With junior quarterback and Nebraska recruit Trae Taylor commanding the offense, Carmel navigated the Loyola defense with ease, posting 471 total yards and six touchdowns during Friday’s matchup against the Ramblers.

Four wide receivers finished with at least six catches for the Corsairs, who scored on their opening series of the third quarter and reached the end zone four times in the second half to beat the Ramblers 42-14. Taylor completed 29 passes for 384 yards and four scores while adding a rushing touchdown to lead Carmel (6-2, 1-1 CCL/ESCC White), which secured a playoff berth.

“Communication before each game is the biggest thing,” Taylor said. “It’s a team sport and we showed that. Our defense came up clutch for us and got a stop on the first drive when we weren’t able to get it done. We caught fire and that’s all we needed to do. We support each other and we’ve been doing this since June. We’re focusing on next week. We want to go 7-2, not 6-3.”

Sophomore running back Melo Maldonado rumbled for 97 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries to lead the Ramblers (4-3, 1-1 CCL/ESCC Blue), who went up 7-0 after quarterback Matthew Lee and wide receiver Jordan McKinley, two sophomores, connected on a 9-yard touchdown throw late in the first quarter. McKinley recorded six catches for 79 yards in the game.

“Our offensive line and the coaches were setting me up to succeed and the goal was to come out hot,” Maldonado said. “We had to put up points early because we knew they had a good offense. At the end of the day, we just didn’t execute. We put ourselves in a hole and we have to dig ourselves out of it. That will show whether or not we’re fighters or if we’ll just give up.”

Loyola, which must beat Mount Carmel next week to finish with five wins, fared well against the Corsair offense in the first quarter, stopping a run on fourth down and forcing a punt to keep Carmel off the scoreboard. Taylor helped the Corsairs even the score early in the second quarter, when Carmel moved the ball down to the 1-yard line before Taylor leaped over the pile.

A momentum-changing play occurred late in the second quarter, when defensive back Eli Jackson intercepted a Lee pass in the end zone to end a promising Loyola drive. Carmel capitalized on the Rambler mistake, taking the lead on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to sophomore receiver Greg Bess-Henning, who made a defender miss on his touchdown run.

“We came into this game knowing that we had a chance,” said Jackson, who added eight catches for 90 yards on offense. “We executed on all sides of the ball. We worked all summer long, and all of the receivers have worked together since fourth or fifth grade. All of us are best friends.”

The Corsairs made another huge defensive stop before halftime, maintaining a 14-7 lead after outside linebacker Jameer Miles intercepted Lee in the red zone with under a minute to go in the second quarter. On its first possession of the third quarter, Carmel scored on a 5-yard slant pass from Taylor to Bess-Henning, a two-way player who hauled in six catches for 71 yards.

“We looked back at the Montini game and how we lost by one point,” said senior wide receiver and UMass recruit Kai Owens, who had seven catches for 117 yards in the game. “We knew we could compete with the best teams. We just had to execute and that’s what we did throughout the week.”

A quarterback change in the second half didn’t change Loyola’s fortunes, as the Ramblers punted during their first series of the second half. With the passing game operating in full rhythm, Carmel took advantage, extending its lead after a 13-yard touchdown from Taylor to wide receiver Kyron Hart, who brought in a back-shoulder throw. Hart snagged six receptions for 82 yards.

“We trust in each other and we always push each other to be better,” Owens said. “We know the kind of talent we have in this room and we all have high expectations for each other. We expect to throw the ball a lot and we knew they had a really good defensive line and really good linebackers, so we wanted to attack their safeties and corners and get out there.”

An 18-yard touchdown run by Maldonado was the second-half highlight for the Ramblers, who made the score 28-14 near the end of the third quarter. The Corsairs controlled the fourth quarter, surging ahead after sophomore running back Jaquel Edmonds broke through the middle for a 16-yard score. Later, Taylor threw a 13-yard touchdown to tight end Joseph Akalauonu.

Edmonds and fellow sophomore Jorden Moore combined to post 62 rushing yards for the Corsairs, who conclude the regular season with a home game against Fenwick next week. Lee threw for 129 yards, and quarterback Dom Maloney, who entered in the second half, totaled 78 yards for Loyola. Wide receiver Robert Clingan had six catches for 59 yards to aid the Ramblers.