Anytime the Ramblers and Caravan clash you are certainly in for a good game, and Friday night was no exception. Friday night brought the Ramblers to the southside to take on the familiar CCL foe under the lights at Barda-Dowling Stadium. Both teams were looking to pick up one final win to build their case going into the playoffs next week, after what has been a anything but normal regular season.

The Ramblers and Caravan stalled coming out of the gates offensively. Both teams traded possessions showcasing their stout defenses that we have come to know. It took until the early second quarter for the first points of the game to be put on the board after the Caravan settled for a short field goal to gain the 3-0 advantage.

On the ensuing possession the Ramblers were forced to punt the ball back to the Caravan. After a long, methodical drive, the Caravan found themselves facing a 4th down on the Ramblers 2 yard line. After the Caravan elected to go for it, the Rambler defense came up with a critical stop deep in their own territory.

The Ramblers were left with less than 2 minutes until half, and they made the most of it. The junior quarterback Jake Stearney marched the Rambler offense down the field eventually finding the endzone on a pass to Charlie Mahon to cap off the 98 yard drive.

Coming out of the locker room for the second half both teams looked to have made adjustments offensively. The Ramblers motored downfield on their first possession finding the endzone on a James Kreutz run that extended the Rambler’s lead to 14-3.

Caravan quarterback Blainey Dowling led his team out of the half finding success in the air. The Caravan drove down the field and deep into Rambler territory but eventually had to settle for a 24 yard field goal. Although disappointing, the field goal proved to be very important down the stretch.

Both teams continued their defensive first half success as they traded possessions, keeping the offensives off the field for the good part of the third quarter following the early second half scores.

It wasn’t until the 4th quarter that we saw scoring again. With about 9 minutes remaining in the game James Kreutz broke off a 54 yard touchdown run that added some cushion to the Rambler lead making it 21-6.

The Caravan were not fazed, though, as quarterback Blainey Downling connected on a 31 yard touchdown pass nearly immediately following the Ramblers score to once again cut the lead back down to one possession.

In the last minute of the 4th quarter the Caravan found themselves with the ball down 1 score. Dowling’s arm strength came back into play as he heaved a long 56 yard touchdown into the endzone to make the Rambler lead only two.

The game came down to the two point try by the Caravan as they tried to even the score but came up unsuccessful. The Rambler defense broke up a Dowling pass to survive the late 4th quarter scare.

After the game Holecek commented on James Kreutz’s play in the backfield offensively saying “Nimesheim had a thigh bruise and Regan was still gimpy so tonight we were down to our third and fourth stringers. He’s a special athlete — full speed in everything he does — so we wanted to try him out.”

Kreutz ended the night with a total of 12 carries for 76 yards and two touchdowns.

The win over Mount Carmel completes the undefeated regular season for the Ramblers elevating them to 9-0. With the win the Ramblers also captured the outright CCL Blue title. The Ramblers earned the top seed in the 8A playoff bracket as well.

The Ramblers will start their playoff campaign next weekend as they take on Downers Grove South at home.