Cub Football - Loyola outraced by Cathedral 36-14 in opener
CUBS FALL TO FAST PHANTOMS IN SEASON’S FIRST GAME
The battle plans for Loyola heading into its season opener on Friday night against long time rival Cathedral at Smith Field were simple, slow down ultra talented Phantom quarterback Jaden Jefferson.
The plans only proved good on paper as the exceptional junior signal caller completed 71% of his passes for 275 yards (15.7 yards per completion) and three touchdowns and demonstrated his sprinter’s speed on a 37-yard run to the end zone on one of his two rushing scores.
Suffice to say, the Cubs proved unable to corral the the best dual threat quarterback they will face in this challenging season, and as a consequence he played a direct role in all five of Cathedral’s TDs as the visiting Phantoms took an insurmountable 29-0 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 29-yard Jefferson pass. Jefferson accounted for 91% of Cathedral’s total offensive yards.
Loyola out-gained the Phantoms 347 yards to 316, but was unable to sustain drives most of the night.
Cathedral went 80 yards on just four plays on its second offensive possession, scoring on a perfectly thrown 64-yard aerial with 2:03 left in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
The Phantoms blocked a Cub punt on the following series, and took possession on the Loyola 31 yard line. Six plays later Cathedral was in the end zone on a two-yard Jefferson jaunt to increase its lead to 14-0 at the 9:45 mark of the second quarter.
Loyola mounted a drive after forcing the Phantoms to punt, highlighted by a 29-yard pass from sophomore quarterback JC RISING to sophomore wide receiver BRANDON ALEXANDER, but the ensuing aerial was intercepted deep in Cathedral territory, which allowed the Phantoms to take their 14-0 lead into intermission.
The Cubs recovered an onside kick to open the second half, but unfortunately could not take advantage as they turned the ball over on downs after just four plays.
Cathedral scored on Jefferson’s 37-yards sprint a short time later, and converted a two-point conversion on a pass to up the Phantoms’ lead to 22-0.
Cathedral drove 77 yards on their next possession, scoring on a 29-yard pass to increase its lead to 29-0 with 10:12 left in the fourth quarter.
Loyola finally put together a sustained drive of 80 yards, scoring on an 18-yard pass from RISING to junior receiver TOBY THUSS. JACOB KREINBRING’s PAT kick was good, making the score, 29-7.
The Cubs failed to recover their ensuing onside kick. The Phantoms started a five-play drive at the Loyola 46-yard line, and scored on a 13-yard pass to increase their lead to 36-7 with 4:07 left on the game clock.
The Cubs capped a 69-yard drive on a 37-yard KANE CASANI run with 1:25 remaining in the contest to make the final score 36-14.
The player of the game for Loyola had to be junior RB/LB KANE CASANI, who carried the ball five times for 90 yards (18 yards per carry) and a TD, and led the defense with 14 tackles.
In his debut performance behind center, sophomore QB JC RISING demonstrated uncommon calmness for a first time varsity starter. He completed 17 of 28 passes (61%) for 160 yards and a touchdown with one interception.
Receivers BRANDON ALEXANDER and TOBY THUSS each had four receptions, and junior SAM FRIEND had three catches.
On the defensive side, after CASANI’s team-leading 14 stops, junior linebacker MERICK DOTTS made 10 stops, and senior Edge MAX MEIER had seven tackles. Junior linebacker HOLDEN SMYSER made six stops. Senior outside linebacker ZACH HARRISON forced two hurries.
While the score does not reflect it, the Cubs gave good effort against a quality opponent with a large number of young players. The schedule is unforgiving, but you can expect Loyola to show up ready to fight henceforth.
HOW LOYOLA’S FUTURE OPPONENTS (IN ALL CAPS) FARED IN ZERO WEEK
MILLIKAN 49, Newbury Park 20, A huge statement win for the Rams over highly regarded team.
MOUNT MIGUEL 28, San Marcos 27, San Diego Section teams duke it out in nail biter.
HAMILTON did not play
St. Bonaventure 19, ST FRANCIS 7, Golden Knights were without starting QB, out with fractured collarbone.
Downey 24, NOTRE DAME 21, Knights lose a heartbreaker to a very good Downey squad.
SERRA 26, Palos Verdes 0, As usual, Cavaliers are very talented, show it in impressive win over PV.
BISHOP AMAT 42, St. Paul 14, Lancers put it on arch rivals in head coaching debut of alum Kory Minor.
CHAMINADE 42, Oaks Christian 27, The Eagles are vastly improved and showed it against quality opponent.
SIERRA CANYON 35, JSerra 0, Shut out win over excellent Trinity League team speaks volumes.
CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Below is the list of Loyola graduates on college football rosters 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
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
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB, Nebraska
SAM YOON ‘22, OL, UCLA
2025 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
8-22 Cathedral (lost 36-14)
8-29 @ Millikan (Long Beach)
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