Cub Football - Loyola comes up short against Notre Dame
LOYOLA’S BID FOR COME-FROM-BEHIND VICTORY AGAINST NOTRE DAME FALTERS
The Los Angeles Times covered the Cubs’ game against Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks on Friday night as the week’s featured prep football contest. It has been quite a while since the Big Blue was the paper’s lead high school story. The article noted the program’s improvement, “Loyola (3-4, 1-1) showed it is making steady progress under first-year coach Drew Casani.” Indeed, that is clearly the case.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, they still need to make progress in “finishing” games. Sophomore wide receiver JACOBY KELLY made a seemingly impossible one-handed catch which he took 33 yards for his second touchdown of the night with 8:59 left in the fourth quarter to pull Loyola within tantalizing striking distance of what could have been a signature victory for the Big Blue.
Down 29-23, all the Cubs needed was a defensive stop to have a shot. Sure enough, they got it as Loyola linebacker STEVEN ARELLANO forced a Knight fumble near midfield on Notre Dame’s ensuing possession. With a little over seven minutes left, Loyola fans were abuzz as the Cubs began their potential game-winning march.
A perfectly executed screen pass from junior quarterback BRAYDEN ZERMENO to sophomore running back HARRISON ALLEN, who raced down the visitors’ sideline, appeared to set up Loyola with a first down inside Notre Dame’s 20 yard line, but a highly questionable ineligible receiver downfield call nullified the play and put the Cubs in a third and long situation. Unfortunately, Loyola could not garner a first down. Suffice to say there were more than a few critical officials’ calls that favored the home team.
On the Knights’ ensuing possession the Cubs were forced to use all three of their timeouts. Loyola’s ‘Wolfpack’ defense finally got a third down stop, and Notre Dame punted with just under a minute left in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame intercepted a Cub pass with under 20 seconds left, extinguishing any hope for a miracle ending for Loyola.
The Cubs opened the contest with an impressive drive which culminated in a DIEGO BURGOS 39-yard field goal at the 7:18 mark of the first quarter. It was the first of three Burgos field goals on the night. The Knights answered with a 75-yard drive, capped by a 15-yard TD run. A missed extra point kick made the score 6-3.
Notre Dame blocked a Loyola punt on the Cubs’ next offensive possession and returned it to the Loyola five yard line. A five yard touchdown run put the Knights up 13-3 with 1:42 left in the first quarter. The Cubs answered with a 32-yard Burgos field goal less than two minutes into the second quarter to make the score 13-6 in favor of Notre Dame.
The Knights converted a 22-yard field goal with 6:55 left before halftime to increase their lead to 16-3. Loyola senior fullback RYAN QUINTANAR rumbled for a first down on a fake punt play on the Big Blue’s next possession, and Kelly made a spectacular touchdown catch of a 31-yard pass with 4:08 left before halftime to close the gap to 16-13.
Notre Dame scored with just 1:20 left before intermission on a one-yard run. On the previous play, the Knights clearly fumbled, and the Cubs recovered on the one yard line, but the officials, who called two personal foul penalties against the Big Blue on the the 43-yard drive, ruled that the runner was down. That missed call and the punt block played huge roles in Loyola’s loss.
The Cubs ran a hurry-up offense on their ensuing possession which began on their 33 yard line. With 4.6 seconds left on the clock, Burgos drilled a 46-yard kick through the uprights to make the halftime score, 23-16, in favor of Notre Dame.
The Knights kicked a 30-yard field goal on the first possession of the second half to increase their lead to 26-16 at the 7:18 mark of the third quarter. Notre Dame converted a 40-yard field goal, their third of the game, with 12.8 seconds left in the third quarter to increase its lead to 29-16.
The Knights’ quarterback caused major headaches for Loyola all night. He broke numerous tackles while under duress on scrambles that led to big gains. The sophomore signal caller threw for 165 yards, completing 13 of 16 passes and rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Zermeno finished the game with 200 passing yards, completing 20 of 30 throws.
WHAT NOW FOR LOYOLA
It looks like Loyola will need to win at least one of its final two games against underrated Chaminade and league leader Bishop Amat to be eligible for a playoff berth. The Cubs are a much better team than when they started the season. Now all they need to do is “finish”.
