By a Furlong
The junior receiver saw the opening. A jet pass? Not this time. He ran away from Batavia’s defense and into Mount Carmel history.
Mount Carmel’s Danny Novickas, who made the biggest defensive play of the game, missed the biggest offensive play by teammate Dennis Furlong.
Furlong, a junior wide receiver by trade, took a handoff and was supposed to pass the ball on an untimed down at the end of the fourth quarter.
Instead, he scampered right and saw an opening, scoring on a 9-yard run Friday night to give the host Caravan a wild 16-14 victory over top-seeded Batavia in a Class 7A second-round playoff game in Chicago.
“Denny has a hell of an arm and it was supposed to be a jet pass,” Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said. “We told him if the first two options weren’t there, run the ball and be an athlete.”
Meanwhile, on the sideline, Novickas was on the opposite end of the action and missed seeing the heroic play. His dramatic 11-yard sack earlier in the fourth quarter helped stifle a drive by Batavia (10-1).
“I couldn’t see — everyone was blocking my view,” he said. “I only knew by everybody’s reaction. It was all nerves before the play and it went away. It feels great beating the No. 1 seed.”
Mount Carmel (8-3), the defending 7A state champion, advanced to play in the quarterfinals between Saturday’s winner of Yorkville and Brother Rice. During the regular season, Mount Carmel lost 43-36 to Brother Rice.
Furlong was nonchalant about his performance, even though he said he had never before been a part of a winning play.
“There was a good opening, so I ran it in,” he said. “When the linebacker went back, the lane was open.”
Earlier in the drive, junior quarterback Blainey Dowling connected with Furlong on a 46-yard catch. That play, plus two pass-interference calls, helped set up the thrilling sequence at the end.
With the Caravan on the Batavia 4-yard line, the Bulldogs were whistled for their second interference call as time expired.
Mount Carmel used its final timeout and couldn’t get the play off but was assessed a penalty to bring the ball back to the 9. Undaunted, Furlong took the ball into the end zone.
He was knocked to the ground as his fellow students rushed onto the field, but he escaped injury.
And the Caravan escaped a loss.
“It wasn’t pretty,” Lynch said. “I understand how Batavia feels. Last play. It’s a heartbreaker, but it’s good for us. You never know when that play is going to happen. We were on the right side of it.”
Batavia coach Dennis Piron was upset his team was whistled for 12 penalties for 117 yards. He also questioned the second-pass interference call.
“I’m still waiting for an explanation what happened on that one,” he said. “I felt like we were playing against two teams. And the end of a game, an overthrow is an overthrow.”
Mount Carmel trailed 14-10 at halftime, with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dowling to Darrion Gilliam and a 24-yard field goal from Louie Chappetto accounting for the scoring.
Batavia’s 15-play drive to open the third quarter was stifled when senior defensive back Derek Whaley knocked the ball away for Mount Carmel. In the fourth quarter, Novikas had a clear path for his sack.
Mount Carmel’s Brandon Rogers, a two-sport athlete and Oklahoma baseball recruit, made his season debut. The Brother Rice transfer had suffered a knee injury, but got in for a handful of plays.
Afterward, Batavia’s players did not participate in the traditional postgame handshake, which puzzled Dowling.
“Shaking hands at the end ... I don’t know,” he said. “They didn’t do it. I thought it was a respectful game.”