NORMAL—Jack Elliott burst onto the scene as a sophomore with a pass on a fake punt that helped Mount Carmel beat Loyola.
He took over the starting quarterback job as a junior and at that point it seemed it would be difficult to fill Blainey Dowling’s shoes. Dowling set Mount Carmel passing records and led the Caravan to the Class 7A state title in 2022.
Elliott didn’t fill shoes. He raised the bar. The Vanderbilt recruit led Mount Carmel to 24 wins and two state championships.
Elliott threw for a Class 7A title game record six touchdowns in Mount Carmel’s 55-34 win against Batavia on Saturday at ISU’s Hancock Stadium.
It’s the 16th state championship for the Caravan. That’s a new record, breaking the tie with Joliet Catholic, which lost the Class 5A title game to Nazareth earlier on Saturday.
Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch has consistently said the state titles record isn’t important to his team.
“We don’t talk about it at all,” Lynch said. “Anytime a Catholic school can win a state championship I am all for it so its not like we are rooting against Joliet Catholic.”
Elliott was 15-for-25 for 292 yards. He rushed eight times for 115 yards and a touchdown.
Mount Carmel (11-3) scored two touchdowns in the first three minutes of the game and never trailed. Batavia (12-2) cut the Caravan’s lead to seven points on two occasions but Mount Carmel led 42-21 at halftime.
Mount Carmel dominated the Class 7A playoffs over the past two seasons, winning ten games by combined score of 499-204. The only team to come within one touchdown of the Caravan during the run was Normal, which Mount Carmel beat 49-42 in the semifinals last weekend.
It’s the fifth consecutive year that the Caravan has ended Batavia’s season.
Batavia quarterback Michael Vander Luitgaren, who only became the featured quarterback in Week 9, was 30 of 48 for 392 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.