Mount Carmel's dominant defensive line hands Lincoln-Way East running-clock loss in Class 8A quarterfinals

High school football fans waited all season for Mount Carmel against Lincoln-Way East.

The preseason No. 1 and No. 2 teams finally faced off Saturday on the South Side in the Class 8A quarterfinals. The highly anticipated showdown matched the Caravan, the most talented team in Chicago history, against Jonas Williams, one of the best quarterbacks in state history.

When Williams transferred from Bolingbrook to Lincoln-Way East after his freshman year, it appeared the Griffins finally had the superstar quarterback who could put them over the top against private-school powerhouses Loyola and Mount Carmel.

Williams, a USC recruit, lived up to all of his early hype and ended his career Saturday as Illinois’ all-time leader in touchdown passes and passing yards. But he spent the game running for his life, and the Caravan dominated Lincoln-Way East 48-7.

‘‘He’s a good player,’’ Mount Carmel defensive lineman Joey Quinn said. ‘‘But I think their team, in general, had one good player. When you take care of that, they can’t stop us.’’

Quinn had two sacks. Sophomore Caleb ‘‘Bonecrusher’’ Tucker had one, and USC recruit Braeden Jones had several hurries.

‘‘We were completely in the offensive line’s head, and we all knew,’’ Quinn said. ‘‘I was looking at my boys, and we knew we were going to get this quarterback. No one was going to stop us.’’

Williams was 12-for-26 for 185 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions for the Griffins (9-3). The first interception came when Quinn hammered him, and the ball popped out and into the hands of Mount Carmel linebacker Roman Igwebuike.

‘‘There was just too much talking on Instagram,’’ Tucker said. ‘‘We had to handle business. [Williams] is a great quarterback. Shifty. But he’s a regular human being.’’

Williams had set the state record for touchdown passes earlier in the season. He broke the passing-yardage record in the first quarter and finished his career with more than 11,100 yards passing.

‘‘I’m glad I could close it out with my brothers,’’ Williams said. ‘‘Win or lose, I’m grateful for everything. [The record] is something super-special. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but I’m super-proud of myself and all the coaches that helped me get to this point.’’

Caravan junior Nathan Samuels ran for three touchdowns in the first half and finished with 12 carries for 91 yards. Quarterback Emmett Dowling was 21-for-32 for 321 yards. He threw two touchdown passes to Quentin Burrell and one each to Marshaun Thornton and Jamari Brown.

Mount Carmel (12-0) was able to get whatever it wanted offensively throughout the game. The running clock kicked in with 10:57 left in the fourth quarter, and both teams brought in their backups.

‘‘Bottom line, it was an old-school, take-you-out-to-the-woodshed butt-whupping and not something we’ve experienced very often,’’ Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. ‘‘Hats off to Mount Carmel, and we wish them luck. It will take an awful good team to beat them.’’

The Caravan have more talent than any team in Chicago history. That’s a fact based on the number of future big-time college players on the roster.

‘‘This is the first time we’ve played pretty close to a complete game all year,’’ Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said. ‘‘It’s scary when that happens. I know we have some big-time athletes, but we are so young. We are still learning, still growing. You still haven’t seen the finished product. And that’s good for us.”