Chicago (Ill.) Mount Carmel senior quarterback recruit Blainey Dowling (6-foot-2, 195 pounds) has started to see his overall recruiting stock pick up this late fall. Dowling, who was named as an EDGYTIM/Rivals.com All State player this past season added recent scholarship offers from both Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois. Dowling checks in and updates his latest recruiting news in this update.

"It feels good to see my recruiting starting to pick up," Dowling said. "I was able to add offers this week from both Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois and it seems like more schools are starting to reach out to my coaches at school."

Dowling broke down adding his recent offers from in-state EIU and WIU.

"Eastern Illinois pretty much came out of nowhere. The EIU coaches made an in school visit, watched me throw in a workout then decided to offer me after the workout. I'm just blessed to land an offer from EIU and I'm actually going to make an official visit to Eastern Illinois this coming weekend. I'm looking forward to just getting a chance to learn more about the school and the football program. I'm also excited to get to know the coaches and the players at EIU better this weekend." I'm excited to get out and visit EIU."

"Western Illinois reached out to me a while back but then I didn't hear much from them until recently. The coaches at WIU liked my film and decided to offer me. It's also just a huge blessing to have an offer from WIU. I'll definitely look more into them soon and it's great to add an offer from them."

Have any other schools started to show recruiting interest in Dowling this late fall?

"Besides Eastern and Western Illinois, Dayton is planning to be in school on Thursday. I've also been in contact with some of the Pioneer League schools like Drake and Valpo. Lindenwood was also my first offer and they offered me a scholarship right after the season ended. I'm still pretty open and I'm just looking for the best opportunity for me."

Dowling is also starting to come back down from a perfect 14-0 season and winning the 2022 Class 7A state title.

"It's just starting to sink in now about our season and being state champions. It's still hard to think that I'm done playing Mount Carmel football and in some ways it's bittersweet but we went out as champions. It was an amazing season and we played as a team every single week."

So how did Dowling's overall game progress this season compared to his 2021 junior year?

My overall throwing ability along with my footwork and mu confidence was just so much better this season. I worked hard on just being more prepared for every game this season. I worked with Throw It Deep in the off season along with working closely with my head coach (Jordan Lynch) and Coach Lynch had a lot of confidence in me. I was able to really learn our offense and I was allowed to make changes and calls when I saw something open up."

So what's next for Dowling this off-season?

"It's pretty horrible right now because I don't have any football to play and I'm nit sure what to do. I'm taking a little time off to heal up and rest from the season, but I'm feeling more and more like I'll be back working out and throwing sooner rather than later."

Blainey Dowling has scholarship offers from Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Dayton. and Lindenwood.