Cub Football - Call to San Gabriel Valley alums - Andrew Hilton comeback story - CalHi Sports projects Cubs to make State Regionals - A look at past Loyola quarterfinal contests
LOYOLA PLAYS BONITA IN LA VERNE TOMORROW AND NEEDS SAN GABRIEL VALLEY ALUMS IN THE STANDS
Loyola will play Bonita in the CIF Southern Section Division 5 playoff quarterfinals tomorrow night in La Verne. Here is a call to the Cub alumni in the San Gabriel Valley to make it out to the game to support Loyola in its quest for the D-5 title. Bring a pancho as there may be some lingering rain. It is expected that Bearcats fans will be out in droves.
CALHI SPORTS PROJECTS LOYOLA AS A STATE REGIONAL PARTICIPANT IN DIVISION 2-A
This week Cal Hi Sports, the leading authority on California high school football, published a story on its State Regional playoff projections, and it tabbed Loyola (5-6) as a State Southern Regional participant along with Tulare (Central Section D-2 (8-2)). For that projection to come to fruition, the Cubs would need to win the CIF Southern Section Division 5 title. It is not a far fetched scenario.
L. A. TIMES ARTICLE LAUDS HEROIC COMEBACK EFFORT BY LOYOLA SENIOR OL/DL ANDREW HILTON
ANDREW HILTON ‘26 worked tirelessly in the offseason to get in the best shape of his high school football career. He clearly was going to earn a starting position on the Cub offensive line before he suffered a broken fibula which required surgery early in fall camp.
The medical prognosis for Hilton to make a recovery before the conclusion of the 2025 season was in not good, but a determined, tireless rehab effort of epic proportion allowed HILTON (6-1, 286) to return two weeks ago, and he reclaimed his role as a starting guard on the Cubs’ offensive line and a rotational role on the defensive front. He was the subject of a deserving feature article in the Los Angeles Times this week. HILTON exemplifies the resilience and fight-through adversity ethos which defines this Loyola team.
A LOOK BACK AT LOYOLA IN CIF AAAA/Division I PLAYOFF QUARTERFINAL GAMES
Loyola has advanced to the second round/quarterfinal round of the CIF Southern Section playoffs 39 times.
Here is a look at the second round/quarterfinal victories in each of the school’s six CIF Southern Section AAAA/Division I Championship campaigns:
1962: LOYOLA 20, North Torrance 13.
Loyola CIF AAAA Player of the Year STEVE GRADY helped lead the Cubs as an incomparable single wing tailback.
1963: LOYOLA 27, Pasadena 14
All-CIF Junior tailback MIKE BERGDAHL, Loyola ‘s all time rushing leader, with blocking provided by senior DON SWARTZ (CIF AAAA Player of the Year) and junior tackle GEORGE KUNZ (a 1965 All-CIF lineman, and later an All-American at Notre Dame and eight-time All-Pro NFL lineman) took care of business against the Bulldogs.
1975: LOYOLA 13, Foothill (Tustin) 8
Led by a slew of talented All-CIF AAAA squad members, the Cubs vanquished Foothill in a game played on a muddy quagmire. Loyola was not only crowned CIF AAAA champion after the 13-0 campaign but was also declared National Champions.
1990: LOYOLA 10, Fontana 7
In what might be the greatest quarterfinal win in Cub Football annals, All-CIF Division I Defensive Player of the Year DREW CASANI and All- CIF Defensive End KEVIN BENDER stopped the Steelers’ running back on a fourth down run play an inch and a half short of the first down yard marker to seal the win before a standing room only crowd at Glendale High.
2003: LOYOLA 10, Bishop Amat 9
After dominating Bishop Amat, 28-5, in league play several weeks before, the Cubs, led by CIF Division I Player of the Year, quarterback SCOTT DEKE, along with a stout defense, held on to vanquish their arch rivals.
2005: LOYOLA 26, Edison 22
Senior QB and CIF Division I Player of the Year HENRY BURGE, and a determined group of tough Cubs, won a slugfest played before an overflow crowd at Huntington Beach High.
