Mt. Carmel Gets Hot in Second Half

You’ve got to hand it to Mt. Carmel High. The Sundevils know how to light it up when they need to--and sometimes even when they don’t.

A homecoming crowd of approximately 3,500 Friday watched Mt. Carmel burn Orange Glen, 31-20. They also saw two homecoming floats burn in the fourth quarter.

The cause was not immediately known, but one of the floats parked under the scoreboard on the west end of the stadium caught fire. The fire spread to the other float within minutes. Help was on the scene quickly and the flames were doused without disrupting play.

Orange Glen probably wishes somebody came to its rescue.

Behind the bruising runs of running back Jeff Scott (137 yards, 24 carries) and the timely play of quarterback Matt Miller (six of 13 and 80 yards passing, 17 yards on three carries), Mt. Carmel improved to 6-2, 5-0 in the Palomar League, setting up a showdown next Friday against Rancho Buena Vista at Vista. Orange Glen (5-3, 3-2) probably will have to settle for an at-large berth in the 3-A playoffs.

“Every week, the offense seems to be coming more and more together,” Miller said.

It came together primarily in the second half, when Mt. Carmel scored 21 points and Orange Glen managed only one touchdown on the game’s final play.

Scott had 94 yards in the second half, including touchdown runs of 10 and 17 yards. Joel Newman had the other touchdown on a 33-yard pass from Miller (his only attempt of the half).

For Orange Glen, Daren Wilkinson completed 18 of 30 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns and ran for the other.

In the first 12 minutes, Mt. Carmel looked as if it would dominate but held just a 3-0 lead.

It drove 38 yards in 10 plays before having to punt in its first possession, then drove 40 yards in eight plays for Pat Abare’s 28-yard field goal.

On third and seven from the Orange Glen 11, the Patriots’ Andy Buh deflected a pass near the goal line, saving a possible touchdown.

Orange Glen managed only 19 yards of offense in the first quarter--none on the ground. But in the second quarter, Orange Glen began to find a groove. It drove 63 yards in 16 plays, using up nearly six minutes, to take a 7-3 lead.

The touchdown came on a pass from left-hander Wilkinson, who was rolling left, to wide-open tight end Brian Kooiman in the back left corner of the end zone.

Three plays later, Ken Winter intercepted a Miller pass, giving Orange Glen the ball at the Sundevil 40.

Five plays later, Wilkinson scored on a two-yard option run off left tackle to make it 14-3. The key play in the drive was the first, Wilkinson lofting a perfect pass to Kooiman streaking down the field. The 35-yard play gave Orange Glen first and goal at the five.

But with 3:21 remaining, Mt. Carmel went to work again, driving 61 yards and scoring on a four-yard pass from Miller to Rob Chase to make it 14-10.

Three plays before the touchdown, Miller narrowly avoided being sacked and scampered from the pocket for a gain of 16. Helping out with key blocks were Chase, who made two crushing hits, and Jeff Scott.

Chase, who five minutes earlier was removed from the game after injuring his shoulder on an attempted catch, also made a six-yard reception in the drive.