October 31, 2022

Cub Football - New season commences on Friday - A look at CIF playoff first round foe Lawndale

LOYOLA IN POSITION TO MAKE SUCCESSFUL PLAYOFF RUN
The momentum generated from the Cubs’ dramatic 28-27 victory over long time rival St. Francis last Friday bodes well for Loyola’s prospects in the CIF Southern Section Division 6 playoffs which get underway this Friday.

The playoff field is not unduly daunting, and if the Cubs play to their improving standard they very well could be still playing a month from now.

BY THE NUMBERS
Loyola’s 476 yards of total offense against St. Francis were the most garnered in any game this season . . .

Senior quarterback and team captain XAVIER RICE completed 76% of his passes for 201 yards and two TDs against the Golden Knights . . .

The recipe for success going into the showdown with St. Francis was running the ball effectively and stopping the run. The Cubs accomplished both goals, rushing for a season-high 275 yards and holding the Golden Knights to just 69 yards on the ground . . .  

Senior running back JON BAUTISTA had his best rushing effort of the season against St. Francis, carrying the ball 21 times for 167 yards (8 yards per carry); he is averaging 6.2 yards per tote on the season . . .

Senior inside linebacker and team captain ZACH BOWLES now has an incredible 123 total tackles to his credit . . .

Junior safety JAKE ARELLANO has made 110 tackles, including four solos . . .

Junior defensive lineman ISAIAH “IKE” SANDERS has 6.5 sacks on the campaign, and senior inside linebacker JARED ERBY has four sacks to his credit . . .

Sophomore outside linebacker SCOTT TAYLOR is the ‘Wolfpack’ defense’s third leading tackler with 66, and he has recorded three sacks . . .

Senior corner JORDAN HEWITT has made a team-leading three interceptions.

MAXPREPS AND COACHES’ AWARDS
MaxPreps named RICE the Player of the Game for his efforts against St. Francis; the site also lauded junior receiver KHALIL CUEVA and senior running back JON BAUTISTA for their offensive contributions against the Golden Knights.

Coaches’ Awards were announced by MaxPreps after the St. Francis victory. BAUTISTA was selected as the overall Player of the Game, right tackle and team captain JACK SUSNJAR was selected as the Offensive Player of the Game, freshman corner BRANDON LOCKHART was honored as the Defensive Player of the Game, and senior CLAY WINNEK was tabbed as the Special Teams Player of the Game.

A LOOK AT LAWNDALE, LOYOLA’S CIF PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND OPPONENT
Pioneer League champion Lawndale (6-4, 5-0) is a dangerous first round foe. 

The Cardinals feature one of the best running backs in the Southland in sophomore tailback Sean Weston (5-10, 173). He has rushed for 1,174 yards on 116 carries for a eye popping 10.1 ypc average, and the speedster has scored 13 TDs. The ultra talented sophomore doubles as a defensive back and has 58 tackles to his credit.

Freshman quarterback Valentine May has completed 57% of his passes for 774 yards and seven TDs. Senior receiver Boston Stovall (5-8, 145) is small but dynamic. He averages 18.8 yards per catch. Junior wideout Jesse Anderson (5-9, 160) averages 18.6 yards every time he catches the ball. He also has two interceptions to his credit on the defensive side of the ball.

Freakish senior safety Orlando Greenlow (6-5, 215) has a whopping 17 sacks to his credit among his 76 total tackles. Junior safety Naleem Powell (6-0, 170) leads the Lawndale defense with 89 total tackles, including 59 solo stops.

The Cardinals are fast and very athletic on both sides of the ball.

Here are Lawndale’s regular season scores: (L) Mission Hills (San Diego Section) 31-7, (W) Arcadia 36-7, (L) Cathedral 39-10, (L) Inglewood 21-0, (L) Alemany 18-14, (W) Torrance 18-10, (W) West Torrance 26-0, (W) South Torrance 41-3, (W) North Torrance 14-13, (W) El Segundo (win by forfeit).

GAME OUTLOOK
If Loyola can be balanced on offense, it will have a good chance to win the game. Lawndale is a run-first team, so the Cubs’ ‘Wolfpack’ defense will need to slow down the hard-running Weston. But it will also have to be wary of play action passes to a group of fast, elusive wide receivers.

Loyola’s offensive linemen will need to keep the 6-5 Greenlow out of the backfield.

