LOYOLA SEASONS ENDING IN THE NUMBER 2
CalHi Sports just updated its list of California high schools with the most all-time wins, and Loyola placed sixth on the Golden State’s victory ledger.

Unfortunately, the Cubs’ record book only goes back to 1924, but game results from every contest of each season since 1924 have been compiled.

As the Big Blue prepares for the 2022 campaign, a look back at the nine football seasons, ending in the number two dating back to 1932, presents an interesting historical view of Cub Football.

1932
In the second campaign of head coach AL TASSI’s six year tenure as Loyola’s head football coach, the Cubs finished 7-1. The lone loss was a 7-6 defeat at the hands of San Diego Hoover. TASSI’s overall record as Cub head man was  31-12-1 (71%). The high point of the ‘32 season was Loyola’s 27-0 shut out of Harvard, the predecessor to Harvard-Westlake. At the time, Harvard was located less than two miles from Loyola’s campus at 1901 Venice Boulevard.

1942
In his only season as the Cub varsity football head coach, Loyola alum TONY DeLELLIS ‘35 led the Cubs to an undefeated 7-0 record to notch the Catholic League title. Among the standouts for Loyola were All-CIF backs DICK DOHERTY and JIM CALLANAN (USC). De LELLIS, who starred in the backfield during his tenure as a student at The High, served as the head coach at Loyola University following his one year stint as the head man at his prep alma mater. He later founded a highly successful container distribution business. His son TONY DeLELLIS, Jr. ‘60 also played for the Cubs before matriculating to and playing football at Stanford. After earning his MBA from the UCLA graduate school of business, DeLELLIS joined his father’s business enterprise.

1952
The Cubs struggled to a 2-4-1 finish under head coach LEO HAGGERTY in his lone year as the man in charge of Loyola football. The fifties was the least successful decade of the Twentieth Century for Cub Football. The best seasons of the decade were 1950 (8-3, CIF playoff semifinals, Catholic League champs under head coach JACK BOUCHARD, top player: All-CIF RB FRANK LAYANA) and 1953 (7-1-2, head coach JACK BOUCHARD).

1962 
Loyola recorded its second consecutive undefeated (12-0) season and captured its second consecutive CIF Southern Section AAAA championship in 1962. The Cubs defeated the Anaheim Colonists, 14-3, in the title game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Loyola outscored its 12 opponents, 387-88, under fifth year head mentor and Cub alumnus LEW STUECK ‘53”. Senior single wing tailback STEVE GRADY was the CIF AAAA Player of the Year. He led the state in rushing yards (2,097), carries (319) and points scored (217). GRADY is the only player in California prep football history to be named both State Player of the Year and State Coach of the Year (2003). Linemen TIM HORNBECKER (Colorado) and RICH DEAKERS (UCLA) also earned All-CIF AAAA honors. Grady continued his playing career at USC before serving as Loyola’s head coach from 1976-2004. STUECK’s  five-year overall record was 32-14-2 (73%). The Cubs won a second consecutive CIF AAAA title in 1963 under alumnus head coach MARIO DIMURO ‘35, and ended the season ranked second in the nation behind Chicago Mt. Carmel. Loyola’s still-CIF Southern Section Large Schools 35-game victory streak finally came to an end in the 1964 CIF AAAA finals.

1972
According to the record book, the only campaign without a win or a tie was in 1972, when the Cubs finished 0-9 under head man ROGER HYDUKE in his only season at the reins. The best player on that squad was back GREG HICKS (Washington State). The arrival of new head coach MARTY SHAUGNESSY and his legendary DC JON DAWSON, the following spring marked the renaissance of Cub Football. In 1975 Loyola won its third CIF Southern Section AAAA title and was crowned National High School champions. Shaugnessy ‘s three-year record was 27-6 (82%).

1982
In STEVE GRADY’s sixth season at the hem of Cub Football Loyola compiled a 9-2-1 record. Offensive lineman GUY COLLINS (Arizona), defensive lineman DAVID FOUTS and safety FRED SAINZ (Air Force) were named first team All-CIF.

