One week after rallying for a last-minute win over Paris, Mt. Carmel won another Little Illini Conference thriller on Friday night, coming from behind again to knock off Olney in overtime. Those wins have thrust the undefeated Golden Aces into sole possession of first place in the league standings, with three weeks left in the regular season.
Here’s a recap of what went down in Week 6:
Mt. Carmel 38, Olney 30 (ot)
Quarterback River Deisher scored on the third play of overtime to give Mt. Carmel the lead, then the Golden Aces stopped Olney on its’ OT possession to earn a come-from-behind 38-30 win in a battle of LIC unbeatens. Olney had scored 13 unanswered points for a 30-22 fourth quarter lead, before Mt. Carmel tied things at 30 with 7:26 left on a 7-yard pass from Deisher to Shain Meador and a 2-point conversion. Olney had a crack at the win in regulation, but Mt. Carmel blocked a 35-yard Levi Hefferman field goal attempt with 1:20 left. Hefferman had already booted a 38-yarder in the second quarter for Olney. Deisher rushed for 152 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries. Olney quarterback Owen Cycholl threw for 148 yards and 3 TD’s on 14-of-24 accuracy.
Newton 35, Paris 29
Newton running back Maddox Horner took a direct-snap and scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:19 to go to rally the Eagles past Paris 35-29. It was Horner who also got the rally started by catching a 61-year scoring pass from Hayden Mulvey with 17 seconds left in the third quarter that tied the game at 29-all. Paris came within an eyelash of pulling off a miraculous finish when quarterback Drew Rogers scrambled for a 56-yard run to the Newton 4-yard line with 25 seconds left. But, the Tigers ran out of time. Horner rushed for 103 yards and scored four TD’s on the night. Mulvey finished with 227 yards in the air. Rogers led Paris on the ground with 146 yards on 20 carries. Tigers quarterback Drew Kirby was 5-of-9 in the air for 158 yards and one TD.
Casey-Westfield 13, Marshall 6
Marshall scored first, but Casey-Westfield held them off the board for the rest of the night as the Warriors rallied for a 13-6 triumph in the latest installment of the Clark County Civil War. Quarterback Luke Brodie put Marshall in front with a 6-yard TD pass to Silas Dean with 8:37 left in the first period. Casey-Westfield countered with 10 points in the second quarter, on a 30-yard field goal by Wyatt Erickson and a 48-yard touchdown pass from Carter Stinson to Jett Self. That made it 10-6 at the half, and Casey-Westfield finished the scoring with a 53-yard field goal by Erickson in the fourth frame (the longest kick of the year in the LIC). It was mostly a defensive battle, with only 282 yards of total offense between both teams. Casey-Westfield’s Nick Fouty had 106 yards on the ground on 29 carries.
Robinson 19, Lawrenceville 16
Robinson rallied from behind, then held off Lawrenceville down the stretch for a 19-16 victory, bringing the Maroons back to the .500 mark on the season. Lawrenceville led, 8-3, at the end of the first quarter, before Robinson rallied for a 12-8 halftime lead. A third period touchdown put Robinson ahead to stay, 19-8, but Lawrenceville scored a TD with a 2-point conversion to cut the deficit in the fourth quarter.
Some of the statistics used in this report are unofficial. This story will be edited as more information becomes available.
