Mount Carmel’s first drive flamed out quickly. It appeared the matchup between the Caravan and South Side Catholic rivals Brother Rice could become a defensive battle. Well, at least for a few minutes.

Then Mount Carmel quarterback Blainey Dowling found Damarion Arrington sprinting down the middle of the field. Arrington caught the pass and raced past the last two defenders for a 64-yard touchdown and the rout was on.

The host Caravan beat Brother Rice 48-12 to clinch a spot in the Class 7A state semifinals.

“I saw the safety move over and I knew we were good,” Arrington said. “We had to come out and set the tone on offense. That’s what we do.”

Mount Carmel (12-0) led 40-0 at halftime, which led to a running clock in the second half. Brother Rice (7-5) didn’t score on the Caravan’s first team defense. The regular season matchup between the two teams was competitive, with Mount Carmel winning 28-21 at Brother Rice.

“In the first game we didn’t have [linebacker Parker Startz],” Arrington said. “Today we had Parker. That made all the difference and we were ready.”

Darrion Dupree, the Caravan’s star running back, was injured in Week 9 against Loyola and won’t be back this season. Mount Carmel is still finding its way without him. But the passing attack is peaking at just the right time.

“It’s going to take weeks to learn how to play without Dupree,” Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said. “But we found our rhythm. It started out a little slow but the defense was flying around all night and that kind of made [Brother Rice] one dimensional.

Dowling was 15 of 26 for 319 yards and five touchdowns. He didn’t play in the second half.

“When we win it is nothing crazy like how they stormed the field last year,” Dowling said. “When we win, that’s the Carmel way right there.”

Senior Denny Furlong caught a 43-yard and a 16-yard touchdown pass. Jaden Bossie hauled in a 20-yard touchdown and Danyil Taylor Jr. had a three-yard scoring grab.

“Furlong’s catch, oh my gosh,” Dowling said. “That kid is a freak athlete. All the guys are making me look good.”

Mount Carmel’s special teams had a major moment as well. Vince Winters blocked a punt deep in Brother Rice territory and DJ White-Payne fell on the ball in the end zone for the touchdown that made it 34-0.

“It was just a great special teams play,” White-Payne. “I just love this team so much. I’m blessed to be around all of them.”

The Caravan will travel to St. Rita for the semifinals next weekend. Mount Carmel beat St. Rita 35-3 at home in the season opener.

“It’s a great rivalry and a great tradition,” Lynch said. “They are probably the most improved team in the whole entire state from what I saw today and the last few weeks watching them play. Those guys play hard and they are running the crap out of the ball and playing great defense.”

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The Chicago Bears will have a speed threat back in Week 10

The Chicago Bears wide receiver corps was noticeably better against the Miami Dolphins in Week 9 after the addition of Chase Claypool. The Bears had been dealing with injuries this season, with multiple vital targets for second-year quarterback Justin Fields. Fields should have another speedy wide receiver to throw the ball to against the Detroit Lions in Week 10.

According to a statement by the Bears, wide receiver Byron Pringle has been activated from the injured reserve. The Bears will activate defensive end Gerri Green and cornerback Harrison Hand who have been on the practice squad.

Pringle was placed on injured reserve in late September after sustaining a calf injury in late September during the Bears’ win over the Houston Texans. The Bears will have a much more healthy and skilled group than they had in early October, with Pringle and N’Keal Harry finally healthy to join the tandem of Darnell Mooney and Claypool.

Hand’s activation from the practice squad makes sense with the Bears’ injury report on Friday. Kindle Vildor has been ruled out against the Lions. Jaylon Johnson is questionable to play Sunday.

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The first sack in Nazareth’s 29-0 shutout of Morgan Park on Saturday was by freshman Lesroy Tittle. Then later in the first quarter sophomore Gabe Kaminski got in on the action, sacking Mustangs quarterback Marcus Thaxton.

It was that kind of afternoon for Morgan Park, which was overwhelmed by the young Roadrunners in a Class 5A state quarterfinal game in LaGrange Park.

“Our coaching staff is the best in the state so we were prepared,” Kaminski said. “[Morgan Park] played exactly how we thought they would.”

Nazareth relied on its rushing game offensively. Sophomore Alexander Angulo had 21 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Justin Taylor contributed 53 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

“There has been so much growth from Week 1 until now,” Roadrunners quarterback Logan Malachuk, a sophomore, said. “We have come together now and are looking pretty good.”

Malachuk, who took over as the starter late last season, was 7 of 11 for 55 yards with one interception.

Nazareth (8-4) lost four of its first six games. All of the losses were to ranked teams, but it is unique to see a team recover from a 2-4 start and make the state semifinals.

“It’s been incredibly rewarding for me,” Roadrunners coach Tim Racki said. “I’ve never had this many young kids. I didn’t yell at them early. I kept picking them up and they responded to that. About Week 7 we really saw the maturing and they knew they belonged up here.The seniors were always patient with them. It was like raising a kid. You see them grow in to men and now I took the training wheels off and I’m a proud dad.”

Nazareth will be on the road against undefeated Sycamore in the semifinals.

