November 14, 2022

Cub Football - Loyola makes 21st trip to CIF Southern Section semifinals Friday - Further look at some great Loyola Frosh teams

LOYOLA HAS OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE TO CIF TITLE GAME THIS FRIDAY AGAINST STRONG ORANGE PANTHERS ON THE ROAD
Loyola has advanced to 20 CIF Southern Section playoff semifinal contests in its illustrious grid history, and the Cubs moved onto the CIF championship game 13 times after notching wins in the semifinals.

By virtue of its 17-14 come-from-behind quarterfinal triumph over Culver City last Friday, Angelus League champion Loyola earned its 21st trip to the final four, where it will take on the Orange Coast League champion Orange Panthers at Fred Kelly Stadium adjacent to El Modena High School in the City of Orange at 7:00 p.m. this Friday.

The battle pits two league champions in a contest that promises to be one of the best semifinal matchups of the weekend. Two weeks ago a total of 218 teams in 14 playoff divisions  (10 in Division 1 and 16 each in Divisions 2-14) kicked off the CIF playoffs.

There are only 56 schools left in post-season Southern Section competition. Loyola (7-5) is one win away from its fourteenth appearance in the CIF finals.

The other Division 6 semifinal filt is between Mountain Pass League title winner San Jacinto (10-2) and number three seed Calabasas (8-4) at Calabasas.

LOOKING BACK AT LOYOLA HISTORY IN CIF SEMIFINALS
Cub Football teams have participated in CIF Southern Section playoff competition 47 times since private schools were first invited to compete in post-season play. It is a high accomplishment to qualify for the final four.

This marks the twenty-first time Loyola achieved final four status. There have been a number of epic semifinal battles fought by the Cubs.

Loyola won three consecutive semifinal games from 1962-1964, a period during which the Cubs won two CIF AAAA championships and 35 consecutive contests, which still stands as CIF Large Schools victory skein.

The seasons in which a semifinal victory preceded winning a CIF AAAA/Division I crown were 1962, 1963, 1975 (National Championship), 1990, 2003 and 2005.

In 1946, 1964, 1992, 1995, 1996, 2000, and most recently 2019, Loyola advanced to the finals and finished as CIF runners-up.

One of the greatest semifinal victories came in 1975 when slot receiver KAZELL PUGH ‘76 took a lateral from quarterback KEVIN MUNO ‘76 and passed to tight end HENRY WORKMAN ‘76 for a 90 yard TD in the waning moments of a 21-17 white knuckle win over Anaheim.

Another epic semifinal triumph which ranks among the most memorable final four wins came in 1990, when the Cubs defeated top ten state-ranked Canyon Country Canyon, 10-7 before an overflow throng at College of the Canyons.

It would be hard to match Loyola’s impressive 37-34 come-from-behind victory over nationally ranked Los Alamitos before a capacity crowd at Glendale’s Moyse Stadium in 1995.

The Cubs’ 22-15 overtime win over Los Alamitos at Home Depot Center in Carson in 2003 was one of the best all-time semifinal victories.

In 2019, the Cubs played their best game of the campaign at Moorpark College in their 31-14 Division 3 semifinal punch out of Camarillo, which came into the contest with an 11-1 record.

Loyola has a 7-3 record in semifinal bouts in even numbered years. The Cubs played in three consecutive semifinal tilts from 1962-1964, from 1990-1992, and from 1995-1997.

Indeed, this week is a special time in Loyola football history.

A LOOK AT THE ORANGE PANTHERS 
Head coach Robert Pedroza’s Panthers are the Orange Coast League champs, and are coming off an impressive 34-18 quarterfinal victory over number one seed San Juan Hills.

With a 10-2 overall record, Orange’s ten wins were by an average score of 40-10. The Panthers average a robust 374 yards of total offense per game. While Orange features a run-first offense, the Panthers are also a dangerous passing squad.

Orange has a talented dual threat signal caller in sophomore Hype Grand (6-0, 165). The speedster has completed 52% of his passes for 1,229 yards and 19 TDs with five interceptions. His completions average 18.3 yards. On the ground, Grand has rushed for 416 yards at a 7.8 yards per carry clip and scored seven touchdowns. Freshman QB Oscar Rios (6-3, 165) has completed 59% of his passes with a 16.4 yards per completion average, and thrown for eight scores.

The Panther rushing attack is led by junior Kobe Boykin, who has gained 1,071 yards (7.8 ypc) and scored 10 TDs. Blazing fast sophomore tailback Ardwon Morris (5-10, 190) has 701 rushing yards, scored 12 touchdowns and averages 12.3 yards every time he runs the ball.

The name of the game in the Orange receiving room is speed. Senior Jonathan Smith, Jr. (6-2. 185) has amassed 761 yards with a ridiculous 23.1 yards per reception average and has scored nine TDs. He scores on average every 3.7 times he catches the ball. His battery mate, senior Centrel Wise, has gained 533 receiving yards, averages an incredible 25.4 yards per catch and has scored seven TDs.

