LOYOLA PREPARES FOR SEASON OPENER AGAINST DAMIEN ON FRIDAY AT SMITH FIELD
On Saturday all three Loyola squads participated in intrasquad scrimmages on Smith Field to prepare for their season-opening games against La Verne Damien on Thursday and Friday. The Varsity will host the Spartans on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. on Smith Field. The freshmen team will play Damien on Thursday at Smith Field at 4:00 p.m., and the sophs will travel to La Verne to battle Damien at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday.

CUB VARSITY FACES CHALLENGING SLATE
Head coach DREW CASANI ‘91 lost more than a few big time performers from Loyola’s 2021 Angelus League Co-Championship team which finished 8-4 after falling in the quarterfinal round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs.

The departure of two of the best players from the program following the end of the spring semester certainly did not come as good news for a squad that could ill afford to lose its top returning receiver and inside linebacker. But Casani and his staff have expressed confidence in the players who will line up against a stout, physical Damien team this Friday.

The Cubs have a top flight field general at the helm in 6-4 senior left hander XAVIER RICE. A season-ending knee injury cut short Rice’s junior season during the first half of the second contest of last fall’s campaign. Rice is the centerpiece of a Cub offense that has been short handed at the receiver position during camp due to injury.

Senior receiver WILKE WILES is expected to return to practice this week. A 4.5 speed burner, Wiles will provide high octane to Loyola’s aerial assault. Junior receiver KHALIL CUEVA should return to the lineup some time in September as he is recovering faster than expected from an off season injury. Freshman wide out KYLE ROBERTSON has jets and will continue to grow into the role of a deep threat pass catcher. He is capable of making big plays.

The running back position may end up being manned by a committee until a player seizes the reins as the lead runner. In Saturday’s Blue-White scrimmage, senior CLAY WINNEK bolted to a 45-yard TD. He is as tough as they come. Senior JP Bautista is talented and sophomore DESI VALDES was a tough ball carrier on last season’s freshman squad.

Loyola’s offensive line, along with the secondary, may be among the top two best position groups.

The top trench men are senior right tackle JACK SUSNJAR (6-6, 313), junior right guard RYAN TURK (6-4, 282), senior center MATT POHL (6-3, 281), and junior left guard RASHAD “CHAMP” WESTBROOKS (6-4, 265). Each of those players started last season. Senior LEIGHTON LINE (6-4, 272) returned to Loyola from Texas, where he moved after his freshman year, and is in line to start at left tackle. Juniors LUKE HARRISON (6-4, 264) and BEAU FERGUSON (6-4, 262) will also vie for playing time.

The Cub ‘Wolfpack’ defense is not the biggest, but it will create havoc. Returning senior defensive lineman KEENAN TARBET (6-4, 215) is quick and tough. Look for senior linebacker ZACH BOWLES (5-11, 205 ) and sophomore outside linebacker SCOTT TAYLOR (6-3, 215) to be play makers. Three year starter JORDAN HEWITT (5-10, 180) will start at one corner position, while a bevy of athletic players are in the hunt for playing time at the other corner spot. Junior secondary standouts  CHAZ AUSTIN and ELIJAH BRADLEY are making their cases for big roles.  Junior JAKE ARELLANO (5-10, 173) returns at one of the safety positions. He may double as a receiver.

A LOOK AT THE DAMIEN SPARTANS
Damien went into the 2021 season with top tier rankings and very high expectations. Coach Matt Bechtel’s Spartans did not live up to its preseason laurels, but his young team suffered some very close losses that could, with 15 returning starters, turn into wins this time around. Despite a 27-19 loss to a very good Yorba Linda squad, now ranked 24th by the L.A.Times, in its zero week opener on Friday, Bechtel is still highly optimistic about the Spartans’ prospects.

The leader of the offense is tough and talented senior dual threat quarterback Dylan Gutierrez (5-11, 205). The All-Baseline League signal caller passed for 1,685 yards and 12 TDs last fall and completed 17 of 26 aerials for 200 yards against Yorba Linda. Gutierrez is also a dangerous runner. Sophomore running back Steve Chavez (6-1, 205), who started on the varsity as a freshman, is a bruiser with speed. All-league junior receiver Ayden Gutierrez (5-11, 165) is a playmaker who is also a big threat on special teams.

The Spartans are solid upfront. Junior Trey Hyland ( 6-4, 288) is a powerful blocker.

Senior defensive lineman Damien Burgeno (6-2, 252) is a leader on Damien’s stop unit.

Game outlook
Damien has its best players from 2021 back. Loyola does not. That poses a huge challenge for the Big Blue. For the Cubs to pull off a win in their opener they will need to find a way to slow down Chavez and eliminate big chunk gains by Dylan Gutierrez on scramble plays. The Cub secondary will need to play at a high level against a good passing attack.

A lot of questions about Loyola’s offense need to be answered in an emphatic manner. If the offense can get untracked, the Cubs will have a shot at what most prep football pundits would consider an upset victory.

The Series
In a down year in 1971, Loyola lost to the Spartans, 27-7 in the schools’ first football fray. Last year, the Cubs escaped with a 16-14 win over Damien on the road. Friday’s contest is the rubber match in a series tied at 1-1.

ZERO WEEK OPPONENT REVIEW
Nine of Loyola’s ten regular season opponents played their first games in zero week on Friday.

Among the biggest surprises were West Ranch’s 61-41 rout of Angelus League rival St. Francis and La Serna’s 15-14 upset of favored Pasadena, which was unable to play a large number of transfers because of pending eligibility issues.

