Mount Carmel beats St. Rita, remains undefeated

Mount Carmel and Catholic League Blue foe St. Rita duked it out under cloudy skies Friday night at Gately Stadium. In the end, the Caravan knocked off St. Rita 35-14 to improve to 4-0.

The crazy weather rolling through the area forced the cancellation of dozens of games. There was also a crazy sight at Gately: 5-9, 279-pound Mount Carmel defensive lineman Terrell Greer sealing the game with an interception and rumbling 74-yard return for a touchdown midway through the forth quarter to put Mount Carmel up 35-14.

“I was just thinking I just gotta score, I can’t let anyone stop me and I have to score,” Greer said. “I just wanted it too bad. I had to score. I told my guy earlier that there was going to be a pick six for me today. And I got it.”

Greer may have predicted the interception, but no one would have forecasted a 74-yard return.

“I just felt it, I told all my guys I was going to get a pick six today but I didn’t think it would be 74-yards but that was amazing,” Greer said.

The steady rain continued through the third quarter. Mount Carmel got on the board first with a 79-yard run by senior AJ Reis to the St. Rita 4, one play later he would punch the ball in for a touchdown.

Special teams errors and staunch defensive play kept St. Rita (1-3) in the game, the only points the Mustangs scored came from a botched punt. St. Rita defensive lineman Joe Doweiko picked off a pass and returned it for a score with 1:25 remaining in the first.

The second half was nearly all Caravan, with two AJ Lewis touchdowns in seven minutes of game time. The first was a five-yard run with just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter. He rumbled in from five yards out again with 11 minutes left in the ballgame.

St. Rita got a second spark from junior linebacker Marc-Elle Mondesir. He stepped up and pulled down a 53-yard interception and returned it for a touchdown with 9:21 remaining in the third quarter. But that wasn’t enough to stop a rolling Mount Carmel squad from remaining undefeated.