Cub Football - Loyola opportunistic in victory over Millikan
LOYOLA SHOCKS MILLIKAN, 35-25, NOTCHES FIRST WIN
Hot off a 49-20 blow out victory over Newbury Park, the Millikan Rams entered Friday’s non-league contest with visiting Loyola at DeHaven Stadium in Long Beach with plenty of confidence and momentum.
If anyone could predict before the contest that the Rams would out gain the Cubs 511 to 230 offensive yards when the game clock hit 0:00 and would shut out the visitors in the second half, it would have been reasonable to expect a lopsided Millikan victory.
Rams head coach Romeo Pellum told The562.org after the game, “ . . . everything that could go wrong went wrong.”
Indeed, Loyola took advantage of three Millikan turnovers, a blocked punt, good field position and a dominant run game to score early and often in the first half, building what proved to be an insurmountable 35-14 lead.
Loyola junior inside linebacker KANE CASANI picked off the first pass thrown by Rams QB Ashton Pannell, who was the Cubs’ starting signal caller last fall before transferring to Millikan. The interception was returned to the Millikan 38 yard line. Shortly thereafter, junior running back XAVIER WIMBLEY raced into the end zone from 25 yards out. Senior kicker JACOB KREINBRING’s PAT kick gave Loyola a 7-0 lead at the 7:25 mark of the first quarter.
On the Rams’ ensuing possession disaster struck Pannell once again as his second aerial of the night was picked off by Cub sophomore corner JAYDEN ROGERS, who returned the interception to the Millikan 10 yard line. Sophomore quarterback JOHN-CARL RISING scored on a one-yard sneak, and just like that Loyola had a 14-0 lead mid-way through the first quarter.
The Rams were undaunted by the Cub takeaways, and knotted the score, 14-14, in the second quarter on 24-yard and 13-yard TD passes. Loyola answered shortly thereafter on a beautifully executed fullback trap play run by Senior HOLDEN SMYSER which covered 55 yards, making the score 21-14.
Cub junior safety GAGE SANTOS blocked a Millikan punt on the Rams’ next possession to give Loyola the ball at the Rams’ 13 yard line. Three plays later, WIMBLEY scored a TD on a seven-yard jaunt. KREINBRING’s conversion kick increased Loyola’s lead to 28-14 with 7:27 remaining in the second quarter.
Cub Edge MAX MEIER sacked Millikan’s QB on a fourth down play shortly thereafter, giving Loyola another short field at the Rams’ 35 yard line. Five plays later, Wimbley carried the ball into the end zone from the three yard line with 1:07 left in the first half to give the Cubs a 35-14 lead.
Millikan kicked a field goal on its first possession of the third quarter to cut Loyola’s lead to 35-17. All three of the Cubs’ second half possessions ended with punts.
With 2:47 left in the game the Rams culminated a 90-yard drive with a touchdown pass and two-point conversion to make the final score, 35-25.
WINBLEY finished with 115 yards on 21 carries (5.5 ypc) and three touchdowns behind solid blocking by Loyola’s rugged offensive line (RT NATHAN TURK, RG CHRISTIAN ZLIDENNY, C NELSON PYE III, LG ANDREI LOPEZ AND LT AL SANFORD).
CASANI and MEIER made big plays all night, TE/Edge ZACH Harrison was outstanding on both sides of the ball as was SMYSER.
The Cubs have a lot of work to do in order to be competitive in the tough Mission League, especially in the areas of pass defense (Loyola gave up 451 passing yards to Millikan) and the offensive passing game, but the victory over a talented Rams squad showed significant promise.
HOW LOYOLA’S FUTURE OPPONENTS (IN ALL CAPS) FARED
La Costa Canyon 45, MOUNT MIGUEL 13, Mount Miguel drubbed by one of top teams in CIF San Diego Section
Serra 47, HAMILTON 0, Yankees could not match Serra’s muscle and speed in lopsided loss.
Mira Costa 45, ST FRANCIS 19, Golden Knights routed by talented Mustangs.
NOTRE DAME 42, Alemany 0 Knights are building into a playoff contender.
SERRA 47, Hamilton 0, Cavaliers are loaded. One of the top squads in the Southern Section.
Oak Hills 38, BISHOP AMAT 10, Lancers can’t keep up with talented Oaks Hills.
Valencia 34, CHAMINADE 21, Eagles shot down by highly regarded Vikings.
SIERRA CANYON 63, Oaks Christian 0, Sierra Canyon has outscored two good teams by a combined score of 98-0. Wow.
CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Below is the list of Loyola graduates on college football rosters in 2025 according to published collegian 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
CONNOR KLEIN ‘25, LB, Williams
SHAWN LIN '22, DL, Columbia
LEIGHTON LINE ‘23, DL, Cal Lutheran
TAHJ OWENS '22, DB, Princeton
JACK PARIS '23, DL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
RYAN QUINTANAR '20, LB, USC
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
CHAMP WESTBROOKS ‘24, OL, Arizona State
ALEX WHITMAN ‘22, WR, Notre Dame
DESI VALDES ‘25, DB, Pasadena City College
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB, Nebraska
SAM YOON ‘22, OL, UCLA
2025 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
8-22 Cathedral (L 36-14)
8-29 @ Millikan (Long Beach) (W 35-25)
9-5 Mount Miguel
9-12 @ Hamilton (Los Angeles)
9-19 St. Francis
10-3 @ Notre Dame*
10-10 @ Serra*
10-17 Bishop Amat*
10-24 @ Chaminade*
10-31 Sierra Canyon*
Denotes Mission League game