Orange’s defensive platoon is as formidable as the Panther offensive unit. Leading the stop squad is senior defensive back Jaelen Lightfoot (6-0, 180), who has made 75 total tackles, including 40 solos, and snagged five interceptions.

Sophomore linebacker Ardwon Morris has 69 tackles to his credit, and sophomore safety Jakob Coleman (5-8, 170) has three sacks and 64 tackles to his credit. Senior Angelo Adetoye (5-8, 200) is a ferocious defender who has 64 tackles.  

Here is Orange’s season record: (W) Garden Grove Pacifica 42-7, ( L) Villa Park 24-12, (L) Yorba Linda 36-7, (W) La Habra 34-6, (W) Saddleback 56-0, (W) St. Margaret’s 56-21, (W) Calvary Chapel 46-7, (W) Estancia 53-6, (W) Costa Mesa 55-6, (W) Santa Ana 35-0, (W) Huntington Beach 34-28 (OT), (W) San Juan Hills 34-18.

GAME OUTLOOK
There is not much on paper that favors Loyola; however, a deep analytic dive shows that the Cubs can compete with and beat the Panthers, but it will probably take their best effort of the season.

Of interest, Orange threw for just 31 yards in its quarterfinal victory over San Juan Hills. But the Panthers dominated the Stallions on the ground, amassing 356 rushing yards with a devastating 7.9 yards per carry average.  Loyola has held three highly productive opponents’ rushing attacks well under their season averages in its last three games (St. Francis - 76 yds., Lawndale - less than 100 yards and lowest rushing output of the season for the run-dominant Cardinals, and Culver City - 46 yards).

The Cub ‘Wolfpack’ defense would love to make Orange one dimensional. One thing is certain, the talent of dual threat Panther quarterback Hype Grand is no hype. He will have to be contained.

Loyola must run the ball successfully to advance.

Orange lost its contests to Villa Park and undefeated Yorba Linda by a combined score of 60-19. Those games should provide the blueprint for a Cub victory. Yorba Linda blew out the Panthers, 36-7. Yorba Linda defeated El Dorado by only three points, while Culver City beat El Dorado by 11 points in the first round of the playoffs. By that indirect comparative score analysis you have to like Loyola’s chances.

THE SERIES
This is the first meeting on the football field between the schools.

EXTRA POINTS
Unsung Cub heroes
Junior MARK HYAN’s field goal kicking has been pivotal all season, and no field goal was more important than the one which provided the three-point margin of victory in the 17-14 quarterfinal win over Culver City . . . 

Junior wide receiver KHALIL CUEVA caught both TD passes in the win over Culver City. He and QB XAVIER RICE are the best comeback stories of the year, after each came off major off-season surgeries . . .

Junior DL IKE SANDERS had a script-turning field goal block and a big sack that were huge plays in the quarterfinals last Friday . . .

The entire Loyola secondary (senior corner JORDAN HEWITT, junior safety JAKE ARELLANO, junior safety ELIJAH BRADLEY, senior safety DARON ELAM, junior corner CHAZ AUSTIN, and freshman corner BRANDON LOCKHART) has slowed some high octane passing attacks in the stretch drive of the season . . .

While senior inside linebacker and team captain ZACH BOWLES leads the team in total tackles by a wide margin, junior inside linebacker NICHOLAS MORRIS and sophomore inside linebacker HENRY CASANI both have quietly contributed to Loyola’s defensive success. They filled in admirably for BOWLES, who was sidelined with a minor injury, against Culver City. Sophomore outside linebacker SCOTT TAYLOR and senior OLB JARED ERBY have made big plays all season long . . .

MORE ON FRESHMAN TEAM’S HISTORIC SEASON AND COMPARISONS TO OTHER FROSH SQUADS
Loyola’s freshman team completed its historic 2022 season undefeatd for the first time since 1978.

Admiral MIKE SHATYNSKI ‘75 was successful in obtaining the scores of the preceding undefeated 9-0 freshman squad of 1974 from his family’s archives of the Loyalist, Loyola’s student newspaper.. 

Indeed, the 1974 Cub freshmen had some very impressive wins, as did the 1978 frosh squad, but it turns out that the highest scoring freshman team in Loyola annals was the 2018 group which finished 9-1 and as Mission League champions. That incredible group of freshmen currently has four of its players on major college rosters, JACOBY KELLY ( San Diego State), TAHJ OWENS ( Princeton), PATRICK SODL (Columbia), and SAM YOON (UCLA).  

The 2018 freshman squad’s sole loss was to Vista Murrieta, 33-29, on the road. Several Cub TD’s were called back by the local officiating crew. The 2018 team scored 403 points and yielded 135 (average score: 45-15).

This season’s freshman squad outscored its opponents 374-66 (average score: 42-7). Debate is ongoing as to which team was better. The supporters for the 2018 argument say that a tougher league (Mission) schedule trumps that of the 2022 Angelus League champs.

Those who support the 2022 squad’s superiority point to a defense which relinquished an average of just 7.3 points per game, most of which were surrendered by reserves, and to the fact that several of the wins were against JV teams stocked with many older players. Bottom line, both were among the all-time best squads in Cub Football freshman history.