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Encore effort from Fenwick spells defeat for Carmel

It was full circle for Carmel on Saturday, ending the season where it started the season: with a loss to Fenwick on its own field.

Based on their loss to Fenwick in their season opener back in August, the Corsairs knew they were going to have to contain Fenwick's potent running game. They also knew they were going to have to prevent the very opportunistic Friars from forcing turnovers and converting them into points.

Carmel wasn't able to do either in this rematch, a second-round Class 7A playoff game that was uncanny in its similarities to the season opener.

Behind the bulldozing running of senior Pat Donahue, who rolled up 180 yards and a touchdown on 39 carries, No. 15 Fenwick rolled over No. 10 Carmel, 31-14 this time around.

Back in the season opener, Donahue had 124 yards and touchdown in a 31-20 win over Carmel.

And just like in the season opener, Fenwick capitalized off of Carmel mistakes. This time, the Friars turned a fumble recovery into a touchdown. The first time around, Fenwick forced 2 turnovers that led to short fields and points.

"They're a great team, hats off to them," Carmel quarterback Mike Huiras said of Fenwick. "They stopped our rushing game the first game, and they stopped it again.

"If you look at it, this is exactly what happened the last time. The score was almost the same. We scored early last time and we did that again this time. But then we got shut down like last time. It's just tough. Again, they executed better than us."

Fenwick, which advances to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in school history, limited Carmel to just 172 total yards of offense. The Friars improve to 7-4 and will next face No. 11 Libertyville (8-3), a 17-7 winner over No. 3 Addison Trail.

"We don't plan on stopping any time soon," Donahue said. "We were really motivated coming into this game, and we controlled the ball and the clock and we stayed on the field."

After Carmel opened the scoring with a 43-yard sprint to the end zone by Kenny Barber five minutes into the game, Donahue answered on the next series. He scored from 5 yards out after a 73-yard kickoff return by teammate Will Lattner allowed Fenwick to start from the Carmel 29-yard line.

The Friars kicked a field goal just before halftime that was also set up by a long kickoff return that gave them the ball deep in Carmel territory.

"We gave them short fields on the two kickoffs and were just shooting ourselves in the foot," said Carmel coach Andy Bitto, whose team closes out the season with a 7-4 record. "And then we made a fumble, so they got 17 points off of a short field. Good teams are going to take advantage of that, and that's what (Fenwick has) done all season. We played right into that.

"And any time they needed a first down, Donahue got the ball and was able to get it. He was a difference-maker for them."

Fenwick got another score before halftime, a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jack Beneventi to Patrick Honan with 44.1 seconds remaining. The Friars took a 17-14 lead into the locker room, and it only got bigger in the second half.

Fenwick shut out Carmel in the second half, 14-0 on two touchdown runs by Adam Williams.

"We were able to execute, our guys got off the ball and the two big kickoff returns helped us control field position," Fenwick coach Gene Nudo said. "I'm very happy for our boys. This means a lot to them."

Likewise, the season in its entirety meant a lot to Carmel.

Just a year ago, the Corsairs were 2-7 and missed the playoffs for the second season in a row.

"You can't take the season as a downer," Huiras said. "We were 2-7 last year and turned it around to 7-4. That's a pretty good turnaround if you ask me. Our slogan this year was, 'We will rise,' and we felt like we rose from the bottom. That 2-7 was one of the worst records here ever and we turned it around. The seniors hope we left a good mindset for the juniors and sophomores to keep it going."

Said Bitto, now in his 17th season as head coach at Carmel: "After the last couple of years, these kids have been so much fun to coach. The future is bright because the seniors helped us turn this thing back around."

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