Cub Football - Failure to capitalize on opportunities cost Loyola in semifinal loss
LOYOLA COULDN'T CAPITALIZE ON KEY OPPORTUNITIES IN SEMIFINAL LOSS TO SIMI VALLEY
Loyola went toe to toe with number-one seeded Simi Valley in the semifinal round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3 playoffs at Smith Field on Friday night, and had multiple opportunities to pull out a victory, but the Cubs were ultimately unable to take advantage of all of them before falling, 28-25, to the Marmonte League champion Pioneers.
Among the chances for success which ended up coming up short came after UCLA-bound senior outside linebacker SCOTT TAYLOR intercepted a Simi Valley pass at the Pioneers' 48 yard line in the first quarter, and when junior All-American corner BRANDON LOCKHART intercepted a Simi Valley aerial at the Pioneers' 40 yard line late in the second quarter.
Following TAYLOR's pick, Loyola managed just one first down before punting, and after LOCKHART's interception the Cubs drove to the Simi Valley one yard line where they elected to attempt a third down pass that was incomplete rather than handing the ball to their uber talented running back, and thereafter settled for a field goal as time expired in the first half. Had the Big Blue scored a TD it would have been a potential outcome changer.
The Big Blue also missed on some passes to wide open receivers in the first and second quarters which ended up stalling several potential scoring drives.
The Pioneers opened the contest, which was played before the largest Smith Field crowd of the season, with a 12-play, 74 yard drive, capped by a one-yard scoring run with 6:47 left in the first quarter.
Loyola responded with an 81-yard, five-play drive highlighted by an explosive 49-yard touchdown sprint by SEAN MORRIS II. JACOB KREINBRING's PAT kicked knotted the score, 7-7 at the 4:47 mark of the first quarter.
The teams traded punts before TAYLOR's interception.
The 18-yard JACOB KREINBRING field goal as time expired in the first half gave the Cubs a 10-7 lead at intermission.
After Loyola turned the ball over on downs on its opening possession of the first half, Simi Valley ran the ball for 54 yards on its first play to begin a six-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a one-yard TD run to give the Pioneers a 14-10 lead at the 6:24 mark of the third quarter.
The Cubs answered with a scoring march that covered 91 yards in 10 plays, capped by a brilliantly executed end-around run by tight end SCOTT TAYLOR. The PAT kick gave Loyola a 17-14 lead with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter.
Simi Valley countered with a long distance drive that began at its 20 yard line. Cub senior safety BROCK BOJORQUEZ came up with an interception at the Loyola one yard line to thwart the Pioneer scoring threat.
Disaster struck the Cubs five plays later, as a center snap sailed over sophomore QB MATT SMITH's head and the errant ball was recovered by Simi Valley at the Loyola eight yard line.
The Cub 'Wolfpack' defense then put together its best stand of the night. A nine-yard loss on a third down sack by junior inside linebacker DAEQUAN JEFFES forced the Pioneers to try a 31-yard field goal that was wide left.
A huge holding call against Loyola on the ensuing possession forced the Cubs to punt. Opportunity was extinguished once again.
Simi Valley took over at its 48 yard line and scored on a five-yard run with 1:15 left in the game to give the Pioneers a 21-17 lead.
On Loyola's first play after Simi Valley's TD, the Cubs threw an interception. The Pioneers took over at the Loyola 11-yard line, and after a three-yard loss on their first play, the visitors scored on a 14-yard run with 50 seconds left in the contest to increase their lead to 28-17.
Following the kickoff MATT SMITH completed a 38-yard pass to junior wide receiver MARCUS KIER on the first play, a 15-yard toss to junior wide receiver BRYCE COLEMAN on the second play and a perfectly placed 20-yard aerial to COLEMAN for a touchdown on the third play. A successful two point conversion pass from SMITH to KIER reduced Simi Valley's lead to 28-25 with 19 seconds remaining.
The Cubs' onside kick attempt failed and that was the game, and the end of the season for Loyola.
MORRIS, as usual, had an outstanding night. He carried the ball 19 times for 194 yards (10.2 yards per carry) and one touchdown.
The Cubs rolled up 350 yards of total offense. There were opportunities for a lot more on four consecutive drives over the course of the first two quarters the Cubs gained 0, 9, 1 and 9 yards. Unfortunately, MORRIS only carried the ball four times on those four possessions.
With the loss, the Cubs' record dropped to 6-7. The Pioneers (12-1) will play Edison of Huntington Beach (9-4) for the CIF Division 3 title next Friday.
2024 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL RECORD (6-7)
8-23 @ Cathedral (L, 16-13, 2OT)
8-30 Damien (L, 30-29)
9-13 @ Leuzinger (L, 40-30)
9-20 @ St. Francis (W, 35-7)
9-27 @ Mount Miguel (Spring Valley, San Diego) (W, 46-38)
10-4 Serra (Home)* (L, 42-35)
10-11 @ Bishop Amat* (W, 24-17)
10-18 Chaminade (Home)* (W, 44-10)
10-25 @ Sierra Canyon* (L, 45-0)
11-1 Notre Dame (Home)* (L, 35-34)
CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 3 PLAYOFFS
11-8 @ Tustin (CIF Division-3 Playoffs first round) (W, 30-13)
11-15 Crean Lutheran (CIF Division 3 quarterfinals) (W, 23-20 (OT))
11-22 Simi Valley (CIF Division 3 Playoffs semifinals) (L, 28-25)
CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Below is the list of Loyola graduates playing college football in 2024 according to published collegiate rosters:
CHAD BAILEY ‘20, DB, Bentley University
NICHOLAS BARR-MIRA ‘19, K, Mississippi State
COLIN CRUCE ‘22, OL, Bowdoin
JEFFREY JOHNSON ‘21, TE, Cal
LUKE HARRISON ‘24, OL, University of San Diego
ANDREW KOZHAYA ‘21, OL, Grinnel
SHAWN LIN '22, DL, Columbia
LEIGHTON LINE ‘23, DL, Cal Lutheran
CONNOR McDOWELL ‘21, DB, Angelo State
BLAKE NEITHART ‘20, DB, Carleton
TAHJ OWENS '22, DB, Princeton
JACK PARIS '23, DL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
RYAN QUINTANAR '20, LB, USC
ISAIAH SANDERS, ‘24, LB, UC Davis
PATRICK SODL ‘22, LB, Columbia
HENRY STICKLER ‘22, WR, SMU
JACK SUSNJAR ‘23, OL, USC
JOE TATUM ‘22, QB, Texas
EVAN THOMAS ‘20, DB, UCLA
RYAN TURK ‘24, OL, Dartmouth
ALEX WHITMAN ‘22, WR, Notre Dame
CHAMP WESTBROOKS ‘24, OL, Arizona State
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB, Nebraska
SAM YOON ‘22, OL, UCLA
LOYOLA GRADS IN THE NFL
MYLES BRYANT '16, corner, Houston Texans
ALEX JOHNSON '19, corner, Indianapolis Colts (practice squad)
DAVID LONG, JR., corner, Indianapolis Colts
COLEMAN SHELTON '13, center, Chicago Bears