By Bobby Narang
Nazareth Academy High School junior quarterback J.J. McCarthy was ready to begin his training for next season.
After having one of his worst games in a Nazareth uniform in his 28-game career, McCarthy was focused on improving himself for his final season.
McCarthy, a five-star University of Michigan recruit, struggled to find any rhythm in a 37-13 defeat to Mount Carmel in the Class 7A State championship high school football game at Huskie Stadium on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb Saturday.
“We got here and ended this close,” McCarthy said. “Now we got 365 days to get to this spot and (hopefully) it will be a different outcome.”
The Roadrunners, 13-1, fell short of notching their second straight State championship, mainly because of a stout Mt. Carmel defense that harassed McCarthy all game long. The Roadrunners had won 20 straight games, 18 by double figures, but they couldn’t solve the Caravan defense.
“They had athletic kids and blitzed off the edge,” McCarthy said. “They took us out of our rhythm and had an excellent scheme against us.”
McCarthy, who had passed for 2,704 yards and 33 touchdowns in the first 13 games, completed just eight-of-25 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown Saturday.
Mount Carmel head coach Jordan Lynch, a former Heisman Trophy finalist at Northern Illinois University, gave credit to his defense for executing their game plan of “disrupting their route-running and not letting the wide receivers run free.”
“They had some nice blitzes designed,” Nazareth head coach Tim Racki said. “They really kept us out of rhythm, (which) is one of the things we did really well each week.”
Mount Carmel notched its 13th State championship by collecting 403 total yards and limited Nazareth’s big-play offense to one touchdown.
Playing in their third straight State championship game and fifth in the last six years, Nazareth was ineffective on offense because of the Caravan’s aggressive pass rush.
Nazareth sophomore wide receiver Tyler Morris managed just three receptions for 24 yards, all in the first half.
In the semifinal rout against Rolling Meadows, Morris finished with 223 receiving yards and five touchdown catches to place his season totals at 68 receptions for 1,237 yards and 17 touchdowns.
But the Caravan managed to take Morris out of the game.
“They had one (defender) low and one high (on me), Morris said. “Their defense applied a lot of pressure…. They did a lot to mess up our timing on our routes.”