Probably the best game of the week involving two future Cub foes was the Chaminade versus Oaks Christian clash. Chaminade, which might be the best team on Loyola’s schedule, won 24-17.

Angelus League rival St. Paul downed Vista of the San Diego Section, 35-21. Cathedral, perhaps the most improved squad on the Cub slate, trounced Garfield of the L. A. City Section, 41-0.

Fellow Angelus League member Crespi was blasted, 45-7, by arch rival Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. New Angelus League foe Paraclete of Lancaster fell to Highland, 20-7.

The zero week record of nine out of ten teams on the 2022 schedule was 3-6. Culver City, Loyola’s game two opponent did not play last week.

THE FUTURE OF CUB FOOTBALL
Freshman head coach Lamont Freeman suited up 125 freshmen on Saturday on Blue-White Day, and it was easy to see why there is quite the buzz about a first year group that has the looks of a potentially outstanding squad.

The line corps may be the biggest in Cub freshmen annals. The list of impressive trench players is a long one. Among the many standout linemen are PATRICK PELLIGRINI (6-4, 267), NATHAN TURK (6-4, 261), MAX MEIER (6-3, 220), NELSON PYE III, and immovable nose guard DAMIEN UTUONE (5-8, 279).

Some of the other players-and by no means the only ones-who shined in the scrimmage were linebacker RONEN ZAMORANO (6-1, 205), outside linebacker/wide receiver JACKSON NELSON, quarterback JACK THOMAS, skill players PETER SCIARRINO, JOSH GALLAGHER, EVAN SANTOS, WYATT CLOUGHERTY, WES McMULLEN  and LUIS VILLEGAS. Two of the best freshmen, DB BRANDON LOCKHART and wide receiver KYLE ROBERTSON, are on the varsity squad.

SOPH STAFF AN ALL-CUB CONTINGENT
Loyola’s 44-man sophomore team is led by a staff of former Cub standout players. Head coach ANTHONY HOLLY ‘87 was an All-CIF nose guard on the 9-3 1986 team. Assistant FRED SAINZ ‘83 was an All-CIF safety on the 9-2-1 1982 squad. Defensive coordinator CHRISTIAN GASCOU ‘93 was an All-Del Rey League guard on the 1992 CIF Division I runner-up team, offensive/defensive line coach PJ PASCALE ‘78 was a standout offensive tackle on the 1977 CIF Big Five Conference semifinalist squad. Quarterbacks coach ART GARCIA ‘84 was a QB on the 10-1 Del Rey League Champion 1983 team, and DANIEL PEDROARIAS ‘15 was a lineman on Loyola’s 2014 club.

MORE ON THE “MOON RIVER” TRADITION
TIM JOHNSON ‘67, one of the best corners in Cub Football history, shared a nostalgic story about Loyola teams of the 1960s singing the famed song “Moon River” on the bus rides home from games.

JACK GIRARDI ‘65 added to Tim’s great story. Jack’s memories are penned here:
“…The origination of ‘Moon River’ goes back to 1962.  I happen to recall it because I was right next to the coaches when it what became the tradition got started. Tim’s assessment of Bill Lenihan was right on, and the tradition began during the ’62 season.  The first game was on a Saturday afternoon against Camarillo (it was 51-0).  The managers (Jim Leib, Tom Johnston and me) didn’t ride with the team on the bus for that game as was to be the custom—there were never enough seats so we were relegated to sitting on the floor of the bus with some of the equipment, and Coach Stueck did not want to do that for such a long ride.  We went with Bill Quinlan and heard him tell stories about his football career (like playing with an artificial wooden leg as an interior lineman for Loyola University). 

The following week was a Friday night game.  The typical ride home after the game involved comments by the coach on the bus and then a decade of the rosary.  On this occasion Coach Stueck said a few things and then commented the captains were to lead a decade of the rosary and then added ‘you can sing Coach Lenihan a song later’. 

After the prayers someone, I think it was Al Ross, asked Coach Lenihan what he wanted to hear.  ‘Moon River’ was his response.  The movie ‘Breakfast at Tiffanys’ had been released late in ’61 and the song was on the pop charts for quite a long time, so I think most everyone knew the words.
 
From that game forward for the next 34 games (at least as long as Johnston and I were there) the routine for the ride home following the game was a decade of the rosary, ‘Moon River’ and then whatever other rock songs were popular until that time when the bus pulled up to Loyola.
 
There was one time that song was sung that was particularly memorable (at least for me and a few others).  The final game of the ’64 season was the defeat at the hands of Whittier and the end of the 35 game win streak.  There were a few tears in the locker room, but mostly quiet.  The team filed on the bus and without any prompting the captains led off with a decade of the rosary.  

The team then immediately went into  ‘Moon River’ after which there was complete silence the rest of the trip back to Loyola.  Looking back on that evening 58 years ago (yikes), it was a class way to bring the streak to an end.”

Loyola’s 35-game victory skein from 1962-1964 still stands as a CIF Southern Section Large Schools record.


SUPPORT CUB FOOTBALL - JOIN THE LOYOLA GRIDIRON VANGUARD
The Loyola Gridiron Vanguard is hosting a tailgate at Dunn Court adjacent to Ruppert Hall before this Friday’s home opener against Damien. Vanguard members and a guest of each member are invited. JOIN THE VANGUARD TODAY. RSVPs for the tailgate are due tomorrow. Check out LOYOLA GRIDIRON VANGUARD’s Face Book page for more information.

The Vanguard provides much needed financial and volunteer support to Loyola’s football program.

The link below provides sign-up information. The Vanguard’s goal is to grow to over 1,000 members this fall.

https://www.loyolahs.edu/lgv/