After suffering a shoulder injury midway through the season and missing a Week 6 loss to Brother Rice, Mount Carmel’s Jack Elliott has tried to rein himself in a bit, sacrificing a potential big run here and there to protect himself for the long term.
Of course, Caravan coach Jordan Lynch would like his star senior quarterback to be even more careful. But Lynch, a former quarterback who was known for his running at both Mount Carmel and Northern Illinois, knows how hard it is for Elliott to not go all out all the time.
“Now I know how coaches felt when I played,” Lynch said. “I wanted him at times to be a little smarter, but you can never teach a puppy not to bite.”
With a third straight state title within reach for the Caravan, Elliott was unleashed Saturday.
He threw five touchdown passes, all in the first half, and ripped off some long runs as visiting Mount Carmel rolled to a 43-point halftime lead and went on to a 43-24 win over St. Rita in a Class 7A semifinal game in Chicago.
Elliott, a Vanderbilt recruit, completed 9 of 12 passes for 123 yards and ran eight times for 67 yards for the Caravan (10-3), who will take on Batavia (12-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday in the state championship game at Hancock Stadium in Normal.
Quentin Burrell hauled in TD catches of 7 and 16 yards, while Cooper Lehman added three catches for 58 yards and a TD and Tavares Harrington returned an interception 35 yards for a TD.
Nick Herman ran 85 yards and a TD on 15 carries for St. Rita (10-3). Brandon Johnson Jr. added a 33-yard TD run and Walter Jones returned a free kick for a score.
Elliott, meanwhile, said watching star running back Darrion Dupree, who graduated in the spring and is now playing at Wisconsin, deal with injuries taught him how to look out for himself.
“I’ve got to protect myself always,” Elliott said. “I saw it with (Dupree), especially. Kids in the bottom of the pile would be twisting his ankle, twisting his knees. I learned from him.
“You’ve got to protect yourself always, and I’ve been sticking to that.”
Still, when a trip to the state championship game is on the line in a semifinal against a major rival, Elliott wasn’t going to hold back.
He showed that in the first quarter when he ran over a St. Rita linebacker, lowering his shoulder to deliver a huge hit.
“He’s tried,” Burrell said of Elliott holding back. “He’s been smart. But you can’t take the dog out of the man. He’s competitive. He wants to get the extra yard to get the first down.
“That’s who we are. That’s MC. That’s how we play the game. That’s how we fight.”
St. Rita coach Martin Hopkins knew what he was up against.
“I’ll say that’s the best player in the state, Jack Elliott,” Hopkins said. “He does a lot for that team. He’s a special athlete. His will and determination say a lot about him. He’s got that ‘it’ factor.
“He’ll be a special player down at Vanderbilt.”
Mount Carmel led 7-0 before putting the game away with a 36-point outburst in the second quarter.
Elliott threw four TD passes in the second quarter, while the back-breaker for St. Rita came when Harrington, a sophomore defensive back, made his first career interception and returned it 35 yards for a TD to make it 28-0.
“It was an amazing play,” Harrington said. “My team celebrated with me and I loved celebrating with the team.”
Elliott is hoping to celebrate at state. Although the Caravan scored on all six of their possessions while the starters were in the game, he believes they can still be better.
“We made a couple mistakes,” Elliott said. “We’re going to light up the scoreboard next week. That’s the goal.”
