The Mt. Carmel Golden Aces pulled off a dramatic playoff comeback Saturday at Riverview Stadium, overcoming a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat Benton 32 to 24 and advance to the Class 3A quarterfinals.
The first half ended in frustration for Mt. Carmel, as the Rangers’ goal-line stand stopped the Aces at the half-yard line as time expired, leaving Mt. Carmel trailing 17 to nothing.
But Shain Meador turned the game around by returning the second-half kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown. The Aces recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Meador scored again from a yard out. Following a successful two-point conversion, Mt. Carmel had trimmed Benton’s lead to 17 to 16 in the blink of an eye.
River Deisher then gave the Aces their first lead with a five-yard touchdown run with 6:45 remaining in the third quarter. A successful two-point conversion put Mt. Carmel ahead 24 to 17, completing a run of 24 unanswered points.
Benton answered with a two-yard touchdown run by Drake Porter and tied the game at 24.
But Chase Wiggins delivered another special teams touchdown. Wiggins caught the following kickoff at his own 15, cut left and raced up the left sideline in front of the Aces’ bench for an 85-yard touchdown. The score put Mt. Carmel ahead for good with 5:08 remaining in the third quarter.
The Rangers battled back, looking for a tying score, before Meador ended Benton’s hopes with an interception. That allowed the Aces to run out the clock and secure their 11th straight victory.
Unofficially, Benton finished with 381 yards of offense, compared with 263 for Mt. Carmel.
The unbeaten Aces now travel to St. Joseph-Ogden next Saturday to face the second-seeded and undefeated Trojans. St. Joseph-Ogden advanced with a 35-to-21 victory over perennial Mt. Carmel nemesis Tolono Unity.