Many of the Cardinals’ players go both ways, and a punishing ground game by the Big Blue would go a long way to securing a victory.

Once again, the Cubs will need to run the ball effectively and stop the run.

The only common opponent the teams have played is Cathedral. The Phantoms defeated Loyola 21-3, and downed Lawndale 39-10 in a non-league contest.

This marks the 48th time the Cubs have earned a trip to the CIF Southern Section playoffs. Loyola has won 38 of its first round games.

Encourage everyone you know who supports Cub Football to come out and support the Cubs at Smith Field this Friday.

THE SERIES
This is the first meeting of the schools on the gridiron.

MORE ON LOYOLA SOPHOMORE TEAM
The Cub sophomores ended its 2022 campaign on a high note with a 49-14 demolition of St. Francis.

An incredible series of plays at the outset of the contest highlighted the Big Blue triumph.

Tremendous defensive plays by nose guard COLE DENNIS and middle linebacker JAMES WIDHELM forced a three-and-out on the Golden Knights’ first possession. Lineman RONAN O’ ROURKE then tackled St. Francis’s punter for a safety.

On the ensuing kickoff, Loyola’s CROWLEY SULLIVAN took it to the house on a reverse. Loyola then recovered an onside kick, and three plays later DAVIS BENDER raced 35 yards for a touchdown. What a start!

UNDEFEATED LOYOLA FRESHMEN TEAMS
Everyone who had the privilege of watching this year’s tremendous freshman team go undefeated (9-0) for the first time in 44 years, is excited for the future.

Many Cub alumni from the last undefeated freshman team were in attendance at Loyola’s 61-8 destruction of St. Francis in La Canada last Thursday, and the conversation got around to the preceding undefeated Cub frosh squad.

The 1974 Loyola freshman team was the last freshman squad to go undefeated before the 1978 crew.

As seniors in 1977, the Cubs were a national top ten team until All-CIF quarterback ANDY HENDERSON tore multiple knee ligaments early in the CIF semifinals, which led to an upset loss.

Among the many standouts on that squad were linemen JOE MURRAY (USC, NFL, current varsity OL coach), BEN BACA, STEVE SHATYNSKI, DAN BRENTON and PJ PASCALE (current soph OL coach); running back LARRY WYNN; and linebackers MIKE HERNANDEZ AND MARLON THOMPSON ‘79.

The highlight of the 1977 season was Loyola’s double overtime, 28-27, CIF playoff quarterfinal victory over state-number one-ranked Fountain Valley before a standing-room-only, overflow crowd at Santa Monica College. 

CUB ALUMNI IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL 
Here is the current list of Cubs participating in college football (in alphabetical order):

NICK ANDERSON ‘20, OL (Denison)
SINJUN ASTANI ‘17, DL (USC)
CHAD BAILEY ‘20, DB (Tulane)
NICHOLAS BARR-MIRA ‘19, K (UCLA)
GEORGE CARATAN ‘17, K/P (Connecticut)
JAC CASASANTE ‘18, LS (USC)
COLIN CRUCE ‘22 (Bowdoin)
RAMAN ENIGBOKAN ‘22 (Morehouse)
MIKE GRAVES ‘19, DB (Notre Dame)
JACOBY KELLY ‘22, WR (San Diego State)
ANDREW KOZHAYA ‘21, OL (Grinnel)
ALEX JOHNSON, ‘18, DB (UCLA)
JEFFREY JOHNSON ‘21, TE (Cal)
CARTER LINK ‘20, LB (SMU)
SHAWN LINN ‘22, DL (Columbia)
TY MAHER ‘18, OL (Colby)
CONNOR McDOWELL ‘21, DB (Angelo State)
BLAKE NEITHART ‘20 DB (Carleton)
TAHJ OWENS ‘22, RB/DB (Princeton)
NATHAN PRIESTLEY ‘19, QB (Georgia)
RYAN QUINTANAR ‘20, LB (TCU)
PATRICK SODL ‘22, LB (Columbia)
ZAKHARI SPEARS ‘21, DB (Washington)
JOE TATUM ‘22, QB (Texas)
EVAN THOMAS ‘20, DB ( UCLA)
BRAYDEN UTLEY ‘18, DL (Baylor)
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB ( USC)
SAM YOON ‘22, OL (UCLA)