Caravan Lose Tough Home Opener to New Jersey Prep School, The Hun School of Princeton, in a Wild Back-and-Forth Affair

Is there a tougher football player in the state of Illinois thlan Jack Elliott? He certainly made his case in Thursday night's home opener against the Hun School of Princeton, a prep school from New Jersey.

The Caravan, led by the 6'0 205-pound Elliott, did not back down from the challenge. Elliott threw for 278 yards, 2 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and ran for 65 yards including a 1 yard touchdown run. The 65 rushing yards were well earned as he broke several tackles in some of those rushing attempts. His 2 touchdown passes were for 30 and 61 yards.

The Caravan lost to the Raiders 42-38 despite the valiant effort. Kicker Nick Mullen's 34 yard field goal put the Caravan up 38-35 with 4:04 left. Quarterback Jack Moran led the Raiders to a game-winning drive capped off by a 31 yard pass to receiver Bryce Kania with 1:00 left. The Caravan had one more chance to reclaim the lead, but Kania picked off Elliott to put the game away in the final seconds.

Jack Moran was 19/32 for 466 yards, 5 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Moran had touchdown passes of 87, 45, 83, 50, and 31 yards. Bryce Kania caught 4 passes for 211 yards and 3 touchdowns, including the 2 80+ touchdowns. Tight ends Drae Tyme (140 yards, 50-yard TD) and Ryer Kusch (56 yards) each caught 5 passes.

Caravan sophomore receiver Quentin Burrell had 5 catches for 138 yards, and caught the 30 yard touchdown from Elliott. Burrell is a name to keep an eye on in the class of 2027.

Senior Danyil Taylor, who converted from tight end to running back, had 45 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns, and caught 3 passes for 31 yards. He will fill the void nicely for 2024 grad Darrion Dupree, who has moved on to Wisconsin.

Mount Carmel (0-1) will travel to St. Rita next Friday. The Hun School (1-0) will be at Wyoming Seminary next Saturday.