The Purple Raiders had been manhandled by Chicago Mount Carmel in the Class 6A state championship game, managing six first downs and 86 yards of total offense in a 31-0 loss.

Saturday, the room was the same.

The feeling?

That was a bit different following a loss to No. 1-ranked Mundelein Carmel in the 6A title game.

A disastrous, turnover-filled fourth quarter had resulted in a 54-26 defeat at Memorial Stadium. But prior to the late collapse, the Purple Raiders had a 26-25 lead in the third quarter against a team ranked 13th nationally by USA Today.

"I think we showed a lot of people in those first three quarters that we can play with anybody," said senior fullback/linebacker Justin Harrison. "We played the best three quarters this team (Carmel) has ever seen.

"Our offense really didn't get stopped today. We stopped ourselves with the fumbles. They just capitalized on our mistakes."

The Raiders had eight turnovers, including five in the final 13 minutes.

On the plus side, BHS piled up 422 yards of total offense to 322 for Carmel, and had 18 first downs, four more than the winners.

"We gave these guys all we had. It wasn't like they were dominating us," said senior tailback James Wade, who rushed for 192 yards on 26 carries.

"We got points on the board and we gave them a game. At halftime, they had to be thinking, 'OK, we could lose this.' Overall, I'm very proud of our team."

The Raiders trailed 19-14 at the half despite three first-half turnovers. They led 20-19 and again at 26-25 in the third quarter, the final time with 2:40 left in the period.

But 12 seconds after BHS regained the lead, Carmel's Mike Serio scored on a 91-yard kickoff return, putting the Corsairs ahead for good at 32-26.

BHS lost five fumbles from that point on.

"When that kickoff came, you could tell all the air came out of our fans and out of us," said senior flanker Brandon Hughes, who scored on a 71-yard run and 53-yard pass reception.

"We still fought. But the fact is, we had eight turnovers. We would move the ball, move the ball, then all of a sudden, a fumble comes. I don't even remember half of them."

Wade and his offensive teammates were still trying to catch their breath when Serio went the distance.

"We hadn't been off the field a minute, and we had to go back out there and try to drive it down their throats again," Wade said.

"We weren't expecting that, and we got a little too worried about making plays instead of just doing what fundamentally works. It took us away from our game plan."

The ensuing turnovers compounded the problem, especially for the defense. Three of the fumbles set up Carmel at the BHS 35-, 17- and 6-yard lines.

The Corsairs took advantage behind an offensive line which averaged 251 pounds. BHS' defensive front averaged 193.

"I think late in the fourth quarter when our emotions started to fall, their size really started to matter," said Harrison, a University of Illinois recruit as a strong safety. "They started pushing us around a little bit.

"You start to get tired. There's not enough water on the sideline. The emotion couldn't carry us any further. Our hearts couldn't carry us any further. But we gave it our all today."

Hughes said the loss "hurts," but added, "We had a great season. We're going to have great memories from this team."

Junior lineman Erik Miller also treasured the experience, saying, "I remember my freshman coach (Drew Moore) told us we would be here our junior year. I didn't believe him then, and I didn't believe it at the beginning of the year. But it's an awesome feeling to be here."

Contact Randy Kindred at rkindred@pantagraph.com.