The Los Angeles Times covered the Cubs’ game against Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks on Friday night as the week’s featured prep football contest. It has been quite a while since the Big Blue was the paper’s lead high school story. The article noted the program’s improvement, “Loyola (3-4, 1-1) showed it is making steady progress under first-year coach Drew Casani.” Indeed, that is clearly the case.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, they still need to make progress in “finishing” games. Sophomore wide receiver JACOBY KELLY made a seemingly impossible one-handed catch which he took 33 yards for his second touchdown of the night with 8:59 left in the fourth quarter to pull Loyola within tantalizing striking distance of what could have been a signature victory for the Big Blue.
Down 29-23, all the Cubs needed was a defensive stop to have a shot. Sure enough, they got it as Loyola linebacker STEVEN ARELLANO forced a Knight fumble near midfield on Notre Dame’s ensuing possession. With a little over seven minutes left, Loyola fans were abuzz as the Cubs began their potential game-winning march.
A perfectly executed screen pass from junior quarterback BRAYDEN ZERMENO to sophomore running back HARRISON ALLEN, who raced down the visitors’ sideline, appeared to set up Loyola with a first down inside Notre Dame’s 20 yard line, but a highly questionable ineligible receiver downfield call nullified the play and put the Cubs in a third and long situation. Unfortunately, Loyola could not garner a first down. Suffice to say there were more than a few critical officials’ calls that favored the home team.
On the Knights’ ensuing possession the Cubs were forced to use all three of their timeouts. Loyola’s ‘Wolfpack’ defense finally got a third down stop, and Notre Dame punted with just under a minute left in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame intercepted a Cub pass with under 20 seconds left, extinguishing any hope for a miracle ending for Loyola.
The Cubs opened the contest with an impressive drive which culminated in a DIEGO BURGOS 39-yard field goal at the 7:18 mark of the first quarter. It was the first of three Burgos field goals on the night. The Knights answered with a 75-yard drive, capped by a 15-yard TD run. A missed extra point kick made the score 6-3.
Notre Dame blocked a Loyola punt on the Cubs’ next offensive possession and returned it to the Loyola five yard line. A five yard touchdown run put the Knights up 13-3 with 1:42 left in the first quarter. The Cubs answered with a 32-yard Burgos field goal less than two minutes into the second quarter to make the score 13-6 in favor of Notre Dame.
The Knights converted a 22-yard field goal with 6:55 left before halftime to increase their lead to 16-3. Loyola senior fullback RYAN QUINTANAR rumbled for a first down on a fake punt play on the Big Blue’s next possession, and Kelly made a spectacular touchdown catch of a 31-yard pass with 4:08 left before halftime to close the gap to 16-13.
Notre Dame scored with just 1:20 left before intermission on a one-yard run. On the previous play, the Knights clearly fumbled, and the Cubs recovered on the one yard line, but the officials, who called two personal foul penalties against the Big Blue on the the 43-yard drive, ruled that the runner was down. That missed call and the punt block played huge roles in Loyola’s loss.
The Cubs ran a hurry-up offense on their ensuing possession which began on their 33 yard line. With 4.6 seconds left on the clock, Burgos drilled a 46-yard kick through the uprights to make the halftime score, 23-16, in favor of Notre Dame.
The Knights kicked a 30-yard field goal on the first possession of the second half to increase their lead to 26-16 at the 7:18 mark of the third quarter. Notre Dame converted a 40-yard field goal, their third of the game, with 12.8 seconds left in the third quarter to increase its lead to 29-16.
The Knights’ quarterback caused major headaches for Loyola all night. He broke numerous tackles while under duress on scrambles that led to big gains. The sophomore signal caller threw for 165 yards, completing 13 of 16 passes and rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown.
Zermeno finished the game with 200 passing yards, completing 20 of 30 throws.
WHAT NOW FOR LOYOLA
It looks like Loyola will need to win at least one of its final two games against underrated Chaminade and league leader Bishop Amat to be eligible for a playoff berth. The Cubs are a much better team than when they started the season. Now all they need to do is “finish”.
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