Morgan Park (10-2) played most of the game without star junior Tysean Griffin. The talented junior had seven carries for 23 yards.

“We knew he was only 50 or 60 percent healthy but he’s our guy and we wanted to give him a chance,” Mustangs coach Chris James said. “But he wasn’t even close to being who he needed to be.”

Sophomore quarterback Marcus Thaxton was 9 for 21 passing for 99 yards with one interception. Junior Chris Durr had six catches for 76 yards.

“They had the most speed we’ve seen since Kankakee,” Racki said. “But the boys responded to our game plan. It was an incredible defensive performance. I did not think we would shut them out.”

Morgan Park battled with bad field position throughout the first half and was unable to connect on a big offensive play in the game.

“We’re a young team,” James said. “I don’t want to downplay the contribution the seniors made but we have a heck of a group coming back, just losing four starters. So we will get back to work and keep building.”

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Nikola Vucevic found out exactly how much a middle finger aimed in the general direction of a fan costs.

The NBA made that very clear to him on Friday, punishing the Bulls big man by putting him in the corner with a $15,000 fine.

The fine? Vucevic is making about $270,000 per game this season, so couch cushion money for him.

As far as publicly being put in the corner? Well, that’s actually a good thing for Vucevic right now.

With 2:46 left in the loss to New Orleans on Wednesday, it looked like it would be Vucevic that would play hero, hitting his second three-pointer within 90 seconds and giving the Bulls the one-point lead.

Significant?

Very, and not just because of the timing of it, but where he hit it from.

Entering this season, the 32-year-old shot a majority of his three-pointers from the top of the arc. To Vucevic, the corner was a dark cave that he rather not explore.

While it’s the easiest three to hit because of the distance – 22 feet compared to 23’9 everywhere else – it just wasn’t in his job description. Not surprising, since most centers that are gifted enough to stretch the floor and shoot threes are often at the top of the arc for spacing purposes or just where they end up in transition.

The corner three that Vucevic hit against the Pelicans, however, was his seventh of the season in 10 attempts.

He hit five corner threes the entire 2021-22 season, three the entire 2020-21 campaign, and five the year before that.

Daddy’s got a new pair of shoes, and just in time for a contract year.

“We’re 13 games in so far? I’ve already made more threes from the corner than I have at any time in my career [in a season],” Vucevic said. “I’m in that position a lot, especially toward the end of the game because of our spacing, giving other guys space so they can work and get to the paint, and then when the defense collapses they’re able to find me.”

That doesn’t mean that Vucevic is totally comfortable there yet, and that’s understandable.

Just look at some other big men that like to shoot the three. Nikola Jokic took 288 threes last season, and only 12 from the corners, making two. Joel Embiid put up 251 threes last year, with 16 from the corners, making four.

“I really haven’t shot it much my whole career, so I’ve had to work at it,” Vucevic said. “I’m working on it daily. I know the work I put in and I know every shot I put up I have a chance of making it.”

Work that’s really appreciated by two of his teammates in Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, especially because of the benefit they get out of it.

DeRozan is a mid-range maestro, so when the paint is absent of an opposing big that means more room to operate. Meanwhile, LaVine has finally looked a bit more explosive the last two games, so when Vucevic is outside that gives LaVine a clear runway to take off from.

Late in games when the Bulls have played more isolation, Vucevic in the corner is a great option to have.

“Above the break he hasn’t shot it great this year,” coach Billy Donovan said of Vucevic. “His corner threes have been really elite and it does a couple things: One, it takes the team’s other big away from the basket, we can drive the ball a little bit more. Then he’s always there as an outlet, and if he can’t get the shot he can get it to the next action.”

Hopefully an action that involves flipping a pass to a teammate, rather than flipping the middle finger.

Lesson learned.

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The Bears activated Byron Pringle from injured reserve Saturday, setting up his return in Sunday’s game against the Lions at Soldier Field.

He had been on injured reserve since hurting his calf in late September. The Bears returned him to practice two weeks ago, opening up a 21-day window for him to play in games.

Pringle was the Bears’ only splurge at receiver in free agency. It’s unclear exactly what his role will be Sunday, though. Since his injury, the Bears have added Chase Claypool and a healthy N’Keal Harry to the receivers’ room.

His return likely doesn’t bode well for rookie Velus Jones, who was a healthy scratch Sunday and could be again.

The Bears also promoted defensive lineman Gerri Green and cornerback Harrison Hand from the practice squad to the active roster. Green should give the Bears coverage with Al-Quadin Muhammad doubtful to play Sunday. The Bears ruled out Kindle Vildor and called fellow cornerback Jaylon Johnson questionable on Friday.

