EVANSVILLE, Ind. - For a game that already had enough quirks to go for a long time, the Mt. Carmel Golden Aces added another when they upset the Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs, 31-25.

One of the quirks was the game being moved to Indiana. The two teams lined up on Evansville Central's turf field because muddy and waterlogged conditions in Mt. Carmel made it impossible to play the game at Riverview Stadium.

Thus, two Illinois high schools participating in an Illinois High School Association Class 4A Playoff Game, were playing that game in Indiana.

"First of all," said MCHS Head Coach Darren Peach immediately after the win, "I'd like to tell everybody thanks to our administration - (Superintendent) Tim Buss, (Principal) Pat Cheesman, (Athletic Director) Doug Spear, and a lot of other people, all the moms that made this work today - they did a ton of work in less than 24 hours. The administration was extremely supportive in getting this game over here."

"It's fantastic that two teams can play in elements like this and take weather out of the equation. I'd just like to thank them for that," he added.

The Aces took the lead late in the first quarter, a back-and-forth affair that had the Bulldogs driving deep into Mt. Carmel territory. It was the defense that turned the tables. Safety Shea Smith picked off a Quintin McNew pass at the Mt. Carmel 5-yard line and returned it to the Aces 34. It took Mt. Carmel one play to take the lead the Aces would never relinquish. Alex Hale, on an option to the right, found a wide-open hole and raced 66 yards for the score. Mahomet-Seymour then jumped offside on the conversion, so the Aces went for two, and Steven Zimmer added the points.

That came with 8.2 seconds left in the period.

Mahomet-Seymour then took advantage of a fumbled Mt. Carmel pitch to get on the board. The Bulldogs took over at the Aces 30, but the defense held and Brannon Kwiatkowski kicked a 28-yard field goal.

The second quarter still had 7:02 to play.

It did not take Mt. Carmel long to regain control. Mitch McPherson returned the kickoff to the Aces 30, then Shawn Bumpus went left for three yards. Hale then hit a wide open McPherson for 67 yards and the touchdown. Pete Condol added the conversion kick for a 15-3 lead with 6:02 left in the half.

Mahomet-Seymour got on the board with a touchdown after recovering another Golden Aces fumble. The action occurred near midfield and on the third play, after the turnover, McNew hit Zach McClughen with a 47-yard scoring pass. With 3:05 remaining in the quarter, Kwiatkowski added the kick for a 15-10 score.

Then it was the Bulldogs' turn to turn the ball over, with a resulting Aces touchdown.

After taking the second-half kickoff, McNew drove his team to near midfield. On his own 41, he put the ball up with McPherson coming down with it. The Mt. Carmel defensive back returned it 53 yards to the Mahomet-Seymour 7-yard line. But a substitution infraction moved it to the two, and Zimmer went in from there. Condol's kick made it 22-10 with 9:58 left in the third quarter.

Mt. Carmel added seven more third-quarter points. The Aces started on their own 39, after a Jared Lyons punt was downed. Near midfield, a fumbled pitch resulted in a loss of six yards, but the Bulldogs were flagged for a face mask. That kept the Mt. Carmel drive alive. It culminated when Hale scored on a 1-yard sneak with 1:49 left in the quarter. Condol's kick made it 29-10.

Once more, the Bulldogs capitalized on a Mt. Carmel mistake. Nick Malinowski picked off a Hale pass at the Bulldogs 17. Backed up to his own 11-yard line, McNew hit Alex Smith with a 48-yard pass to the Mt. Carmel 41. Then, facing a fourth-and-10, he hit Malinowski with a 41-yard scoring pass. Alex Smith, on a halfback option, hit Malinowski with the two-point conversion.

Mt. Carmel, however, got those two points back.

After being stalled at the Bulldogs 13 on a fourth-and-three, and turning the ball over on downs, it seemed like the entire MCHS defensive line swarmed McNew and tackled him in the end zone for a safety. Time remaining: 2:51.

Mahomet-Seymour then pulled a bit of Halloween trickery. Allowed a free kick, the Bulldogs elected for a placement kick rather than a punt, and Travis Hill attempted an on-side kick Mahomet-Seymour recovered. Fifty-one seconds later, McNew hit Ryan Ohl with a 1-yard scoring pass. Kwiatkowski added the conversion and the Bulldogs were down by only six points with two minutes to go.

Again, Mahomet-Seymour attempted the on-side kick, but it went out-of-bounds and the Aces took over at midfield. Hale picked up a first down on a fourth-and two, then took a knee to end the game.

Peach gave credit to the team's defense for the win. McNew put the ball up 37 times and completed 15; three of those went for touchdowns. But two were picked off, and he was tackled for the safety.

"They played a great game," he said. "They kept chucking it down field like they always do - that's what we thought they'd do. They did a good job protecting their passer. It didn't seem like we could get a very good pass rush until the end there, when we got the safety."

On the other side of the ball, he credited Hale with his reads. "Alex made a lot of good reads, again, running our option attack. It seemed like (Zimmer) was getting a lot of carries today," he said.

Zimmer lugged the ball 32 times for 170 yards and a touchdown.

Peach also felt Evansville Central's turf field gave the Aces a bit of an advantage.

"If I didn't feel like we had more pluses coming over here today, and playing over here, we'd never agreed to it," he said. "I felt good about coming over here and playing. You never know what's going to happen on a wet and muddy field."

STATISTICS

Rushing

Mt. Carmel: 57 attempts for 299 net yards (McPherson, three for 11; Bumpus, five for 32; Hale, 12 for 73 and two touchdowns; Zimmer, 32 for 170 and one touchdown; Hannah, five for 13)

Mahomet-Seymour: 21 attempts for 21 net yards (Hill, eight for 24; McNew, seven for minus 14; A. Smith, four for four; Ogle, two for seven)

Passing

Mt. Carmel: Hale, three of five for 86 yards and one touchdown with one interception

Mahomet-Seymour: McNew, 15 of 37 for 283 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions; Moxley, none for one

Receiving

Mt. Carmel: McPherson, three for 86 yards and one touchdown

Mahomet-Seymour: A. Smith, three for 63 yards; McClughen, four for 82 yards and one touchdown; Ohl, five for 74 yards and one touchdown; Malinowski, three for 64 and one touchdown

First downs

Mt. Carmel: 18 (15 rushing, two passing, one by penalty)

Mahomet-Seymour: 12 (two rushing, 10 passing, one by penalty)

Fumbles

Mt. Carmel: five, one lost

Mahomet-Seymour: none

Penalties

Mt. Carmel: three for 35 yards

Mahomet-Seymour: eight for 62 yards

Punts

Mt. Carmel: Condol, two for 75 yards (37.5 per kick)

Mahomet-Seymour: Lyons, fur for 140 yards (35.0 per kick)

Miscellaneous yards

Punt returns

Mt. Carmel: McPherson, one for minus two; Bumpus, two for four

Mahomet-Seymour: Ohl, one for no yards' McClughen, one for no yards

Kickoff returns

Mt. Carmel: McPherson, two for 41 yards; Hannah, one for no yards

Mahomet-Seymour: Ohl, three for 54 yards; A. Smith two for 46 yards

Interception returns

Mt. Carmel: S. Smith, one for 29 yards; McPherson, one for 53 yards

Mahomet-Seymour: Malinowski, one for no yards