Steve Millar’s 3 takeaways from Week 6 football in Southland

We are ready to go into the home stretch of the regular season as Week 7 kicks off. Now is the time when conference championships start to get decided and playoff bids are secured or lost.

Some teams — I’m looking at you, Brother Rice — helped themselves majorly in Week 6. Others are dealing with some adversity. Mount Carmel and St. Laurence both played without their starting quarterbacks and took tough losses.

Here are my takeaways from Week 6.

These guys have been unstoppable

While there are plenty of stars on high-profile teams in the area, there are some breakout performances happening under the radar on unranked teams.

Eisenhower senior Andre Lovett doesn’t exactly fit the under-the-radar category. Lovett has been one of the state’s top defensive players for three years, and he’s committed to Illinois as a defensive back.

But here’s something new that you may have missed after the Cardinals got off to a 1-3 start.

Lovett, who has played some receiver in the past, has been turned loose at running back over the past few weeks and put up monster performances.

Lovett ran for two touchdowns — and added an interception return TD — in a 23-20 loss to Reavis on Sept. 21. The following week, he ran wild for a whopping seven TDs in a 51-47 win over Oak Lawn. He added three more TD runs in Friday’s 21-6 victory over Evergreen Park.

Suddenly, the Cardinals’ battle Friday with Argo looms very large as both teams enter 3-3.

Meanwhile, junior quarterback Derrin Couch has been putting up some video-game numbers at Crete-Monee.

Couch has thrown 20 TD passes in the last three weeks. You read that right.

After back-to-back six-TD performances, Couch threw eight TD passes Friday night in a 67-0 win over Thornridge.

According to Illinois High School Association record books, the most TD passes by one player in a game in state history is nine, which has happened twice. So, Couch’s performance tied for third all-time.

Now, let’s be honest. The competition has not been great the last few weeks. But what Couch has been doing lately would be impressive against anyone.

Let’s see what the budding junior star can do in a Week 9 showdown against Kankakee and in the Class 6A playoffs.

Jack Elliott is the most important football player in the state

Don’t get me wrong. Mount Carmel is not a one-man show. Senior quarterback Jack Elliott is surrounded by plenty of talent and a championship coaching staff.

But I’ve seen how Elliott, a Vanderbilt recruit, can put his team on his back when the defense is struggling or the running backs aren’t piling up yardage.

Elliott has done it time and again with his arm and his legs.

And without him Friday night, the Caravan fought valiantly but came up just short in a 16-13 loss to Brother Rice.

I’ve heard conflicting things about Elliott’s status moving forward and will not share rumors about a kid’s health here, but here’s what I will say. If Elliott does not return, there’s not a sure fifth win on the schedule with Joliet Catholic, Fenwick and Loyola ahead.

Things could get quickly get dicey for a team that is the Class 7A favorite with a healthy Elliott.

That said, Elliott has too bright of a future to rush him back and I know Mount Carmel’s coaching staff will be smart about it.

So, let’s just hope for the sake of the Caravan and football fans across the state that Elliott can return sooner rather than later.

Oh, and speaking of Elliott’s future, his next school pulled off a monumental shocker when Vanderbilt beat top-ranked Alabama 40-35 on Saturday.

If you’ve watched Vandy quarterback Diego Pavia, who consistently broke down the mighty Crimson Tide defense with his passing and running, I really believe Elliott is capable of doing the same types of things in the Commodores’ offense.

It’s a perfect fit.

Most eye-opening score

Oak Forest 27, T.F. North 21.

It’s time to give the Bengals some love.

There have been rough days of late for the proud Oak Forest football program, which made the playoffs ever year from 2000 to 2016 but has appeared in just one postseason game since and went 2-7 last season.

But Friday night’s big victory has the Bengals (4-2) in great shape to make it back to the playoffs and perhaps host a first-round game.

Junior receiver Collin Gentile — who had a 72-yard TD run — and junior quarterback Daniel Chopp led the way against the Meteors.

Originally Published: October 8, 2024 at 9:05 a.m.