Coming into Friday night’s game, Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti had talked about his team’s inconsistent play–even though the sixth-ranked Caravan entered the contest against No. 5 Providence undefeated in the Catholic Metro Blue.
Rest assured Lenti knew what he was talking about because the Caravan struggled mightily with its inconsistent offense. But when it came down to it, Mt. Carmel produced a staggeringly consistent result–another victory over Providence. This time, the Caravan needed overtime to edge the Celtics 21-18 before a full house at Providence.
It was the fourth consecutive time Mt. Carmel (6-1, 5-0) has defeated Providence (6-1, 4-1). And in the process, the Caravan took a big step closer to wrapping up its 11 straight conference title. Now, that’s consistent.
But it wasn’t easy. The Caravan was outgained 341-107 in total offense and its longest drive was 16 yards. But it capitalized on a 90-yard kickoff return in the first half by Rocky Angone and a Providence fumble on a punt that set up another score late in the fourth quarter.
In overtime, Mt. Carmel’s defense held Providence to 2 yards before Matt Gross kicked his second field goal in about a minute, this one a 24-yarder to give the Celtics an 18-15 lead. The Caravan responded on its drive by giving Donald Dorham three straight carries, capped by a 3-yard blast to give the Caravan the victory.
“The thing I like what the kids did was show a lot of character,” Lenti said.
With only five first downs in the game, Mt. Carmel managed to take the lead on one of Providence’s few mistakes. Trailing 12-7, the Caravan was forced to punt with 6:30 left in the game. But Providence fumbled the punt and Tony O’Hara recovered it on the Celtics’ 15-yard line. Four plays later John Mulchrone punched it in on a 1-yard dive, and then connected with Enrique Cook for the two-point conversion, giving the Caravan a 15-12 lead with 5:30 remaining.
Providence converted two key fourth-down plays in its final drive of the game, including a big fourth-and-4 pass from Steve Quigley to Martin Reiter for a 9-yard gain, moving it to Mt. Carmel’s 9. The Caravan’s defense didn’t budge after that, and forced Gross, who had attempted only one kick all season, to hit a 25-yarder with 24 seconds left to tie it.
Quigley completed 21-of-33 passes for 227 yards.
