Jack Elliott’s five-touchdown night, overpowering run game, helps Mount Carmel take down St. Charles North

CHICAGO – Mount Carmel wanted to make a statement in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs.

Against fourth-seeded St. Charles North, the statement was loud and clear.

“We’re going to go really far and we’re going to do it,” senior running back Danyil Taylor Jr. said. “A lot of people are doubting us, but trust. We’re working and we’re doing it every day.”

After giving up a touchdown on the North Stars’ first possession, the Caravan put up the next 48 points. Senior quarterback and Vanderbilt recruit Jack Elliott accounted for five touchdowns and Mount Carmel had more than 300 yards on the ground in a 48-15 victory.

Mount Carmel (8-3) will face No. 6 Normal Community (10-1) in the quarterfinals Saturday. The Ironmen defeated Mt. Prospect 52-49 in their second-round matchup.

“We know that if we come out and play Mount Carmel football, there’s not a lot of teams out there that can match up with us,” Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said.

The first drive started with the North Stars establishing the pace. After forcing a turnover on downs on Mount Carmel’s first possession, St. Charles North worked its way down the field, converting on two fourth downs along the way, before senior quarterback Ethan Plumb rushed for a 1-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion made it 8-0.

“The kids came out and played extremely well in the first quarter,” St. Charles North coach Rob Pomazak said. “We executed our game plan really well, so that’s something that we’re going to take away and feel really good about.”

After that, it was all Mount Carmel.

The Caravan responded with back-to-back drives that focused primarily on the rushing prowess of Taylor Jr. (eight carries, 123 yards, TD), junior Madden Wilson (four carries, 62 yards) and Elliott, who had 4-yard rushing touchdowns to end each of the drives and give Mount Carmel a 14-8 lead. Taylor Jr. followed with a 56-yard rushing score to extend the lead.

“We just had a lot of physicality of us running downhill,” said Elliott, who rushed for 59 yards. “And with guys like Danyil Taylor, when he’s running downhill, he’s a hard guy to hit, and no one wants to be out there tackling him 20+ times a game.”

After establishing the running game in its first three scoring drives, Mount Carmel shifted to the passing game with Elliott starting back-to-back drives with 40-plus yard completions to freshman Marshawn Thornton (two catches, 58 yards) and senior Quentin Burrell (five catches, 72 yards) before hitting the receivers for short-yardage touchdowns.

Elliott had a third passing touchdown in the third quarter with an 11-yard pass to junior Jake Cozzie.

Elliott completed 9-of-15 passes for 140 yards in the game.

“They were bringing everyone into the box,” Elliott said. “And we were just unleashing our passes down the field and we were having those 40-plus yard passes through the air.”

Besides the first drive and their final offensive drive that went 80 yards and was capped by a 3-yard rushing score from Joell Holloman, the North Stars managed to muster only 40 yards of offense and three first downs.

“We just went three and out a few times and that just put us on our heels,” Pomazak said. “Our defense wasn’t able to stand tough and we had a lot of short series. It just got us out of line offensively.”

The North Stars ended the season with a 9-2 record.

St. Charles North will have a lot of returning players in 2025, but it will graduate Plumb, who’s been the team’s starting quarterback for the past four years. In his final game as a North Star, the senior had 94 passing yards and 47 rushing yards to go with a rushing touchdown.

“He’s the elder statesman and to see him walk off the field is very difficult,” Pomazak said. “He’s like another coach. He’s like a son and I love the kid to death. The seniors as a whole are just a good group and they should hold their heads high.”