THIS WEEK’S CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 5 QUARTERFINAL PLAYOFF GAMES
Redondo* (7-4) vs. St. Paul (4-7)
BONITA* (7-4) vs. LOYOLA (5-6)
Aliso Niguel* (8-3) vs. La Serna (8-3)
Rio Hondo Prep* (11-0) vs. Troy (10-1)
* Denotes home team
CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Below is the list of Loyola graduates on college football teams in 2025 according to published collegiate rosters:
JAKE ARELLANO '24, DB, Bentley University
CHAD BAILEY ‘20, DB, Bentley University
BROCK BOJORQUEZ ‘25, DB, Johns Hopkins
COLIN CRUCE ‘22, OL, Bowdoin
KHALIL CUEVA ‘24, WR, University of San Diego
JEFFREY JOHNSON ‘21, TE, Cal
LUKE HARRISON ‘24, OL, University of San Diego
CONNOR KLEIN ‘25, LB, Cornell
SHAWN LIN '22, DL, Columbia
LEIGHTON LINE ‘23, DL, Cal Lutheran
JOSHUA LONG ‘21, TE, Eastern Michigan
TAHJ OWENS '22, DB, Princeton
JACK PARIS '23, DL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
RYAN QUINTANAR '20, LB, USC
XAVIER RICE ‘23, QB, Duquesne
ISAIAH SANDERS, ‘24, LB, UC Davis
PATRICK SODL ‘22, LB, Columbia
ZAKHARI SPEARS ‘21, DB, Idaho
HENRY STICKLER ‘22, WR, SMU
JACK SUSNJAR ‘23, OL, USC
JOE TATUM ‘22, QB, Texas
SCOTT TAYLOR '25, LB, UCLA
RYAN TURK ‘24, OL, Dartmouth
DESI VALDES ‘25, DB, Pasadena City College
CHAMP WESTBROOKS ‘24, OL, Arizona State
ALEX WHITMAN ‘22, WR, Notre Dame
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB, Nebraska
SAM YOON ‘22, OL, UCLA
2025 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE AND RESULTS (5-6)
8-22 Cathedral (L 36-14)
8-29 @ Millikan (Long Beach) (W 35-25)
9-5 Mount Miguel (L 21-0)
9-12 @ Hamilton (Los Angeles) (W 42-21)
9-19 St. Francis (W 9-3)
10-3 @ Notre Dame* (L 35-10)
10-9 @Serra* at SoFi Stadium (W 13-10)
10-17 Bishop Amat* (L, 30-14)
10-24 @ Chaminade* (L, 52-0)
10-31 Sierra Canyon* (L, 52-3)
CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIV. 5 PLAYOFFS
11-7 Newbury Park (W, 17-14)
*Denotes Mission League game
CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Below is the list of Loyola graduates on college football teams in 2025 according to published collegiate rosters:
JAKE ARELLANO '24, DB, Bentley University
CHAD BAILEY ‘20, DB, Bentley University
BROCK BOJORQUEZ ‘25, DB, Johns Hopkins
COLIN CRUCE ‘22, OL, Bowdoin
KHALIL CUEVA ‘24, WR, University of San Diego
JEFFREY JOHNSON ‘21, TE, Cal
LUKE HARRISON ‘24, OL, University of San Diego
CONNOR KLEIN ‘25, LB, Cornell
SHAWN LIN '22, DL, Columbia
LEIGHTON LINE ‘23, DL, Cal Lutheran
JOSHUA LONG ‘21, TE, Eastern Michigan
TAHJ OWENS '22, DB, Princeton
JACK PARIS '23, DL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
RYAN QUINTANAR '20, LB, USC
XAVIER RICE ‘23, QB, Duquesne
ISAIAH SANDERS, ‘24, LB, UC Davis
PATRICK SODL ‘22, LB, Columbia
ZAKHARI SPEARS ‘21, DB, Idaho
HENRY STICKLER ‘22, WR, SMU
JACK SUSNJAR ‘23, OL, USC
JOE TATUM ‘22, QB, Texas
SCOTT TAYLOR '25, LB, UCLA
RYAN TURK ‘24, OL, Dartmouth
DESI VALDES ‘25, DB, Pasadena City College
CHAMP WESTBROOKS ‘24, OL, Arizona State
ALEX WHITMAN ‘22, WR, Notre Dame
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB, Nebraska
SAM YOON ‘22, OL, UCLA
2025 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE AND RESULTS (5-6)
8-22 Cathedral (L 36-14)
8-29 @ Millikan (Long Beach) (W 35-25)
9-5 Mount Miguel (L 21-0)
9-12 @ Hamilton (Los Angeles) (W 42-21)
9-19 St. Francis (W 9-3)
10-3 @ Notre Dame* (L 35-10)
10-9 @Serra* at SoFi Stadium (W 13-10)
10-17 Bishop Amat* (L, 30-14)
10-24 @ Chaminade* (L, 52-0)
10-31 Sierra Canyon* (L, 52-3)
CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIV. 5 PLAYOFFS
11-7 Newbury Park (W, 17-14)
11-14 @ Bonita
*Denotes Mission League gamE