Cub Football - Loyola travels to Cathedral for a rivalry game that is 97 years old
LOYOLA OPENS TOUGH TEN-GAME SLATE AGAINST DANGEROUS CATHEDRAL PHANTOMS
The Cubs travel to Chinatown on Friday night to take on the Cathedral Phantoms who outplayed Mission League power Gardena Serra in a scrimmage last Friday.
The Phantoms’ surprising performance against the Cavaliers, ranked 15th in the state by CalHi Sports, was a sobering reminder that there are no easy contests awaiting Loyola on its grueling 10-game regular season slate.
A LOOK AT CATHEDRAL
The Phantoms were very young last fall in a disappointing 4-6 season, but the adversities experienced in 2023 have made them stronger, as evidenced by their impressive performance against Serra.
Head coach Vincent Jefferson’s offense is led by one of, if not the most dynamic quarterbacks Loyola will face this season, in sophomore Jaden Jefferson (5-10, 170), who as a freshman starter on the varsity last fall amassed 2,209 yards of total offense. The electric signal caller completed 69% of his passes for 1,683 yards and 18 TDs and was the squad’s second leading rusher with 526 yards (6.6 yards per carry and 7 TDs.
Senior running back Ramahj Jones (6-2, 225) is a bruising wrecking ball. He averaged 5.6 yards per carry last season.
The leading wide receivers are senior speedsters Michael Ashford (5-10, 160, 639 yards, 12.3 yards per reception, 7 TDs) and Antonio Walton (5-10, 165, 584 yards, 10.6 yards per reception, 5 TDs).
Cathedral’s defense is spearheaded by senior linebacker Atticus Park (6-1, 230, 48 tackles, 2.5 sacks).
Senior defensive backs Kasahn Johnson (5-11, 160, 47 tackles, 2 interceptions) and 6’1” Sean Brooks (33 tackles, 3 interceptions) lead a fast, athletic secondary.
GAME OUTLOOK
The Cubs will need to pound the rock with consistency to set up their downfield aerial bombardment.
Defensively, Loyola has to corral the speedy Cathedral QB. If the Cubs fail to slow down Jefferson it will make for a long night for the Big Blue.
Both teams performed well in their respective scrimmages. The team that wins the turnover battle will be the likely favorite to come away with the win.
An interesting side note, Cathedral moved to the Angelus League last season from the Mission League, while Loyola moved from the Angelus League, in which it won or shared the conference title for four consecutive years, to the Mission League this year.
THE SERIES
The Cubs-Phantoms rivalry dates back to 1927. Loyola won the first clash 19-0 under head coach LARRY DEVLIN. The Cubs finished the season 6-0-1.
The rivalry is the oldestl in both schools’ history. Loyola leads the series 33-15-1.
The Cubs defeated Cathedral in the final Angelus League tilt last fall, 27-6.
LOYOLA FRESHMEN LOOK IMPRESSIVE
At Smith Field on Saturday, the Cub freshman team participated in an intrasquad scrimmage.
Head coach STEVE ARELLANO’s club appears to have the makings of a legitimate title contender. An unusually large group of talented skill position athletes and some sizable line personnel demonstrated on Saturday that the 2024 Loyola freshmen will be tough to beat.
Among the many early standouts were the following players:
Defense
Jack Enson, ILB
Elijah Smith, Safety
Charles Lenzini, OLB
William Mack, DL
Malique Pollard, CB
Brandon Alexander, Safety
Offense
Jayden Rogers, RB
Quentin Washington, WR
London Drayton-Divens, OL
Graham Turk, OL
Jack McNamara, RB
Joey Boskovich, QB
John Carl Rising, QB
CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Below is the list of Loyola graduates playing college football in 2024 according to published collegiate rosters:
CHAD BAILEY ‘20, DB, Bentley University
NICHOLAS BARR-MIRA ‘19, K, Mississippi State
COLIN CRUCE ‘22, OL, Bowdoin
JEFFREY JOHNSON ‘21, TE, Cal
LUKE HARRISON ‘24, OL, University of San Diego
ANDREW KOZHAYA ‘21, OL, Grinnel
LEIGHTON LINE ‘23, DL, Cal Lutheran
CONNOR McDOWELL ‘21, DB, Angelo State
TAHJ OWENS ‘22, DB, Princeton
BLAKE NEITHART ‘20, DB, Carleton
ISAIAH SANDERS, ‘24, LB, UC Davis
PATRICK SODL ‘22, LB, Columbia
HENRY STICKLER ‘21, WR, SMU
JACK SUSNJAR ‘23, OL, USC
JOE TATUM ‘22, QB, Texas
EVAN THOMAS ‘20, DB, UCLA
RYAN TURK ‘24, OL, Dartmouth
ALEX WHITMAN ‘22, WR, Notre Dame
CHAMP WESTBROOKS ‘24, OL, Arizona State
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB, Nebraska
SAM YOON ‘22, OL, UCLA
2024 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
8-15 @ Carson (scrimmage)
8-23 @ Cathedral
8-30 Damien (Home)
9-13 @ Leuzinger
9-20 @ St. Francis
9-27 @ Mount Miguel (Spring Valley
10-4 Serra (Home)
10-11 @ Bishop Amat
10-18 Chaminade (Home)
10-25 @ Sierra Canyon
11-1 Notre Dame (Home)
All games on Fridays @ 7:00 p.m.,except Carson scrimmage on Thursday, August 15 @ 6:00 p.m.