LOYOLA DEFEATED BY REDONDO UNION, 21-7, IN CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIVISION 5 SEMIFINALS

On a cold, windy Friday night at Smith Field a season that had been trending toward a storybook finish for Loyola ended in an inglorious last chapter as Redondo Union bottled up the Cubs for most of the night to come away with a 21-7 victory in a CIF Southern Section Division 5 semifinal playoff battle.

Loyola finished the 2025 campaign with a 6-7 record which was the same as the previous season’s ledger. One thing is certain, though, this Cub squad demonstrated resolve when it could have caved - it persevered when it could have quit - and dealt with the adversity it faced by the departure of multiple starting players before the campaign kicked off by striving with determination and resilience. And the character displayed by this team is how it will be remembered.

The anemic symptoms which have plagued Loyola’s offense for most of the season once again played a prominent role in the outcome as the Cubs were only able to muster a meager 120 total yards on the night, while the Sea Hawks rolled up 296 yards.

Bo Ausmus, the one Redondo player Loyola had to shut down, scored two touchdowns and accounted for 65 per cent (129 rushing yards and 64 yards receiving) of the Sea Hawks’ offensive output and 73 more yards than the Cubs’ entire offensive unit produced. The Cubs could not let Redondo’s best player beat them. Unfortunately, he did. And that was pretty much the story of the contest.

Loyola missed a chip shot, 22-yard field goal attempt on its second offensive possession of the game, but the Cub ‘Wolfpack’ defense forced the Sea Hawks to punt on their first three possessions.

Loyola sophomore running back JAYDEN ROGERS sprinted 21 yards to pay dirt early in the second quarter. JACOB KREINBRING’s PAT kick gave the Cubs a 7-0 lead that at least temporarily silenced a game-long large and boisterous visitor fan base.

Redondo’s Ausmus broke several tackles on a 60-yard TD catch and run on the Sea Hawks’ ensuing possession to knot the score, 7-7.

Neither team could generate much offense thereafter, and the score remained tied going into halftime, but it felt as though the home team was in good position to prevail.

On the first series of the second half, Ausmus scored on a 6-yard run to give Redondo a 14-7 lead it would not relinquish.

On Loyola’s ensuing possession the Cubs fumbled the ball away, and the Sea Hawks immediately went to the air, scoring on a 27-yard pass to their best receiver, who is ironically a junior transfer from Loyola.

The Cubs could not get anything going offensively for the remainder of the contest, and Redondo Union returned to its beach town confines with a 21-7 victory.

The Sea Hawks (9-4) will play Rio Hondo Prep next Friday for the Division 5 title. Rio Hondo Prep routed La Serna, 35-6, in the other semifinal.

CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Below is the list of Loyola graduates on college football teams in 2025 according to published collegiate rosters:

JAKE ARELLANO '24, DB, Bentley University

CHAD BAILEY ‘20, DB, Bentley University

BROCK BOJORQUEZ ‘25, DB, Johns Hopkins

COLIN CRUCE ‘22, OL, Bowdoin

KHALIL CUEVA ‘24, WR, University of San Diego

JEFFREY JOHNSON ‘21, TE, Cal

LUKE HARRISON ‘24, OL, University of San Diego

LUKE HYAN ‘24, WR, Glendale College

CONNOR KLEIN ‘25, LB, Cornell

SHAWN LIN '22, DL, Columbia

LEIGHTON LINE ‘23, DL, Cal Lutheran

JOSHUA LONG ‘21, TE, Eastern Michigan

CONNOR McDOWELL ‘21, LS, Sacramento State

TAHJ OWENS '22, DB, Princeton

JACK PARIS '23, DL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

RYAN QUINTANAR '20, LB, USC

XAVIER RICE ‘23, QB, Duquesne

ISAIAH SANDERS, ‘24, LB, UC Davis

PATRICK SODL ‘22, LB, Columbia

ZAKHARI SPEARS ‘21, DB, Idaho

HENRY STICKLER ‘22, WR, SMU

JACK SUSNJAR ‘23, OL, USC

JOE TATUM ‘22, QB, Texas

SCOTT TAYLOR '25, LB, UCLA

RYAN TURK ‘24, OL, Dartmouth

DESI VALDES ‘25, DB, Pasadena City College

CHAMP WESTBROOKS ‘24, OL, Arizona State

ALEX WHITMAN ‘22, WR, Notre Dame

CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB, Nebraska

SAM YOON ‘22, OL, UCLA

2025 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE AND RESULTS (6-7)

8-22 Cathedral (L 36-14)

8-29 @ Millikan (Long Beach) (W 35-25)

9-5 Mount Miguel (L 21-0)

9-12 @ Hamilton (Los Angeles) (W 42-21)

9-19 St. Francis (W 9-3)

10-3 @ Notre Dame* (L 35-10)

10-9 @Serra* at SoFi Stadium (W 13-10)

10-17 Bishop Amat* (L 30-14)

10-24 @ Chaminade* (L 52-0)

10-31 Sierra Canyon* (L 52-3)

CIF SOUTHERN SECTION DIV. 5 PLAYOFFS

11-7 Newbury Park (W 17-14)

11-14 @ Bonita (W 21-14)

11-21 Redondo Union (L 21-7)

*Denotes Mission League

CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS

Former Loyola DB DESI VALDES ‘25 was named All-Conference (Southern California Football Association) for Pasadena City College.

LUKE HYAN ‘24 earned All-Conference (Southern California Football Association) honors as a wide receiver at Glendale College.

If there are any grads who should be added to the Cubs in College Football list please email updates.

CUBS IN NFL

COLEMAN SHELTON ‘13 continues to have an outstanding campaign as the starting center for the Los Angeles Rams . . . MYLES BRYANT ‘16, Loyola’s 2015 MVP, is seeing playing time at nickel back for the Houston Texans . . . Former Loyola All-League DB ALEX JOHNSON ‘19, a corner, was with the Tennessee Titans practice squad and is looking for a new NFL home . . . Former Loyola All-American defensive back DAVID LONG, Jr. was recently signed to the Indianapolis Colts practice squad after recovering from injury.

Loyola grad GEORGE PATON ‘87, the Cubs’ 1986 team MVP, is the general manager of the Denver Broncos, and his ball club sits atop the AFC’s Western Division standings.