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Sunday,
December 1, 2002
Caravan defense turns away BHS'
chance for momentum
By Randy Kindred
Assistant sports editor
CHAMPAIGN -- The momentum which had eluded Bloomington High
School much of the day was a yard away. Pick it up, and the Purple
Raiders would be inside the Chicago Mount Carmel 30-yard line with a
strong wind at their back.
The 10-0 deficit that was so ominous in the first quarter suddenly
seemed manageable midway through the third period.
However, on fourth-and-1 at the Caravan 31, BHS junior tailback James
Wade was thrown for a four-yard loss on an attempted run to the right
side.
Mount Carmel then drove 65 yards in six plays for a touchdown,
building a 17-0 cushion that grew into a 31-0 victory Saturday in the
Class 6A state championship football game at Memorial Stadium.
"It was my fault. It was a call that perhaps should not have been
made," BHS coach Rigo Schmelzer said. "We go with the tailback
into the strength of formation. They slant into it, we don't do a good
job of picking up (line) backers and the play gets stuffed.
"If we go with the first back through ... you deal with all kinds
of 'what ifs.' But it doesn't always come down to one play. I think there
were some plays on the front side and the back side of that play where if
we had done a better job, who knows?"
BHS senior quarterback Andre Brown said had the Raiders converted the
fourth-and-1, "It could have been a very pivotal point in the
game."
"But they got an excellent push, they brought backers and they
were able to bring James down," Brown said. "Like Coach said,
maybe if we had gone with the first back through or something else, we
would have got it. But that's just how the game seemed to be today."
The "first back through" was senior fullback Damon Mehlberg,
who said he was confident BHS was "going to score and take it from
there."
"They just put 11 helmets on the ball and stopped us,"
Mehlberg said.
The Caravan limited BHS to 86 yards of offense. Yet, Mount Carmel
could not pull away to its record-tying 10th state title until late in
the third quarter.
Mount Carmel marched 71 yards in 10 plays on its first possession to
take a 7-0 lead. Moments later, a turnover at the BHS 17 set up a field
goal and a 10-0 cushion.
However, the Raiders adjusted their defense and stopped Mount Carmel
on fourth down three times the rest of the half.
"We went to our Joker package ... four down linemen and two
defensive ends," said senior tackle Andrew Kernes. "We really
stack the middle and require them to block our down tackles before they
get to the linebackers.
"I think they had trouble with our big defensive tackles, having
to double-team (block), and then our backers could make plays."
BHS blanked Mount Carmel the entire second quarter and until 1:41
remained in the third. But in that stretch, the Raiders punted three
times and were stopped on the fourth-and-1. One punt came after a long
pass by Brown was tipped and nearly caught by senior Eric Esch at the
Mount Carmel 17.
"Eventually, there was no enthusiasm from the crowd or the
sideline because we weren't getting anything going on offense," said
Esch, a receiver/defensive back. "The defense started to wear down
and we started to play a little sloppy."
The defensive leader was senior linebacker Noah Wyatt, whose 15
tackles were one shy of the Class 6A title-game record.
A press box announcement indicated Wyatt had tied the mark of 16 by
James O'Connor of Loyola Academy in 1992. However, the official
statistics later listed him with 15 -- seven solos and eight assists.
"They pretty much ran the ball to my side, so it was pretty easy
to do that," Wyatt said. "They were so tough. They had big
linemen and they'd come out and really hit you.
"It feels really good to get this far. But it would have been
better if we would have won."
Mehlberg called it "a heck of a season," adding, "It
stinks that it didn't go our way, but we gave it our all."
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