Year in and year out, the Corsairs are consistently good ... and sometimes very good. The ESCC is not a cupcake league, witness Joliet Catholic's stack of state grid titles.
And if you're scoring at home, another solid two-run of big success is coming up for the Brown & Gold on the gridiron.
Besides, they are the only are high school with 30-second play clocks visible behind both end zones which enhances the fans' enjoyment of the game.
What is interesting is that both Joliet Catholic and Carmel are powers in football and baseball, and both struggle in basketball. St. Joseph can't beat anyone in football or baseball but is a basketball power. Apparently, it's impossible to be really good consistently at all three.
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Of course JC is very good - they have been for years and will always be - Rudy will be sure they are! But the leaugue is BELOW AVERAGE - check their non conference and state playoff records - and when was the last time that Carmel beat JC on a regular basis? If Carmel was in the NSC and played LZ, Libertyville, Stevenson, Warren, and LF they would be fortunate to win 3 of those games! So go ahead and be martyrs and play JC for the next two years. The good news is they can add JC's wins to their playoff formula!
ps Same applies in baseball - met a very good PR team and got beat. EASY LEAGUE.
Carmel is a good team in a very average league - just check the record of the ESCC in playoff appearances and non conference games. JC will always be one of the best programs in the state - aka 'Rudy' - and beat up the league on a consistent basis. If Carmel played in the NSC with LZ, L'ville, Stevenson, Warren, and LF they would be fortunate to win 3 out of 5. How would they do vs the traditional Catholic powers - Loyola, St. Rita, Mt. Carmel?...not very well either. They are really nothing more than martyrs for scheduling JC whose only salvation is they get credit for JC's wins towards their playoff formula.
Two comments:
It's very difficult for a school the size of Carmel to be terrific in all three of the "Big 3" sports. Their size (1400) is significantly smaller than most of the schools in Lake County.
I'm not exactly sure how Joe Gage can list LF with the other football school. Last year they were decent, but they're hardly a powerhouse. I know for a fact that if they played Carmel every year (I see them both every year), that they MAYBE would have won one out of the last ten. Also, how much success has the NSC had besides L'ville's recent two year run? Go school by school and look at the playoffs over the past ten years, and you'd see that the ESCC is superior. JC easily over L'ville. Carmel over Stevenson. Marion Catholic over Warren. After that, I'm not sure there's a NSC Lake team worth mentioning.