October 17, 2022

Cub Football - Loyola continues quest for league title - Undefeated freshmen play Cathedral JVs on road on Wednesday

CUBS ENTER STRETCH DRIVE IN LEAGUE TITLE RACE Loyola is in position to win a third consecutive Angelus League championship, but it has two giant hurdles to clear in order to do so.

The first big hurdle comes this Friday at Smith Field at 7:00 p.m. against Cathedral (6-2, 2-1). The Phantoms are a big, strong and athletic squad. The Cubs will have to play their best game of the season to defeat Cathedral.

Loyola (4-4, 3-0) has built momentum with three consecutive conference victories, albeit the wins were against the three weakest teams in the league. The Cubs should benefit from competing against several strong opponents in the non-league portion of their schedule, including Chaminade (ranked eighth in the state), Oaks Christian, Damien and Pasadena.

Loyola’s ‘Wolfpack’ defense has relinquished just 26 points (average of nine points) in its last three contests. If the Cubs can hold Cathedral’s high scoring offense well below it’s season average of 34 points per game, the Big Blue will have a good chance to be ghost busters.

Loyola’s stop unit is led by senior captain ZACH BOWLES. The senior inside linebacker leads the stop unit with 101 tackles, including 26 solo stops. He snatched his first interception last Friday against Paraclete. Junior JAKE ARELLANO, who plays at both the safety and outside linebacker positions, is second on the ‘Wolfpack’s’ tackle ledger with 92 and 35 solos.

Sophomore inside linebacker HENRY CASANI has made 51 tackles, and sophomore outside linebacker SCOTT TAYLOR has also recorded 51 tackles, including two sacks. Senior inside linebacker JARED ERBY has four sacks to his credit, junior lineman ISAIAH SANDERS has notched 2.5 sacks, and senior inside linebacker NICHOLAS MORRIS has recorded two sacks.

Senior corner JORDAN HEWITT leads the squad with three interceptions. BOWLES, ARELLANO, junior safety ELIJAH BRADLEY, senior corner DARON ELAM and junior corner ALEXANDER RUANO each have snagged one interception.

On the offensive side of the ball, senior running back JON BAUTISTA has rushed for 336 yards (5.9 ypc) and scored six TDs. Sophomore tailback DESI VALDES is averaging 5.3 yards per carry, and senior running back CLAY WINNEK boasts a 6.3 yards per carry average. Senior wide receiver WILKE WILES, who missed several games early in the season because of injury, leads the receiving corps with a 12.2 yards per reception average.

The return of junior wide receiver KHALIL CUEVA to full health has given the Cub passing game a boost. His first reception covered 60 yards.

In his last three outings senior quarterback XAVIER RICE has completed 71% of his passes for 583 yards and four touchdowns. The senior captain has 853 yards on the season, and has been aided greatly by a return to health of the team’s best receivers.

A LOOK AT CATHEDRAL
No team in the Angelus League has improved more from last season than Cathedral. The Phantoms were 1-8 in 2021, but are 6-2 thus far in the 2022 campaign.

Cathedral’s high octane offense has averaged 34 points per game, and its defense (21 points per game) is better than its points-allowed metric may indicate.  Its game scores: Garfield  41-0 (W), Millikan 39-38 (W), Gardena Serra 33-6 (L), Lawndale 39-10 (W), La Salle 45-6 ( W), Crespi 40-14 (W), St. Francis 48-39 (L), St. Paul 22-16 (W).

Talented senior quarterback Aidan Moss (6-2, 190) has put up huge numbers. The Phantom signal caller has thrown for 2,296 yards (62%) and 24 TDs. His completions average an impressive 16.6 yards. Moss is not only a prolific passer.  The fleet-footed quarterback also has run for 328 yards (6.2 ypc) and scored three rushing touchdowns.

Big, bruising sophomore running back Ramahj Jones (6-2, 225) has run for 396 yards and averages 5.1 yards per carry. He’s a load to bring down.

Without a doubt, junior receiver Xavier Jordan (6-1, 190) is Cathedral’s most lethal offensive weapon, and may be the best pass catcher in California. The sure-handed speedster has caught 51 passes for 1,179 yards with an off-the-charts 23.1 yards per reception average, and has tallied 16 TDs.

