play scoring drive.

The QB accounted for 15-yards rushing and a 26-yard scoring strike to Gillihan in the right corner of the endzone.

Junior kicker Shade Loudermilk booted the extra point for a 7-0 Mount Carmel advantage with 8:52 left in the first quarter.

Marian managed a first down on its opening drive but they were stopped when the Aces defense came up with one of their many big plays.

Senior defensive back Cole Broster dived in front of a fourth-down pass to break up what would have been a first down.

“Cole (Broster) stepped up and played fantastic in coverage today,” said Coach Brewer. “Levi Beasley is another of our skilled players who played well on defense. The credit goes to our kids today. We prepared well, they were in good spots made great plays.”

The only time that the Hurricanes stopped Mount Carmel on downs occurred on the next drive when a fourth down pass completion from Sisson to Kennard came up just inches short (measurement) of the yardage needed at the Marian CC 18.

After forcing a three-and-out and a punt, Mount Carmel quickly scored.

Consecutive runs by Sisson (27-yards and nine-yards) got the Aces to the six-yard line.

It took four plays but Mount Carmel scored on a Sisson 1-yard run for a 14-0 lead with 11:26 left in the second quarter.

Bentancur showed why he is attracting major college attention on the next Hurricanes possession.

A 65-yard drive culminated in a 47-yard touchdown pass from McThenia to the 6-5 senior.

Bentancur caught a pass on the left side of the field and maneuvered through and around Mount Carmel defenders for the first points of the contest for the Hurricanes.

A halfback option pass from junior back Tyson Jakubowicz to Bentancur close the gap to 14-8.

(CONTINUED)
That, unfortunately for MCC, was their final highlight of the first half.

It took just two plays for the Aces to score again.

Facing second-and-10 at their own 41, Sisson dropped back and found Kight all alone on the left side of the field coming out of the backfield.

Kight sprinted 59-yards down the sideline for a touchdown.

Although the PAT failed, Mount Carmel was up 20-8 at the 9:44 mark.

After getting stopped after getting the ball back, a good punt by MCC pinned the Aces back at their own 15.

Coach Brewer's club then put together a long drive for points.

After three first downs on runs by Sisson and Kight along with another Sisson/Gillihan completion, Sisson ran the same play that scored the previous touchdown.

This time it was Gillihan that ran the same sort of route and found himself as open as his teammate was before.

This time the pass and catch accounted for 41-yards for a touchdown with 1:25 remaining in the first half.

A Loudermilk PAT banked off of the left goal post and through for a successful kick and a 27-8 lead.

Disater struck the Hurricanes on its next possession as Sisson intercepted a McThenia pass to set up the Aces on the MCC 34.

Another Sisson to Gillihan completion, a juggling catch and run for 27-yards, put the ball at the seven.

Sisson took care of the rest with a pair of runs for a TD.

A missed PAT left the score at 33-8 with just :10 left.

After a short kick was recovered by Marian CC, McThenia was intercepted on the final play of the half by defensive back Gavin Smith as the Hurricanes trailed at the break.

The good news for Marian Central Catholic is that they managed to put together drives for scores in the second half.

The bad news was that they couldn't keep the Aces from moving the ball and scoring.

A 65-yard drive on eight-plays ended with a 15-yard McThenia to Bentancur TD pass to open the second half.

Another two-point conversion run (McThenia) got the 'Canes to within 33-16 with 8:35 left in the third.

But as it had happened throughout the contest, Mount Carmel answered every score.

After a rare failed play, with Sisson getting sacked on a roll out for a nine-yard loss back to their own 24, the Sisson/Kight combo struck paydirt again.

Another pass to the left side turned into a 76-yard TD pass.

Kight raced down the sideline and cut back to avoid a tackle for a score.

Another PAT made it 40-16.

The Hurricanes scored enough points to keep things moving but they never got the defensive stands they needed.

Another McThenia pass, this time to Schmid, resulted in a 25-yard score with a failed PAT pass.

Two plays was all it took for Mount Carmel to pad its lead.

A Sisson to Smith pass for six-yards and a 44-yard run by Sisson added to the totals.

Another Loudermilk boot made it 47-22.

McThenia led an eight-play, 71-yard drive with the final three plays being quarterback keepers.

The last one was a one-yard score with 1:31 left.

A pass from McThenia to Dolter for the conversion cut the lead down to 47-30.

MCC finally got a stop, forcing the Aces to punt.

The 47-yard kick pinned the Hurricanes back on their own seven.

After a run and a pass setup a third-and-one at the 16, McThenia ran across the middle and fumbled.

Kight recovered at the MCC 20.

Despite a holding penalty on its next drive, Mount Carmel got another TD run.

Kight took a hand off from Sisson and ran the final 14-yards down the right sideline for a score.

The PAT pushed the lead to 54-30.

“Defensively we were great in the first half but in the second half I don't know if we were running out of gas or not. But we gutted it out and got the stops late when we needed to,” said Coach Brewer. “We were able to keep the cushion and answer each of their scores.”

Each team scored once more to close out the scoring.

A four-yard pass from McThenia to Stavropolos with a PAT run by Bentancur.

A onside kick by MCC was recovered by Hurricanes' senior Joe Simon near midfield.

But on fourth down, a pass from McThenia was broken up by Broster again.

The senior, who has been through some health issues and wears a clubbed cast on his left hand, was a big defensive help for the Aces on Saturday.

After an unsportsmanlike penalty on the MCC bench, Sisson closed the game scoring on a 32-yard TD run and then a two-point conversion.

The Aces defense closed the book on the win with an interception by Smith on a halfback pass from Bentancur in the final seconds.

Mount Carmel will host Mount Vernon next Friday night in the season finale.

The Rams would be entering the final week at 6-2 but Coach Dan Mings' club had to forfeit two of their early wins because of an administration error concerning an ineligible player.

Instead Mount Vernon is 4-4 and in need of a win for a potential playoff berth