Cub Football - Loyola's rich tradition of CIF playoff competition continues on Friday
LOYOLA IN THE CIF SOUTHERN PLAYOFFS FOR 50th TIME
It is unclear what year the CIF Southern Section first invited private high schools to participate in the postseason playoffs, but Loyola will be making its 50th trip to the playoffs since 1945 (the first year the school was invited to the CIF playoffs) this Friday when the Cubs travel to Orange County for a first round tilt against the Tustin Tillers, who finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, and were crowned champions of the Delta League.
In the 49 campaigns in which the Cubs have been playoff participants, they advanced to the CIF title game 13 times and were semifinalists 21 times.
Loyola advanced beyond the first round on 40 of the occasions it competed in the CIF Southern Section playoffs.
Indeed, the Cubs have an illustrious CIF playoff history. They won CIF AAAA/Division I championships in 1962, 1963 number 2 in the nation), 1975 (National Champions), 1990, 2003 and 2005.
Loyola was the CIF Southern Section Large Schools/AAAA/Div. I runners-up in 1946, 1964, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 2000 (15th in the nation), and was a Division 4 finalist in 2019.
Twelve former Cubs were named CIF Players-of-the-Year.
The Cubs will put it on the line on Friday with the intention of making yet another run in the Division 4 playoffs.
A LOOK AT TUSTIN
it is ironic that Loyola's one point, 35-34, loss to long time rival Notre Dame last Friday, completely flipped the script on its playoff seeding.
Had the Cubs successfully converted on their two-point conversion attempt late in the game, they would have been the number four seed.
Instead, Loyola will play the number four seeded Tustin Tillers on the road.
Tustin is among the four best teams Loyola has faced this season, and securing a road victory against the talented, physical Tillers will be a tall order.
Head Coach Anthony Lopez will have his crew primed for battle Friday night with excellent talent in every position group.
Tustin finished the regular season with a 9-1 record and was undefeated (6-0) in the Delta League. The Tillers are among the top 25 teams ranked in the Southern Section by SBLive.
Here are the Tillers' regular season game results:
TUSTIN 35, El Toro 6
TUSTIN 42, Foothill 14
TUSTIN 42, El Dorado 10
TUSTIN 33, Fountain Valley 14
Yorba Linda 35, TUSTIN 31
TUSTIN 37, Cypress 7
TUSTIN 35, Trabuco Hills 14
TUSTIN 34, EL MODENA 28
TUSTIN 32, Western 21
TUSTIN 21, Capistrano Valley 10
The consensus of prep football experts is that Tustin senior running back Eimesse Essis (5-9, 175) is the best player at his position the Cubs will have faced this season.
The tough, elusive speedster has gained 1,532 yards on 168 carries and has scored 16 TDs. Essis averages an impressive 8.1 yards per carry.
The Tillers are a run first team, similar to Leuzinger which had a field day running the ball against Loyola.
Tustin's offensive line not only paves the way for a virtually unstoppable rushing attack, but also provides solid protection for athletic freshman quarterback Ayden Edwards (6-3, 190), who has thrown for seven TDs and just one interception. Edward's averages 15.3 yards per completion.
Tustin's top receiver is senior Montrevian Cushionberry (5-11, 165). He averages 21.3 yards per catch and has scored touchdowns every three times he touches the ball. Junior Trey Brown (5-11, 165) averages 18.3 yards per reception.
The Tillers are averaging 34 points per game.
Tustin is relinquishing an average of just 17 points per game on defense.
The stop unit is led by a heat seeking missile in senior linebacker Jayden Perez (5-9, 186). The fast defender leads the squad with 50 tackles, including 21 solo stops. He also has five sacks and five hurries to his credit.
Sophomore defensive lineman Jon Ioane (6-3, 290) is immovable. The tough sophomore defender has six sacks and nine hurries. Giant soph D-lineman Jeremiah Williams (6-2, 320) (9 sacks and 10 hurries) makes life miserable for opposing offensive lines.
Soph DB Khalil Terry (6-0, 175) is a leader in the secondary. He has three interceptions on the season. Cushionberry doubles as a DB and has intercepted two passes.
The Tillers have all the ingredients of a championship caliber team.
GAME OUTLOOK
Some knowledgable observers compare Tustin to Leuzinger and Serra. The former had its second best rushing outing of the campaign against the Cubs while holding Loyola to 13 yards on the ground.
