Just for a moment, put yourself in Rocky Angone’s shoes.
You are a 5-foot-7-inch, 155-pound defensive back for Mt. Carmel, and Joliet Catholic’s 6-8, 292-pound tight end Mike Kolodziej just caught a pass and is heading straight at you.
In one fearless motion, Angone tackles the player he calls “the Sears Tower” all by himself.
Angone is later confronted by 6-3, 230-pound All-State running back J.R. Zwierzynski, who is bigger than any of Mt. Carmel’s defensive starters. One-on-one, and Angone wins again.
On Saturday, before an overflow Gately Stadium crowd of 8,500 that included ex-Bear Tom Thayer and Boston Celtics forward Antoine Walker, the little guys from No. 2 Mt. Carmel toppled the giants from No. 1 Joliet Catholic 35-21. The defeat snapped Joliet Catholic’s 29-game winning streak, which had been the state’s longest.
Once all the seats were filled nearly an hour before kickoff, stadium officials locked the gates. The remaining spectators stood outside both end zones peering through the fence.
They witnessed a classic football game.
Angone and secondary mates Nick Orlando, J.P McGlynn and Brett Barnes gave tremendous run support even as a defensive front led by Brian Murry outquicked the Hilltoppers’ offensive line, which averages nearly 270 pounds per man.
“It’s not how big you are, it’s how big you play,” Angone said. “I’m half the size of [Kolodziej and Zwierzynski]. I had to stay low, go right at them and be as strong as I can for my size.”
Mt. Carmel’s economy-sized backfield of 5-9, 210-pound Greg Owens and 5-5, 155-pound Tom Brown ignited the Caravan’s option attack. Owens broke loose for 156 yards in 22 carries and scored on runs of 32 and 21 yards. Brown had 15 carries for 113 yards and one TD.
The more heralded Zwierzynski gained 108 yards in 20 carries and scored a touchdown but was dogged all afternoon by the Mt. Carmel defensive backs along with linebackers Niall Campbell and Tom Treadway.
“Their speed on defense bothered us, and they hit us with some blitz schemes early,” said Joliet Catholic coach Dan Sharp. “Mt. Carmel was the better team today, but I was proud of the way our kids battled back.”
Leading 7-0 at halftime, Mt. Carmel (2-0) erupted for three touchdowns in a span of 4 minutes 16 seconds of the third quarter. First came a spectacular 63-yard touchdown pass from John Mulchrone to Chris Goffer.
Almost four minutes later, Owens scored from 32 yards out. On the next play from scrimmage, Campbell scooped up a Zwierzynski fumble and returned it 24 yards for the touchdown and a 28-0 lead.
Joliet Catholic (1-1) charged right back. Zwierzynski scored from the 1 late in the third quarter and Chris Gruber broke away for a 53-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.
Brad Sing recovered an Owens fumble at the Caravan 27, and six plays later, quarterback Craig Tomasino hit Brett Hettman with a 4-yard TD pass to cut the lead to 28-21.
Mt. Carmel responded with a nine-play drive culminated by Owens’ 21-yard TD run. Any further comeback aspirations were ended by Dan Brown’s interception.
“It’s not a good idea to put us in the position of the underdog,” said Caravan coach Frank Lenti, who earned his 200th victory. “The last two years when we lost to Joliet Catholic, we were the favorites and showed up with a wait-and-see attitude. They’re way too good a team to do that.
“Today, we came out fighting.”
