Cub Football - Final score of 37-21 loss does not tell real story as Loyola pulls U-turn
LOYOLA DOMINATED BY VISTA MURRIETA IN FINAL NON-LEAGUE GAME
When the toughest player on the field-at least on this night-was the opposing team’s quarterback, it did not bode well for a listless Cub squad which was thoroughly outplayed in all three phases of the game on Friday night at Smith Field. Visiting Vista Murrieta trounced Loyola, 37-21, in a contest that was not remotely close to what the final score might have otherwise indicated.
The defeat was a profound setback for a program that was perceived to have made a quantum leap the previous week. The overall lack of physicality and urgency displayed by the Big Blue, especially on the defensive side of the ball, was probably the most disappointing aspect of the loss.
There were flashes of energy and supreme effort by some players, but too few and with insufficient frequency to make a difference on a long night in Cubville. As Mission League competition commences next Friday, it was hoped that the time in the non-league frying pan before the transition into the conference fire would have provided further reason for optimism. Unfortunately, Friday’s effort did not.
The Broncos’ quarterback, who entered the contest with average passing and rushing statistics, put on a show of precise execution, both running and passing the ball, but more impressively, he demonstrated uncommon physicality, often delivering blows while running, for which the Cub ‘Wolfpack’ defense had no answer.
Vista Murrieta’s senior signal caller imposed his will play after play, leading his team to a 37-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. Against the Broncos’ reserves, Loyola scored two late touchdowns on a fumble return and a 56-yard rushing score to make the final tally look closer than it really was.
On a fourth-and-one play in the final two minutes of the contest, after Vista Murrieta’s first string defense returned to the field, the visitors’ stop unit stuffed the Cubs for no gain. That play put an exclamation point on the level of toughness displayed by the Broncos throughout the final non-league battle of the season for both teams.
Vista Murrieta played faster and more physically than Loyola all night long. If it were a weight room or track meet referendum, the visitors won those votes with relative ease. On both sides of the ball the more physical Broncos (3-2) exerted their will, and were buttoned down and disciplined in doing so.
In the waning moments of the first half, Vista Murrieta lined up for a short field goal, but the play ended up in a slow-developing fake in which the Broncos threw a touchdown pass to increase their lead to 21-7. For all intents and purposes the game was over at that point. The Cubs were unable to find any answers before Vista Murrieta’s lead ballooned to 37-7 early in the final quarter.
The Broncos held Loyola on a fourth down play on the home team’s first possession of the contest. It proved to be a portend of what was to come. Five seconds into the second quarter Vista Murrieta scored its first of five TDs. One of the few bright moments of the contest for Loyola was sophomore running back HARRISON ALLEN’s 11-yard power sprint to the end zone to tie the score at 7-7 at the 6:11 mark of the second quarter. Allen ran hard all night.
The Broncos promptly answered, driving 83 yards like a proverbial knife through butter in just over two minutes, to move ahead, 14-7 with 4:37 left in the first half. Following a Cub punt, Vista Murrieta took over at the Loyola 48-yard line and quickly moved the ball inside the Cub ten yard line. The fake field goal TD was scored with just 37 seconds left before intermission. The 21-7 Vista Murrieta lead would prove to be insurmountable.
Less than four minutes into the third quarter, the Broncos upped their lead to 24-7 on a 30-yard field goal. After Vista Murrieta once again held the Cubs on a fourth down play, a Bronco running back blew through attempted arm tackles and scored on a 40-yard sprint to make the score 31-7 with just under two minutes left in the third quarter.
At the 10:29 mark of the fourth quarter the visitors from Murrieta scored on a 30-yard run. A missed extra point made the score, Vista Murrieta 37, Loyola 7. Allen raced 56 yards against the Bronco reserves to close the gap to 37-14 with 3:30 left in the final quarter. Immediately thereafter, Cub senior safety DOMINICK BELISLE returned a Bronco fumble 38 yards for a touchdown to make the score 37-21.
Loyola senior linebacker RYAN QUINTANAR forced and recovered a Bronco fumble at the Cubs’ 47 yard line following the ensuing kickoff. The Cubs drove to the Vista Murrieta six yard line where the first string Bronco defense stuffed Loyola on a fourth-and-one play. That defensive stand pretty much summed up the game.
Where do the Cubs go from here after an embarrassing loss to a slightly above average team which would be a middle-of-the-pack foe if it were a member of the Mission League, as they head into a highly challenging five-game conference gauntlet next Friday?
The answer is far from clear, but one thing is certain: to have any chance of making noise in the Mission League, Loyola (2-3) needs to urgently raise its level of play exponentially.