The 10-1 Ironmen will travel to Chicago on Saturday to face the Mt. Carmel Caravan, kicking off Round Three of the IHSA Class 7A Football State Series at 5 p.m.

Mt. Carmel’s 8-3 record is deceiving, Community head coach Mr. Jason Drengwitz said, “You have to take into consideration the Caravan’s schedule.”

In Week One, Mt. Carmel fell 42-38 to New Jersey’s Princeton Hun (9-1), one of the top teams in the nation; in Week Six, they suffered a 16-13 loss to Brother Rice. In that contest, the Caravan’s All-State quarterback and Vanderbilt-commit Jack Elliott was sidelined with an injury.

In Week Nine, the reigning IHSA 8A State Champions, the 9-2 Loyola Academy Ramblers handed the Caravan a 31-7 defeat.

“Those losses,” Drengwitz said, “have only benefited the Caravan on their march for a 16th IHSA State Title.”

“Make no mistake, the Caravan are the best team the Iron have faced this season,” the head coach said.

“I don’t think you can ever be fooled by the record to think that they’re anything but an outstanding and extremely talented, well-coached team,” Drengwitz said.

Just how well-coached are the Caravan?

Under seventh-year head coach Jordan Lynch, Mt. Carmel has hoisted three Class 7A trophies, coming off back-to-back State Title seasons after handling the Downers Grove North Trojans 35-10 last season.

That history of success has instilled “a high sense of confidence” in the team, something only compounded, Drengwitz said, by “how battle-tested” they are.

That confidence is just another weapon for a team that has an arsenal.

“They play so fast,” Drengwitz said, “and so physical. They’re physical on offense. They’re physical on defense.”

A High-Powered Caravan Offense

To see that physicality in action, you have to look no further than the Caravan’s play caller—the 6-foot, 205-pound dual-threat quarterback.

Last week, Elliott’s five-touchdown performance led the Caravan to a 48-15 victory over 4-seed St. Charles North.

The senior put the Caravan on the board with two rushing TDs, racking up 66 yards on 13 carries.

“He’s an outstanding runner,” Drengwitz said, “he’s really tough to tackle. You better wrap him up, because he’s not going to go down [easily.]”

The same can be said for tailback Danyil Taylor, Jr. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound senior ran for 123 yards and a touchdown against St. Charles North.

“That’s quite an accomplishment for the senior who took his first reps in the backfield this season after playing tight-end his sophomore and junior seasons.” A fact that speaks to the depth of talent, size, and strength Mt. Carmel boasts.

The Caravan finished the quarterfinals-clinching contest with over 300 yards rushing.

Mt. Carmel’s ground game is just half of the story, as the Caravan is equally dangerous with Elliott tossing the pigskin.

After finding the end zone twice on the ground last week against the North Stars, the QB added three more scores through the air, going 9-of-15 passing for 140 yards against St. Charles North.

“He’s extremely accurate with the football,” Drengwitz said, “and he’s throwing to really talented receivers.”

Among those talented wideouts are Elliott’s future Vanderbilt teammate Jake Cozzie, who had a score in last Saturday’s victory, sophomore Quentin Burrell (5 receptions; 72 yards; TD vs. St. Charles North), and freshman Marshaun Thornton (2 receptions; 58 yards; TD vs. St. Charles North).

Elliott, Drengwitz said, “is going to get some numbers rushing and passing. Anytime you have a quarterback that is an outstanding thrower, [an] outstanding runner that just presents so many problems.”

The Ironmen’s focus is on “eliminat[ing] the big plays.”

The Caravan’s big-play ability was on display in Round Two of the playoffs, with Elliott opening up back-to-back drives with 40-plus-yard passes and Taylor, Jr. ripping off large runs against the North Star defense.

“We have to contain them,” Drengwitz said. “We’ve got to tackle and get them down. We’ve got to rally to the football.”

The Caravan’s Defensive Size

The Caravan’s defensive front is anchored by freshman phenom Caleb Tucker, a 6-foot-4, 330-pound nose guard who earned the nickname “Bonecrusher” for his impact in the trenches.

Tucker is just one on a defensive line that has given opposing offenses fits this season.

“Looking up front,” Drengwitz said, “the Caravan use their size and strength to their advantage, pressuring quarterbacks and making it hard to throw.”

“Their ends are big, long, and talented. We’ve got to do some things at practice to get [Ironmen quarterback] Kyle [Beaty] used to throwing over arms,” Drengwitz said.

While the Iron offensive line, the head coach said, is “pretty good sized,” the Caravan “are bigger than us, for sure.”

But that shouldn’t matter if Community has sound technique.

“If we can have good stances, good starts, good technique, that our head and hands [are] in the right place, I do think we can have success.”

While the match-up requires the Iron “to do some different things,” Drengwitz said, to “have some wrinkles in,” “we still have to be who we are.”

Iron’s Offensive Key Remains Balance

For Community, a balanced offensive attack will be key, as their ability to carve up opponents in the running and passing game has been the key to the Ironmen’s success this season.

This season, Kyle Beaty has thrown for 28 passing TDs and 1,808 yards; Calen Taylor has rushed for 22 scores on his way to 1,085 yards.

The duo padded those numbers in last week’s 52-49 shootout victory over Mt. Prospect, as Taylor ran for a career-high 249 yards and five touchdowns while Beaty threw for 359 yards and two scores.

Against Mt. Carmel, Drengwitz said, the Iron “have to be able to run the football.” When they have opportunities in the passing game, “we have to hit, we can’t miss.”

With a trip to the Class 7A Semifinals on the line, the Ironmen know the stakes and what it will take for a repeat trip to the Semis: mistake-free football.

Against Mt. Prospect, Drengwitz said, there were multiple plays “where things busted, or a technique was bad, or we didn’t fit the right gap, and lo and behold,” the Iron found themselves in trouble.

This week, they’ve used those mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve, the coach said.

“You can’t be your best version in Round Two,” Drengwitz said. “You need to be your best version this week. That’s our focus.”

The challenge is daunting, but Drengwitz and the Ironmen welcome it.

“Our kids are really excited about the chance to go up and play somewhere like Chicago against Mt. Carmel,” he said. “It’s a big challenge, but it’s a huge opportunity.”