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College football ends week 11 with the night slate for the 7pm primetime games

Here are the best bets for the college football week 11 7pm primetime games

Washington vs. Oregon on FOX

Bigger game than many think. Oregon needs this and Washington certainly needs this to mix up the Pac-12 and to have a shot at the championship. Everyone loves to talk about Bo Nix this year and is possible Heisman campaign. It has been a revelation to find consistency in this QB over the years because it was a struggle to figure him out at Auburn. The thing is not many talk about Michael Penix Jr. the lefty transfer from Indiana that is absolutely slinging the ball all over the college football land. He has more touchdowns passing than Bo Nix and over 700 more passing yards than Bo. Michael Penix Jr. is legit I love lefty QB’s and I think he is a beast but watching him at Indiana there were spots where he needed to show out to make the steps to becoming great that never took place. And I understand it was Indiana you can only do so much but it was the poor accuracy and missed throws that became interceptions that hindered those next steps. Could this be his redemption on the road in Eugene in easily his biggest game of his career.

Oregon is quite good and they may be the best team at home in the country to be honest. Georgia is cool, Alabama, Clemson but the fun I have watching Oregon games at Autzen stadium is different and one of the best in college football. The weather is always perfect football weather, the stadium is loud and consistent and the players dancing along to Shout going into the 4th quarter is awesome. Refuels the whole stadium of gas so the 4th quarter stays as loud as the beginning kickoff was. The spread and the over under number are both high. The over is interesting but who is to say Penix doesn’t show up or Bo doesn’t show up and they just aren’t sharp? It is just very high where everything needs to go quite well for both teams and I can’t say it will. To me Oregon has a good defense especially at home as it showed vs. UCLA when Oregon would not break and forced field goals and forced turnovers on 4th down. It is just such a tough place to win.

The Bet: As I was alluding too I have to ride with Oregon spread -12.5. The place will be nuts and genuinely the most important part is Oregon defense in this game. Can they play like they did against UCLA. Penix is going to sling it they have to play patient and wait for the mistakes.

TCU vs Texas on ABC

Many believe TCU’s time has come to finally lose this week against Texas. There have been plenty of weeks that I have said TCU’s time was up and that they would run out of gas but they never did. This week they definitely could lose. It is a very hard game to choose a side because the spread is high and TCU could cover that and even win. The real concern is Quentin Johnston and if he plays for TCU. Last week he didn’t play and TCU struggled against Texas Tech until the 4th quarter because they couldn’t throw and the play calling was disgusting.

Texas to me stinks a whole bunch because of the absolute garbage that I witnessed from them at Oklahoma State and nobody talks about it. It was by far the worst game of the season and it was quarterbacked by Quinn Ewers. Everybody loves the kid but seem to have missed his performance against Oklahoma State where he was single handedly throwing the game away for Texas against a horrendous Oklahoma State defense. No one seems to remember Ewers went 19-49 with 3 interceptions just a few weeks ago. 19-49! I swore I wouldn’t touch Texas after that game. I thought they would get smoked by Kansas State last week but of course not bad teams just love to stick around. It’s obvious that I don’t like either team at this point in the college football season.

The Bet: When in doubt it’s the Big 12, its in Austin and it’s a night game. I’m going with the over 65.

North Carolina vs. Wake Forest on ESPN2

This will be a quick preview……Points. Both teams can’t stop genuinely anything. The stats for North Carolina’s defense are actually hilarious and if you’re a fan of college football you just have to take this game. Vegas is challenging us with this game. Do we have the strength to take this over? I say we do.

The Bet: Over 78.5. Give me points!

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Saturday, November 12State quarterfinals

Class 8A

(8) Warren at (1) Lincoln-Way East, 1

(5) Glenbard West at (13) Maine South, 6

(7) Palatine at (2) York, 1

(14) Lyons at (6) Loyola, 1

Class 7A

(24) Brother Rice at (1) Mount Carmel, 6

(12) St. Rita at (4) St. Charles North, 1

(7) Yorkville at (18) Batavia, 1

(11) Lake Zurich at (3) Pekin, 2:30

Class 6A

(8) Notre Dame at (4) St. Ignatius, 3

(2) Prairie Ridge at (11) Harlem, 5

(13) Kenwood at (1) Lemont, 5

(7) Crete-Monee at (6) East St. Louis, 2

Class 5A

(5) Sterling at (1) Sycamore, 1

(2) Morgan Park at (11) Nazareth, 1

(1) Mahomet-Seymour at (4) Morris, 4

(3) Peoria at (7) Mascoutah, 3

Class 4A

(1) Richmond-Burton at (13) Providence, 2

(3) St. Francis at (7) Rochelle, 2

(4) Rochester at (1) Carterville, 1:30

(6) Murphysboro at (2) Sacred Heart-Griffin, 2

Class 3A

(4) IC Catholic at (1) Princeton, 1

(2) Reed-Custer at (6) Byron, 1

(4) Tolono Unity at (1) Prairie Central, 2

(3) Williamsville at (15) Olympia, 2

Class 2A

(1) Maroa-Forsyth at (4) Rockridge, 2

(7) Knoxville at (6) Tri-Valley, 1

(4) Pana at (1) St. Teresa, 1

(14) Althoff at (2) Johnston City, 4

Class 1A

(1) Lena-Winslow at (4) Fulton, 1

(11) Dakota at (10) Forreston, 2

(4) Tuscola at (1) Ridgeview-Lexington, 1

(3) Greenfield-Northwestern at (2) Camp Point Central, 1

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