Carmel holds on to beat Phillips

CHICAGO — Saturday’s football game between Carmel and Phillips was decided with a touch of drama.

Carmel was up by seven points late in the fourth quarter, but Phillips had the ball. Wildcats senior running back Corey Warren fumbled after running into a scrum of Corsairs defenders with 1:51 left, Carmel recovered the ball and the Corsairs sideline exploded in cheers. Carmel prevailed 20-13.

Carmel sophomore running back Rondell Jameson finished with 174 yards on the ground on 17 carries and scored a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

“Rondell [Jameson] came up huge today,” wideout Noah Turner said.

The Corsairs scored first when quarterback Mike Huiras made an acrobatic play under pressure, completing a 19-yard pass to Turner with 2:59 left in the first quarter.

Carmel’s Kenny Barber, a junior running back, also scored on a 19-yard screen pass with 1:05 to play in the second quarter.

Phillips lost heavy yardage to penalties in the first half. Most notably, a 75-yard reception by junior wide receiver Quayvon Skanes was brought back when holding was called in the backfield.

The Wildcats failed to capitalize on a fumble recovery in the second quarter, giving the ball back to Carmel on downs.

“We made one too many errors and it cost us,” Phillips coach Troy Mcallister said.

Carmel lost a pair of fumbles at crucial times, though neither one of them ended in a scoring play for Phillips.

Wildcats senior quarterback Dewayne Collins turned in an impressive offensive effort. He went 4-for-14 passing and ran for 277 yards, including a hard-fought touchdown at the goal line in the third quarter.

Phillips’ second touchdown came with 6:23 left in the fourth quarter when Skanes took a screen pass 70 yards to the end zone.

“I’m proud we didn’t quit,” Collins said. “I wish we had just been more hungry, offense and defense.”