Friday Night Takeaways: Mt. Carmel vs St. Ignatius

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Top ranked Mt. Carmel traveled to St. Ignatius for a road test in the Catholic League on Friday night.&nbsp; It was much closer than many expected as Mt. Carmel led by just six points with 40 seconds left in the half.&nbsp; The game completely went to the Caravan after that as they won 41-14.&nbsp; Very interesting game with a ton of prospects to look at as we dive into here in <strong>Friday Night Takeaways: Mt. Carmel vs St. Ignatius</strong>!</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>#1 2027 WR Burrell DOMINATES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Last week we saw a show by a young wide receiver and that was the case again this week.&nbsp; On Friday night Mt. Carmel junior wide receiver [player_tooltip player_id='432197' first='Quentin' last='Burrell'] was an absolute monster!&nbsp; He got whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it!&nbsp; Burrell has everything you could want as a #1 receiver at the next level with speed, strength, body control, hands, and game breaking ability.&nbsp; On the first drive he caught a pass breaking it for a long gain.&nbsp; Then next pass he caught a short route in motion and sprinted in for a 41 yard score.&nbsp; Two catches for 80+ yards in less than a minute.&nbsp; Then he would go on to grab an 82 yard touchdown on a go route where he adjusted to the ball in the air, made defensive back miss, and housed it.&nbsp; His third score of the game came on an 82 yard kickoff return right after St. Ignatius scored to take the life out of the crowd.&nbsp; He ran right down the middle of the defense like they weren't there and juked the kicker for the score.&nbsp; Also caught a handful of possession type catches throughout the night where he showed strength and shake after the catch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Dowling, More Weapons, and Offensive Line</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While Burrell rightly so will get the headlines the senior getting him the ball deserves a lot of kudos as well.&nbsp; Class of 2026 quarterback Emmett Dowling has been outstanding early in the season after taking over for a legendary Caravan QB.&nbsp; Dowling showed zip on his passes, accuracy consistently on quick passes, downfield arm strength, pocket presence, and the ability to run it.&nbsp; He threw for two scores and ran for a pair more showcasing his mobility as a running threat on a pair of 15 yard and 1 yard scores.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='401609' first='Jamari' last='Brown'] is a smooth wide receiver that is slippery with the ball after the catch.&nbsp; Makes short passes into long gains with his ability to make others miss.&nbsp; Was good going over the middle.&nbsp; The offensive line gave Dowling plenty of time to throw the majority of the night.&nbsp; Nebraska commit left tackle [player_tooltip player_id='1417782' first='Claude' last='Mpouma'] was a complete wall as the #2 overall prospect in the 2026 class is a mountain of a man that is super light on his feet as a pass protector.&nbsp; [player_tooltip player_id='283927' first='Lamont' last='Miller'] at left guard, center [player_tooltip player_id='1585147' first='Declan' last='Gill'], right guard [player_tooltip player_id='801990' first='Tim' last='Harkins'], and right tackle Chase Clark were very good protecting all game.&nbsp; Outside of a few QB runs they didn't do much in the run game which is an area to improve on moving forward.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>After slow start Caravan Defense Settles In</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It took a little bit for Mt. Carmel to get going on the defensive side after St. Ignatius had a sustained drive early to set the tone even though they didn't score on it.&nbsp; They were definitely able to run the ball in the first half, but in the second half the Caravan tightened things up and the stars stepped up.&nbsp; Really liked what we saw from top 10 junior defensive back [player_tooltip player_id='476341' first='Tavares' last='Harrington'].&nbsp; The rangy safety was flying to the ball all night long making tackles in space.&nbsp; Also had a few passes defended down field.&nbsp; He had a big play in the 4^th quarter recovering a fumble on the 1 yard line and going 99 yards for the touchdown to extend the lead even more.&nbsp; Linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1598821' first='Roman' last='Igwebuike'] is a disciplined linebacker that has athleticism, speed, range, and a ton of instincts.&nbsp; Did a nice job of diagnosing the running attack as the game went along.&nbsp; Up front the Big 3 weren't able to show what they do best which is get after the QB, but they contributed against the run as each of [player_tooltip player_id='270192' first='Braeden' last='Jones'], [player_tooltip player_id='1682021' first='Caleb' last='Tucker'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1538329' first='Joey' last='Quinn'] had their moments taking up blockers or making the tackles themselves.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Iggy Triple Option Kept it Close</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Ignatius is a triple option team which is a great offense against Mt. Carmel.&nbsp; First of all it takes up clock keeping their offense off the field if you can matriculate the ball down the field which they did at times in this game.&nbsp; Second it takes away the clear advantage of their pass rushers.&nbsp; Senior signal caller Danny Howard took a pounding, but he kept going making solid reads throughout the night in the option game making pitches, carrying it himself, or handing up the middle.&nbsp; Their best back was Robbie Connor.&nbsp; The strong bodied back runs behind his pads and follows his blocks up the middle as he had a pair of touchdowns from 5 yards and 1 yard.&nbsp; Side backs Ryan Russell, JP Rydz, and [player_tooltip player_id='1865423' first='Connor' last='Hites'] each showed some speed to the outside on plays throughout the game.&nbsp; Hites also had a knockout hit on the defensive side on a wide receiver over the middle separating him from the ball.&nbsp; St. Ignatius' offensive line was undersized, but they played assignment football and got down low on the Caravan massive defensive line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mistakes Didn't help Iggy</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>For St. Ignatius to keep it close they needed to run the ball and control the clock which they actually did very well.&nbsp; The other two were finish the drives and limit mistakes.&nbsp; That's where the problem came in.&nbsp; On the first drive they racked up an array of first downs, but were stuffed on 4^th and short.&nbsp; Then there was a bad interception where [player_tooltip player_id='1617582' first='Dean' last='Kemph'] of Mt. Carmel picked it off then had a nice run back including trucking a defender leveling him on the return himself.&nbsp; The punter dropped the ball down by the goal line for a super short field and then Harrington had a 99 yard scoop and score when St. Ignatius was about to cut into the lead.&nbsp; Penalties at key times crushed them as well.&nbsp; They would seemingly get a stop defensively or have a big play on offense and then the flag would come out to negate it.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>New Prospects Emerge</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Several new prospects jumped on our radar in this game.&nbsp; Let's start with a St. Ignatius 2028 EDGE player in Jayden Logan.&nbsp; The 6'0” 225 pound pass rusher got to the QB really the only two times on the night for a strip sack along with another sack on 4^th down.&nbsp; Showed some burst off the edge and potential.&nbsp; Even more Mt. Carmel defensive lineman to look out for!&nbsp; Class of 2026 nose guard [player_tooltip player_id='1115378' first='Jeremy' last='Harris'] goes 6'0” 300 pounds and he had a big stop on the first possession getting in the backfield and not allowing the drive to continue.&nbsp; Showed flashes along with 2027 EDGE Darrin Graham who at 6'5” 220 pounds has an awesome frame and a ton of physical upside with his athleticism.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->