Serra had its best passing performance of the regular season against the Cubs and held the Loyola rushing attack to 26 yards. Like those two teams, the Tillers have plenty of size and power up front.
If the Cubs have trouble running the ball, they will have little chance of securing a victory. On the flip side, Loyola's defense will need to play lights out against arguably the best rushing offense it has faced.
Suffice to say the Cubs will need to play their best game of the season to advance to next week's quarterfinal playoff round.
CalPreps' gives Loyola a 40% chance of coming away with a victory. CalPreps rates Tustin's Strength of Schedule at 20.4 and the Cubs' at 39.6.
Friday's contest will mark the first time the schools have played one another in football.
COIN FLIPS AND LOYOLA PLAYOFF FORTUNE
In 2005, Loyola ended the regular season in a three-way tie for third place in the Serra League, just as it did this year in the Mission League. It won the coin flips to earn an automatic invitation to the 2005 CIF Division I playoffs as the Serra League's third place representative.
The Cubs went on to win its sixth CIF Southern Section Division I championship.
This season's squad is hoping for similar good fortune after being the beneficiary of favorable tosses of the coin last week.
MORE ON LOYOLA SOPHOMORE TEAM HISTORY
After it was reported here last week that the Loyola Sophs' undefeated season was the first campaign without a loss since the late 1990s, a number of Cub alumni pointed out the error in that report.
Under Head Coach MIKE PORTERFIELD '73, Loyola's sophomores were 10-0 in both 2002 and 2003.
During PORTERFIELD's head coaching tenure the Sophs compiled a 71-7-2 overall record (92%).
GEORGE PATON '84, now the GM of the Denver Broncos, was the head soph coach in 1995 and 1996. Under his guidance the Cub sophomores only lost one game in two seasons for a 95% winning clip.
From 1991 through 1994 current varsity offensive line coach RICK PEDROARIAS '84 was the Soph head man. His squads compiled a 33-3 record (92%).
JOHN KVASNICKA '66 was Loyola's sophomore head coach from the late 1970s through 1990. At one point in his remarkable coaching career the Cubs had a 72-0-1 unbeaten streak.
LOYOLA RUNNING BACK SEAN MORRIS II HAS ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AMONG ALL-TIME CUB STANDOUTS
Loyola junior running back SEAN MORRIS II rushed for 307 yards on 40 carries (7.7 yards per carry) last Friday against Notre Dame according to MaxPreps.
It was one of the best individual running performances in Cub Football annals. MORRIS now has 1,279 rushing yards in 10 games and has scored 10 TDs on the ground.
MORRIS is likely headed to an MVP season. In his Loyola career thus far, he has gained 2,398 yards on the ground. The exceptionally talented tailback has multiple major scholarship offers.
EXTRA POINTS
Former Loyola All-CIF lineman SAM YOON '22 is earning acclaim on a fast improving offensive line at UCLA where he is the starting center.
YOON's Bruins' team defeated Nebraska last weekend in Lincoln. Former Cub DB All-American DB CEYAIR WRIGHT '21 served as a Cornhusker team captain . . . Loyola's freshman team completed its season with a 6-4 record after a turnover plagued, 9-8, loss to Notre Dame last Saturday. Three of the freshman team's losses were to JV teams.
2024 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
8-23 @ Cathedral (L, 16-13, 2OT)
8-30 Damien (L, 30-29)
9-13 @ Leuzinger (L, 40-30)
9-20 @ St. Francis (W, 35-7)
9-27 @ Mount Miguel (Spring Valley, San Diego) (W, 46-38)
10-4 Serra (Home)* (L, 42-35)
10-11 @ Bishop Amat* (W, 24-17)
10-18 Chaminade (Home)* (W, 44-10)
10-25 @ Sierra Canyon* (L, 45-0)
11-1 Notre Dame (Home)* (L, 35-34)
11-8 @ Tustin (CIF D-3 Playoffs first round)
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
SHAWN LIN '22, DL, Columbia
LEIGHTON LINE ‘23, DL, Cal Lutheran
CONNOR McDOWELL ‘21, DB, Angelo State
BLAKE NEITHART ‘20, DB, Carleton
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
HENRY STICKLER ‘22, 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
LOYOLA GRADS IN THE NFL
MYLES BRYANT '16, corner, Houston Texans
ALEX JOHNSON '19, corner, New York Giants (practice squad)
DAVID LONG, JR., corner, Indianapolis Colts (practice squad)
COLEMAN SHELTON '13, center, Chicago Bears