Providence pulls off late win over Mt. Carmel

NEW LENOX -- Providence Catholic quarterback Joey Houlihan was as dazed as everyone else in attendance at Bishop Kaffer Stadium, but he was reveling in the moment.

"That's a drive that you dream about. That's like a (Brett) Favre drive or a (Joe) Montana drive. Those are great quarterbacks and you always want to have a drive like that," he said.

But this time it was the junior quarterback who engineered a Catholic League Blue championship drive that pulled Providence Catholic from near certain defeat to an electrifying 17-14 win over Mt. Carmel.

Starting from his own 22-yard line with 2:37 to play, Tim Hanrahan gained 12 yards on first down. Houlihan then found Sean Carroll over the middle for 28 yards, putting the ball at the Caravan 38 yard line.

After a one yard gain by Hanrahan, Joey Houlihan connected with his older brother Pete for a 27-yard pickup to the Mt. Carmel 11 yard line. Tight end Steve Arthurs took a pass to the 1 yard line with less than a minute to play.

It took two chances from there, but Hanrahan drove through a hole on the right side of the line with :28 to play, and the Celtics (8-1, 5-0) ripped off their eighth win in a row and claimed the Blue title outright.

"Our line did an amazing job of blocking. That line would have been nothing if the line had not blocked," Houlihan said. "Our wide receivers ran their routes, the coaches called great plays, and we succeeded with everything. It was awesome."


"Joey Houlihan did a great job buying some time and finding open receivers," Coglianese noted. "Guys caught the ball and made the plays."

Houlihan may not have even expected to have a chance after Mt. Carmel, which had scored on a 47-yard run by Milton Greer on a fourth down play with 7:08 to play in the game giving the Caravan a 14-10 lead.

On Mt. Carmel's next possession, the Celtics jumped offsides on a punt formation by the Caravan, which seemingly would have enabled Mt. Carmel to use up most of the clock running the ball as they had effectively done late in the game.

Instead, Chris Sujka threw a pass that was deflected into the air and into the hands of Celtic defensive back Joey Quinlan.

"They were stacking the line of scrimmage to stop the run, so we were trying to keep them loose," said Mt. Carmel coach Frank Lenti. "We were trying to take advantage of a simple play, Michael (Banks) slips and falls as the ball is coming, the ball gets tipped up in the air, and they pick it off."

"I was very surprised [Mt. Carmel they threw the ball]," Coglianese admitted. "We'll take it. Our guys made a play and gave us a chance and we finished."

Mt. Carmel scored on the opening possession of the game on a 2-yard run by Greer which was set up by a 71-yard run by Denzel Thompson. The Caravan (6-3, 2-3) nearly scored on their second possession, but a 28-yard field goal was missed by Eric Calleros.

The Providence defense stiffened for the rest of the half and when Hanrahan bounced out of a massive pile at the line of scrimmage and sprinted 74 yards with 2:46 to play in the second quarter, the game was tied at 7-7 at halftime.

Alec Pickett gave the Celtics a 10-7 lead with :13 to play in the third quarter with a 27 yard field goal. That drive was set up by a 37-yard pass from Joey Houlihan to Carroll.

Houlihan threw for 174 yards, while Hanrahan ran 24 times for 138 yards.

Providence Catholic, secure for several weeks with a playoff spot after having to fight for a berth in the final week of each of the past three seasons, will now await tonight's pairing's announcement with momentum in their back pocket according to Coglianese.

"To win the conference my first time as head coach means a lot. It puts us in a great position and frame of mind heading into the playoffs. You always want to head in with a victory."

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