Football Recap: CJ Willis' Big Game Can't Quite Lead Belleville East over Chicago Mt. Carmel

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Belleville East can now relate to. They received a blow on Saturday as they fell 48-29 to the Chicago Mt. Carmel Caravan. While losing is never fun, the Lancers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 71st, while the Caravan are ranked second).

Kayden Wood

Passing Yards

11/08/25 vs Chicago Mt. Carmel	289
10/17/25 @ Belleville West	246
09/05/25 @ Pekin	242
09/26/25 vs Edwardsville	213
11/01/25 vs West Aurora	209

Several Lancers players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was CJ Willis, who picked up 89 receiving yards and a pair of TDs. Willis also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, making four total tackles and defending one pass in addition to snagging an interception. Kayden Wood was another key player, having thrown for 289 yards and two touchdowns.

With the defeat, Belleville East broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 8-3. As for Chicago Mt. Carmel, their victory was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 11-0.

Belleville East does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Chicago Mt. Carmel, they will host Lincoln-Way East at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Griffins will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more points each contest than the last.