CHICAGO – Two fumbles that ended good drives and a touchdown on the second-half kickoff helped Chicago Mt. Carmel to a 29-19 win over East St. Louis in the quarterfinals of the IHSA Class 7A football playoffs Saturday evening at Chicago’s Gately Stadium.
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The Caravan, now 11-1. eliminated the Flyers for the second consecutive year at the same site. Mt. Carmel defeated East Side in last year’s matchup 21-18. The Flyers finish the season at 9-3.
Flyers running back Treven Swingler had a good game, running for 75 yards on 10 attempts, while sophomore quarterback Tyler Macon was 13 of 25 passing for 164 yards and two touchdowns. Macon also ran for 53 yards and a touchdown, while DeMonta Witherspoon ran for 53 yards on 10 carries.
East Side played without their top receiver, Lawuan Powell, Jr., who was out with an ankle injury.
The Flyers had two good drives stopped due to fumbles that were recovered by the Caravan, and on the second, Mt. Carmel scored 41.7 second from halftime that made the score 10-0. Eddie McGee then took the second-half kickoff 84 yards for another touchdown that made it 17-0.
East Side struck back on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Macon to Antonio Johnson to make it 17-7 with 7:04 left in the third, but Mt. Carmel quarterback Rad Premovic took off on a 63-yard touchdown run on the next possession to extend the lead to 23-7.
Macon found Kenneth Cotton for a 38-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter, but could not get closer as the Caravan won 29-19.
Mt. Carmel will go up against St. Charles North (9-3) in the semifinals next weekend; date and kickoff time will be announced by the IHSA office on Monday afternoon. The finals are set for Nov. 23-24 at the University of Illinois’ Memorial Stadium in Champaign-Urbana.
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