Mt. Carmel 41
Fenwick 7
After a bruising 41-7 loss suffered at the hands of Mt. Carmel in its Catholic League Blue Division opener on Saturday, maybe it’s best to skip the game’s recap and write about the Fenwick football team’s upcoming showdown against St. Rita. Well, with St. Rita being ranked second in the state and coming off a 24-0 thrashing of Brother Rice, perhaps it’s best to just recap the Fenwick/Mt. Carmel game.
The Friars (1-2, 0-1) were outsized and outnumbered, and therefore pushed around by the Caravan in a wet early afternoon game at Gately Stadium in Chicago. Fenwick had a hard time pressuring Mt. Carmel quarterback Chris Sujka, who ran for two touchdowns and threw for another. Caravan running backs Draco Smith and Michael Banks bolstered Mt. Carmel’s option offense with a combined 99 yards rushing.
The Friars didn’t help matters with four fumbles and an interception.
Fenwick didn’t see the end zone until the last play of the game when quarterback Pat Hart connected with Jack Stibich on a 4-yard touchdown pass. The Friars trailed 27-0 at halftime and 34-0 in the early minutes of the third quarter.
“Our guys played hard and we did the best we could under the circumstances,” said Fenwick head coach Joe DiCanio, who used his common refrain, “It is what it is” in regards to Fenwick being in the Blue Division with the state powerhouses the last two seasons. Next season, the Friars will switch to the White Division.
“We prepared as well as we could,” he said. “It’s a brutal conference, and we just need to persevere and go forward. I told the team we could crawl in a hole and quit and wait until this thing is over or we can standup after every game and fight again. And we’re going to fight through it.”
Fenwick doesn’t have much time to regroup with powerhouse St. Rita next up on the schedule. Fenwick hosts the Mustangs at Morton West Stadium on Saturday (1:30 p.m.).
