AUTOMATIC PREMOVIC
Senior QB accounts for 5 TDs as Caravan stymie St. Laurence
Mount Carmel quarterback Rad Premovic didn't play in the second half Friday against St. Laurence.
He most definitely earned the rest of the night off.
The 6-foot, 180-pound senior ran for two touchdowns and threw for three.
He was the most instrumental player in the Caravan pushing the game to a running clock at halftime.
Even during the second half of Mount Carmel's 40-0 Catholic Green victory, Premovic chipped in by signaling plays from the sideline to backup quarterback Justin Lynch.
“That was fun,” Premovic said. “I was enjoying myself. It was a pretty good day at the office. The team altogether was just having fun out there.”
Premovic completed 11 of 15 passes for 212 yards to lead Mount Carmel (7-1, 3-0).
First-year coach Jordan Lynch brought with him an entirely new offense for Premovic to learn.
“So it's brand new for him,” Jordan Lynch said. “He's getting better as the weeks go on. Rad is a poised leader. You never see him sweat. That's what I love about him.”'
Premovic was relentless against St. Laurence (2-6, 1-2) during a monster first half.
He scored Mount Carmel's first two TDs on a pair of 1-yard runs.
On the third possession, he threw a 33-yard TD pass to Tony Livermore.
A 15-yard TD strike to Kieran Conjar was next, and then Demetrius Rias plowed in from1.
With 49.7 seconds left in the second quarter, Premovic and Liam McDonagh put an exclamation point on the first half by hooking up for a 71-yard TD.
Six possessions, six touchdowns.
Nowonder he had fun. “It's a different look on the offensive side, and I love it,” Premovic said. “It's fun every single day. Every week we're improving to get that one goal we have (a state title). We're getting there.”
The game marked the first time in three decades that former Mount Carmel coach Frank Lenti was on the opposing end. Lenti serves as a special adviser at St. Laurence.
Lenti, whowon 11 state titles in 34 seasons as the Caravan's coach, spoke to the St. Laurence alumni group before the game but was not on the sideline.
“Early in the week coach Harold (Blackmon) mentioned kind of the ‘win one for coach Frank' type of thing,” Lenti said. “I stopped him short. This is not about coach Frank.
“I plan on being here for a while, as long as (athletic director) Tim Chandler and (school president) Joe Martinez will have me.”