1992
Led by four All-CIF standouts, quarterback CLELIO BOCCATO, linebacker FERNANDO CHAVEZ, offensive lineman ROBERT JUNGERHANS and tight end TOM LIEB, the Cubs were CIF Division I runners-up. Loyola lost a 7-3 heartbreaker to arch rival Bishop Amat before an overflow, standing-room-only crowd at Cerritos College in the D-I title tilt. The trip to the CIF Division I Championship game was one of six during the three decade GRADY era.

2002
The Cubs were 9-4 in 2002. The team made it to the CIF Division I semifinals at Anaheim Stadium, where the GRADY-coached squad fell to eventual CIF Division I champion Los Alamitos before a huge crowd. Running back Bo Renaud, the Serra League’s Most Valuable Back and team Co-MVP rushed for 1,868 yards, and All-Serra League defensive end and team Co-MVP, MIKE HORGAN, were big contributors. Senior receiver QUINTIN DANIELS later was a scholarship receiver at Washington. The following year (2003) Loyola won its fifth CIF Division I championship. STEVE GRADY retired after the 2004 season. During his legendary tenure as head coach, his teams compiled a 269-77-6 overall record (77%), won two CIF Division I championships, were four-time CIF runners-up, and captured 17 league titles. GRADY’s squads’ combined records in his three seasons at the helm ending in a 2 (1982, 1992, 2002) was 30-6-1 (82%) with trips to the CIF Division I playoff quarterfinals (1982), title game (1992), and semifinals (2002).

2012
Loyola finished the 2012 season with a 6-4 record under third year head coach MIKE CHRISTENSEN. The Cub MVP was RB/DB CAMERON WALKER, who went on to start in the secondary at Cal. JOHN TURNER (Washington) was Loyola’s Lineman of the Year. COLEMAN SHELTON was an All-Serra League two-way lineman who went on to be a team captain and All-PAC-12 offensive lineman at Washington and is now a member of the 2022 Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.

The overall record of Loyola teams in seasons ending in a deuce is 57-25-2 (69%). The record in the last four decades in years ending in two is 36-12-1 (74%).

So what will be the Cubs’ final record in 2022?

Only 26 days until the answer begins to unfold.

UPDATED CUB ALUMNI IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL LISTS
Here is the current list of Cubs participating  in college football (in alphabetical order):
NICK ANDERSON ‘20, OL (Denison)
STEVE ARELLANO ’20, LB (University of Chicago)
SINJUN ASTANI ‘17, DL (USC)
CHAD BAILEY ‘20, DB (Tulane)
NICHOLAS BARR-MIRA ‘19, K (UCLA)
GEORGE CARATAN ‘17, K/P (Connecticut)
JAC CASASANTE ‘18, LS (USC)
COLIN CRUCE ‘22 (Bowdoin)
RAMAN ENIGBOKAN ‘22 (Morehouse)
MIKE GRAVES ‘19, DB (Notre Dame)
JACOBY KELLY ‘22, WR (San Diego State)
ANDREW KOZHAYA ‘21, OL (Grinnel)
ALEX JOHNSON, ‘18, DB (UCLA)
JEFFREY JOHNSON ‘21, TE (Cal)
CARTER LINK ‘20, LB (SMU)
SHAWN LINN ‘22, DL (Columbia)
TY MAHER ‘18, OL (Colby)
CONNOR McDOWELL ‘21, DB (Angelo State)
BLAKE NEITHART ‘20 DB (Carleton)
TAHJ OWENS ‘22, RB/DB (Princeton)
NATHAN PRIESTLEY ‘19, QB (Georgia)
RYAN QUINTANAR ‘20, LB (TCU)
PATRICK SODL ‘22, LB (Columbia)
ZAKHARI SPEARS ‘21, DB (Washington)
JOE TATUM ‘22, QB (Texas)
EVAN THOMAS ‘20, DB ( UCLA)
BRAYDEN UTLEY ‘18, DL (Baylor)
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB ( USC)
SAM YOON ‘22, OL (UCLA)

If any players were not included who should have been, please advise.