Senior Ashton T. Sanders (6-2, 297) is the best defensive lineman the Cubs will face this season. The major college recruit has 6.5 sacks and has made 54 tackles, including 23 solo stops.

Senior linebacker Tynelle Wilson (5-10, 225) is a tough defender (40 tackles) as is his battery mate Lekwan Simmons (6-1, 210, 43 tackles, 32 solos). Junior defensive lineman Charlie Adams (6-4, 260) has recorded six sacks.

The Phantoms feature a ball-hawking secondary, led by senior Donovan Beckmon (6-0, 180, five interceptions), and Messiah Washington (5-10, 180, three interceptions). Beckmon doubles as a dangerous receiver.

GAME OUTLOOK
Loyola will need to play a flawless game to defeat Cathedral. If the Cubs do not win the turnover battle, it will be tough to notch a road victory. Loyola also will need to eliminate the penalties which have continued to be problematic.

There is no question that Moss and Jordan must be slowed down as the two standouts account for virtually all of the Phantoms’ offense. Expect Cathedral, though, to try to pound the ball with its 225 lb. running back even though it is a pass first operation. The Cubs must run the ball effectively, and must defend the run better than they have all season.

The comparative scores project well for Loyola. The Cubs defeated Crespi 49-0, while the Phantoms beat the Celts 40-14. Loyola won its battle against St. Paul 24-14 (though, the Swordsmen’s starting QB did not play in the contest), while Cathedral took out the Swordsmen 22-16 in a hard fought fray last Friday.

It is noteworthy that the Phantoms out gained St. Francis 509 total yards to 363 total yards in their shootout, 48-39, loss to the Golden Knights.

The blue print for Loyola should be similar to the plan employed by St. Paul. A shoot out would not favor the Cubs. The CalPreps computer projects a 28-20 Cathedral victory. Loyola hopes to reverse those numbers on the field.

THE SERIES
Cathedral was founded in 1925 by Archbishop Jon Cantwell on a China Town property, as legend has it, formerly occupied by a cemetery. Hence the reason for the Phantoms’ mascot.

Loyola, the oldest Catholic high school in Southern California (founded 1865), and the Phantoms first met on the gridiron in 1927. That year Charles Lindbergh made history’s first transatlantic flight in The Spirit of St. Louis, Henry Ford rolled out the Model A, work commenced on the Mt. Rushmore national monument and the the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) was formed. The Great Mississippi Flood displaced 700,000 in 1927.

The Loyola-Cathedral rivalry which began nearly a century ago is both schools’ longest tenured rivalry. Cub head coach LARRY DEVLIN saw his Loyola squad beat the Phantoms 19-0 in the squads’ inaugural contest. Loyola finished the 1927 campaign 6-0-1.

For many years the schools were members of the venerable Catholic League. After parting ways following the 1970 season, the teams were reunited in the Angelus League in 2020. The Cubs have dominated the series with a win-loss record of 32-14-1.

One of the best Loyola victories in the series came in a 2017 non-league game at Southwest College. Cathedral’s sophomore quarterback was Bryce Young (the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and Alabama’s starting quarterback).

The Cub staff devised a brilliant defensive game plan that led to a stunning 17-7 Loyola victory. The Phantoms finished the 2017 season with a 10-2 overall record and won the Angelus League championship. The seven points scored was the lowest output of Cathedral’s season. Young transferred to Mater Dei the following year.

Last fall Loyola defeated the Phantoms 31-6.

LOYOLA’S FRESHMEN SCHEDULED TO PLAY CATHEDRAL’S JV TEAM ON THE ROAD THIS WEDNESDAY
The undefeated Cub freshman squad (7-0, 2-0) will travel to Cathedral on Wednesday for a battle against a Phantoms’ JV team that will be stocked with plenty of varsity players. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

CUB ALUMNI IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL 
Here is the current list of Cubs participating in college football (in alphabetical order):

NICK ANDERSON ‘20, OL (Denison)
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)