Providence’s perfectly executed final drive keeps Trae Taylor off the field, beats Carmel

Keep Nebraska recruit Trae Taylor off the field. That was the only goal for Providence’s offense in the final five minutes on Friday in Mundelein.

The Celtics dominated the first half, and then Taylor came alive with three touchdown passes in the second half, two of which were astounding highlight plays.

But Providence still led by seven and had the ball in the final minutes. The Celtics were perfect on the last drive. They used tough, bruising runs from Dominic Vita, Brayden McKay and Jackson Killeen to run out the clock and beat Carmel 35-28.

“It was stressing me out watching it, but they were electric,” Providence safety Blake Garrigan said. “A young quarterback out there doing the job and the offensive line did their jobs, and the running backs ran through their face. That’s what we had to do.”

Vita, a sophomore quarterback, had 18 carries for 149 yards and two touchdowns. He was 11-for-14 for 156 yards with one interception.

“Our whole team just came together like brothers,” Vita said. “We’ve been working our butts off for this.”

McKay had 18 carries for 69 yards, and Killeen finished with 12 carries for 41 yards. Broden Mackert had 10 carries for 37 yards and two TDs for the Celtics (2-1).

“[The last Providence drive] was old school football,” Carmel coach Jason McKie said. “Lineup and run the ball. They lined up and said, we are gonna run it, can you stop us? And obviously we didn’t.”

Providence dominated the first half, holding Carmel (2-1) to 46 total yards. The Celtics led 27-7.

“We went in the tank and spotted them all those points and then tried to rally,” McKie said. “We didn’t execute at all times. Hats off to them. They played hard.They came into our house and took it.”

Taylor, a junior, threw a 21-yard TD pass to Kai Owens midway through the third quarter. Then he scrambled and found Greg Bess-Henning for a spectacular 68-yard TD late in the third quarter. Taylor did it again on the next drive, connecting with Bess-Henning for a 55-yard TD to pull the Corsairs within seven points. But he didn’t see the field again.

“We had a couple guys that got a little dinged up and that was part of the problem,” Providence coach Tyler Plantz said. “They took advantage of it and made adjustments and found holes in our defense. Kudos to their staff and Taylor. He’s outstanding.”

Taylor was 10-for-21 for 206 yards with four TDs and one interception. He was under heavy pressure in the first half.

“The [defensive line] was getting in there,” Garrigan said. “I had a nice pick but I owe it all to them.”

Taylor is one of the area’s established stars, but Vita is an unknown. He’s 6-4 and tough and made smart, quick decisions throughout the game.

“He’s going to be a special player,” Plantz said. “He’s a high-level kid, a leader, and he’s not afraid to put his face in there. He seeks contact. Which you don’t love on your quarterback, but he’s tough and he loves his team.”