Chicago powerhouse too much for Belleville East in football playoffs

The Belleville East football team battled hard, but in the end, top-ranked Chicago Mt. Carmel’s explosive offense was too much for the Lancers to handle.

Led by standout senior quarterback Emmett Dowling, the top-seeded Caravan erupted for four second-quarter touchdowns and parlayed a 27-point halftime lead into a 48-29 running-clock, mercy-rule victory over 17th-seeded Belleville East in an IHSA Class 8A second-round matchup Saturday evening at Belleville East.

Undefeated Mt. Carmel (11-0) advances to face Lincoln-Way East in a Class 8A quarterfinal next weekend.

A five-hour bus ride to southwestern Illinois proved worthwhile for the Caravan as they overcame a slow start to take down a rising and hungry Belleville East squad.

“It took us about two drives to get going, but then we got going and we kind of opened things up (offensively),” Mt. Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said.

Mt. Carmel struck first on a 47-yard Dowling-to-Marshaun Thornton pass to go up 7-0.

One minute into the second quarter, East answered with a 12-yard Kayden Wood-to-Cary Willis scoring pass, tying it at 7.

That was the last time the Lancers would be tied or close.

Mt. Carmel responded with four touchdowns in the final 11 minutes of the second quarter.

Nathan Samuels broke off touchdown runs of 30 and 4 yards. A Gavin Gonjar interception of Wood helped set up a 32-yard Dowling-to-Thornton touchdown strike.

Wood was then picked off by Brandon Rogers Jr. on the next East drive, and two plays later, Dowling found Jamari Brown for a 3-yard touchdown pass. The second-quarter surge capped with Mt. Carmel carrying a commanding 34-7 lead into halftime.

“Once again, just to get these guys going and in the flow of things, and we started to click on that second drive, and we’re such an explosive offense at times, we can go the distance at any time,” Lynch said.

A 4-yard Dowling-to-Quentin Burrell touchdown pass and a 50-yard Dowling-to-Duran Sims touchdown made it 48-7 and kicked off the running clock two and a half minutes into the third quarter.

Dowling had a strong day running and passing, finishing with five touchdown passes and two interceptions.

Lynch praised his quarterback’s performance. “We go as he goes,” Lynch said. “He’s tough. He’s a gritty kid, and he’s having a helluva year for us, and he’s on pace to break almost every single Mt. Carmel record we have.”

Belleville East coach Michael Harrison credited Mt. Carmel’s state-caliber club and admitted that early mistakes hurt his team. “Early in the game, we had a couple of opportunities that we missed, and when you’re playing a state-caliber championship team, you just can’t do that,” Harrison said. “The thing that I’m proud of our guys for is how we kept fighting. I’m sad for our guys, and it hurts like heck, but we didn’t do enough things correctly to win the football game.”

One major bright spot for the Lancers was the play of Willis, who scored three touchdowns, including a 56-yard fumble return to aid Belleville East.

Belleville East ended the season at 8-3, and despite the second-round exit, Harrison felt his squad had a successful year. “To go to the second round of the playoffs and make it four years in a row to the playoffs, finish second, third in the conference, again, I think we’ll look back on it when we give ourselves a little bit of time, we’ll be happy with the way the season went,” Harrison said.

This story was originally published November 8, 2025 at 8:39 PM.