Elliott’s five-touchdown night, overpowering run game, helps Mount Carmel take down St. Charles North
Mount Carmel wanted to make a statement in the second round of the playoffs.
And against a team like fourth-seeded St. Charles North, the statement was heard loud and clear.
“We’re going to go really far, and we’re going to do it,” senior running back Danyil Taylor Jr. said. “A lot of people are doubting us, but trust. We’re working, and we’re doing it every day.”
Senior QB and Vanderbilt recruit Jack Elliott accounted for five total touchdowns and Mount Carmel had over 300 yards on the ground during the stretch, to secure a 48-15 victory in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs.
Mount Carmel (8-3) will face No. 6 Normal Community in the quarterfinals next weekend. The Ironmen defeated Mt. Prospect 52-49 in their second-round matchup.
“We know that if we come out and play Mount Carmel football, there’s not a lot of teams out there that can matchup with us,” Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said.
The first drive started out with the North Stars establishing the pace earlier. After forcing a turnover on downs on Mount Carmel’s first possession, North worked it’s way down the field, converting on two fourth downs along the way, before senior QB Ethan Plumb rushed the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion would make it 8-0.
“The kids came out and played extremely well in the first quarter,” North coach Rob Pomazak said. “We executed our game plan really well, so that’s something that we’re going to take away and feel really good about.”
After that, it was all Mount Carmel.
The Caravan responded with back-to-back drives that primarily focused on the rushing prowess of Taylor Jr. (eight carries, 123 yards, TD), junior Madden Wilson (four carries, 62 yards) and Elliott, who had four-yard rushing scores to end each of the drives to give them a 14-8 lead. Taylor Jr. would follow those drives up with a 56-yard rushing score to further extend the lead.
“We just had a lot of physicality of us running downhill,” Elliott said. “And with guys like Danyil Taylor, when he’s running downhill, he’s a hard guy to hit, and no one wants to be out there tackling him 20+ times a game.”
After establishing the rushing game in their first three scoring drives, Mount Carmel shifted it’ mentality to the pass game, with Elliott starting back-to-back drives with 40-plus yard completions to freshman Marshawn Thornton (two catches, 58 yards) and senior Quentin Burrell (five catches, 72 yards) before finding the same receiver again for short-yardage touchdowns.
Elliott had a third passing touchdown in the third quarter on an 11-yard pass to junior Jake Cozzie. He finished completing 9-of-15 passes for 140 yards to go with the three scores.
“They were bringing everyone into the box,” Elliott said. “And we were just unleashing our passes down the field, and we were having those 40-plus yard passes through the air.”
Besides their first drive and their final offensive drive of the game, which went 80 yards and was capped off by a three-yard rushing score from Joell Holloman, the North Stars only managed to muster 40 yards of offense and three first downs.
“We just went three and out a few times and that just put us on our heels,” Pomazak said. “Our defense wasn’t able to stand tough and we had a lot of short series. It just got us out of line offensively.”
The loss ends the North Stars’ season with a record of 9-2. While the team will see a lot returning players in 2025 it will graduate Plumb, who’s been North’s starting QB for the past four years. In his final game as a North Star, the senior had 94 passing yards and 47 rushing yards to go with his rushing score.
“He’s the elder statesman, and to see him walk off the field is very difficult,” Pomazak said. “He’s like another coach. He’s like a son, and I love the kid to death. The seniors as a whole are just a good group, and they should hold their heads high.”