Losing to the Lynch-pin

Lincoln-Way East quarterback Spencer Stanek (right) scrambles away from the Mount Carmel rush Friday night in a 34-31 loss. The elusive Stanek rushed for 57 yards.
michael r. schmidt/staff photographer

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FRANKFORT -- Anyone who doubted Jordan Lynch's selection as the Chicago Catholic Blue player of the year should have been at Lincoln-Way East High School on Friday night.

The Mount Carmel senior quarterback was Mr. Everything as the Caravan escaped a Class 8A second-round playoff game that would have been worthy of playing in the state finals in Champaign on Thanksgiving weekend.

Lynch engineered three scoring drives in the second half as Mount Carmel overcame a 24-17 halftime deficit to beat Lincoln-Way East 34-31 and advance to next weekend's quarterfinals, where Marist, a 28-25 overtime winner over Naperville North, will be the opponent.

Lynch rushed for 183 yards in 27 carries out of the Caravan's belly-option offense. And when East changed up defensively to slow down the run, he completed four straight passes in a 63-yard scoring march that put Mount Carmel (9-2) ahead to stay 31-24 late in the third quarter.

But as adept as the three-year starter was, he needed every bit of those heroics to overshadow East senior quarterback Spencer Stanek.

After Mount Carmel's Nikko Rodriguez kicked his second field goal from 25 yards out to extend the lead to 34-24 with 7 minutes 7 seconds left, it appeared the Griffins were in dire straits. But that lasted all of one play as Stanek hit Eric Sawicki in stride down the left sideline, and the senior wide receiver turned on the jets for an 80-yard touchdown play to slice the deficit to 34-31.

East (9-2) would get the ball twice more, and Stanek provided excitement on each possession with his legs and arm. But on a fourth-and-15 scramble in the closing seconds, he was stopped a yard short of a first down.

So close, yet so far.

"It was a great game both ways, both sides," said Stanek, who rushed for 57 net yards and completed 13-of-17 passes for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns. "It was not your usual second-round matchup.

"What it came down to is we should have put the ball in the end zone a little more, and we didn't get it done."

Inside linebacker Pete Meremowicz offered a different explanation.

"Our defense did not play the way we expected," he said. "Our offense was great all day. We felt good when we went into halftime with the lead, but the defense didn't come through in the third quarter."

Mount Carmel took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 80 yards in 6 plays, with Lynch scoring on his fifth carry of the drive to tie it 24-24. On the subsequent possession, Lynch hit the four passes without a miss and capped the march with a somewhat miraculous 16-yard run. How he escaped still would be difficult to explain.

"That No. 5 (Lynch) is an all-stater for a reason," East coach Rob Zvonar said. "He has the feet and the arm. We tried to make adjustments to take away his legs and he hit the passes.

"It's not our character for our offense to put up 31 points and lose. They just executed their offense very well against our defense."

"What's that they say about the straw that stirs the drink? Well, that's what he (Lynch) is for us," Mount Carmel coach Frank Lenti said.

"He makes plays. We had to open up the game when they started hunkering down on the run. He said, 'Coach, let's do what we do well,' and he did it."

Merenowicz noted that contending with a well-executed option can be a nightmare for a defense. "They really ran it well," he said. "The last time we saw it run that well was a year ago against Naperville North (in the 8A quarterfinals)."

The offensive fireworks began early and never really let up. Before it was over, East held the slimmest of margin in total yards (372-371) and first downs (17-16).

The Griffins lost a fumble near midfield on their first possession of the game, and Mount Carmel drove 52 yards in five plays to take a 7-0 lead.

But East was right back at it, marching 80 yards in 10 plays to get within 7-6 on Stanek's 14-yard pass to Alex Evans on a third-and-9 play. Included in the drive was Stanek converting a third-and-18 when he hit Greg Mundean long down the right sideline for 40 yards.

Also included early in the possession was Justin Wittl's potential 81-yard scoring run that was lost to a holding penalty.

It was that kind of night from Stanek, operating out of the shotgun. He was under heavy pressure but is so elusive that he was able to escape and make plays with his legs and arm time and time again.

"Spencer has a great future in this game," Zvonar said. "He is going to be a whale of a quarterback for someone on Saturday afternoons."

Rodriguez's first field goal, a 29-yarder, upped the Caravan lead to 10-6 late in the first quarter. But a bad snap on a Mount Carmel punt gave East a first down at the Caravan 33, and the Griffins converted with Brett Thomaston's 32-yard field goal, making it 10-9 with 8:15 left in the first half.

After a short Mount Carmel punt, East went 38 yards in five plays, the key Stanek's 29-yard screen pass to Wittl. Kevin Starke scored the touchdown on a 7-yard run as the Griffins went ahead 16-10.

Mount Carmel responded with an 80-yard scoring drive in 6 plays, a 39-yard Milton Greer run setting up the score as the Caravan went back ahead 17-16 with 2:15 left before halftime.

That was plenty of time as Wittl returned the ensuing kickoff 61 yards to the Mount Carmel 38, and five plays later, Stanek hit Starke with a 14-yard scoring pass into the right flat with 0:48 on the clock. The two-point conversion, a Stanek-to-Evans fade pass, made it 24-17.

"We felt good at halftime," Zvonar said. "We had the lead, and we had the wind in the third quarter.

"Unfortunately, they not only scored points in that quarter, they controlled the clock."

East, in fact, had only six offensive plays in the third quarter, when the Griffins so badly wanted to make things happen with the wind at their backs.

But on this occasion, it was a little too much Mr. Lynch.

"We must be getting better," Lenti said. "We only beat these guys by two points the last time (14-12 in the 2006 semifinals), and now we beat 'em by three."

"When we look back, we'll be proud of this season," Zvonar said. "We didn't feel this was a team that would make a second-round exit, but this bracket (of 8A) is what it is."