2005 7A Finals Preview

Saturday Nov 26th

Chicago (Mt. Carmel)(13-0) vs. Mt. Prospect (Prospect)(12-1) 4 pm

7A Playoff Bracket

Chicago (Mt. Carmel)
Mt. Carmel football. That phrase alone brings chills of joy and pain to thousands of high school football fans across the state. From alumni who follow their progress each year on our site to players who's last game ever may have come at the hands of the Caravan. Anyway you look at it, the team from south side is one of the few schools that year in and year out put Illinois on the map for high school football in this country.

On defense the Caravan are led by a sophomore when it comes to tackling. Inside linebacker Steve Filer (6'3 202) has stopped the oppositions forward motion on 97 different occasions this season. With a little help from OLB Ryan Glynn & Mark Oliver, who's 11 & 15 sacks have helped opposing QBs throw in a hurry, strong safety Derek Sulo has managed to pick off a few errant passes along with corner James Jefferies, who have added to the Caravan's 18 interceptions this year.

Larry Dortch is just one of the Caravan's offensive weapons.

Head coach Frank Lenti is one of the most respected coaches in the game in Illinois, and his supporting staff has the knowledge and motivation that most other schools would be happy with just half of.

Mt. Carmel & Prospect will be meeting for the first time on the football field in school history.

Mt. Prospect (Prospect)
The Knights are back in the 7A State Finals and they almost had a repeat of their 2001 & 2002 campaigns, until Edwardsville lost in the semi-finals last week to Chicago's Mt. Carmel.

Once again the Knights best weapon may be the teams discipline that they get from head coach Brent Pearlman. After becoming the head coach at Prospect, Pearlman has made the semi-finals 4 out of his 7 years. And with 2 titles under the schools belt, has brought them out from being the perennial homecoming opponent to football power house.

As usual the Knight have been winning without the big name division 1 players that are at some of the other schools this year, but then again, we're sure Prospect will take a chance to play in the title game with their 5'9 170 running back Evan Daniel and their offensive line that doesn't have a player weighing over 230 lbs.

Daniel and the Knights have still managed to rush for over 2,600 yards this season and option QB Matt Bowman has over 1,700 total offensive yards as he is a threat to run or pass on an opposing defense.

Tony Bacatti, Pat Burton & Pat Mack are the heart of the Knights defense and part of the reason that Prospect has only allowed 10.6 points a game.

Kicker Andrew Butkus is 8-12 on field goals this season and with a 47 yarder already under his belt, his leg could be the difference in a game that most likely will be more of a defensive match up.

He may only be 5'9 & 170 lbs, but Prospect's Evan Daniel has tore up 1,300 yards on opposing defenses this year.