Mount Carmel beats Loyola on Julian Patino’s last-second field goal

Mount Carmel junior Julian Patino is big enough to play linebacker. Some of his teammates wonder why he doesn’t try that, why in the world he wants to be a kicker.

They might understand now.

Patino stepped out into the spotlight, with the weight of Caravan Nation on his back, Friday in the final seconds against No. 2 Loyola. His field goal attempt earlier in the game was blocked. This 37-yard attempt would decide the game.

“The past is the past,” Patino said. “You can’t worry about the past you can only work on the future. That’s what I did.”

He drilled it and No. 5 Mount Carmel knocked off the Ramblers 17-14.

“I love being a kicker,” Patino said. “I love the feeling. It’s a hard thing to do but I love it.”

“I get it all the time: ‘You’re a big guy, play linebacker.’ But I think my best job, my best ability for this team is where I’m at currently.”

Caravan coach Jordan Lynch said he had total faith in Patino to win the game.

“We have all the confidence in the world, otherwise he wouldn’t be our kicker,” Lynch said. “He kicked in some big games last year and had a great offseason. All the credit to him. He doesn’t get a lot of love, especially from me. I have to start loving him up a little bit.”

The first three minutes of the game were all Mount Carmel (4-0, 1-0 CCL/ESCC Blue). Kenenna Odeluga scored on a 65-yard touchdown run. Then a Loyola miscue on a punt gave the Caravan the ball back in excellent field position. Mount Carmel capitalized with a 13-yard touchdown pass from Justin Lynch to Jeremy Moriarty.

The Ramblers got on the board with a five-yard touchdown run by quarterback Perrion McClinton early in the second quarter. And then Loyola’s defense buckled down. It forced Lynch into an interception and a fumble.

Junior JT Thomas took over at quarterback in the second half for the Ramblers. He connected with Matt Mangan on a 71-yard touchdown pass that tied the game at 14 with 9:12 left in the third quarter.

Both offenses struggled a bit after that until Patino’s heroics.

“Offensively we played pretty well,” Jordan Lynch said. “We just killed ourselves with penalties. That’s on us, that is on the coaches. We have to be more disciplined in practice. The kids fought hard. Turn the cameras around and look at the fan section, who would have thought that [would happen on campus] at Mount Carmel? What a great story, a great legacy they are building right now.”

Lynch was 16-for-26 passing for 125 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He completed passes to seven different receivers. Jaali Parker was his top target with five catches for 61 yards.

Odeluga had 14 carries for 152 yards.

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“There are so many mistakes,” Loyola coach John Holecek said. “That’s on the coaches. If we just settle down and play the call we can be a lot better. Physical and mental mistakes kill you and we made more than they did.”

Running back Tyler Flores led the Ramblers (2-2, 0-1) with 11 carries for 55 yards. He had the ball poked loose at the goal line when the game was tied in the fourth quarter, it went out of the end zone for a touchback.

“This wasn’t Brother Rice last year, getting our butts kicked,” Holecek said. “But it still feels the same sting.”