Cub Football - Only win on Friday was coin clip as Loyola loses to Notre Dame
LOYOLA FALLS TO NOTRE DAME, 35-34, IN LEAGUE FINALE
In what was billed as a must-win battle with the winner likely to secure a coveted CIF Southern Section playoff berth, Loyola's failed two point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter before a huge crowd at Smith Field on Friday night appeared to be a season-ending play for the Cubs as Notre Dame escaped with a dramatic 35-34 victory.
But unbeknownst to the crestfallen Loyola squad and the visiting Knights as their quarterback kneeled in a victory formation as the final seconds ticked off the game clock, Chaminade had just beaten Bishop Amat, 38-35, in La Puente to make it a three-way tie for third place in the Mission League. Notre Dame, Chaminade and the Cubs each had 2-3 league records after the final games of the regular season were in the books.
Shortly after the conclusion of the contest, the public address announcer advised the crowd that the Cubs were in sole possession of third place in the Mission League and would therefore have a guaranteed spot in the CIF Southern Section playoffs which get underway next Friday.
In a stroke of pure luck, Loyola had won a series of coin tosses which were conducted earlier in the week among the athletic directors of the three schools. The coin tosses were made in the unlikely event that a three-way tie for third place occurred.
Fortunately for the Cubs (4-6, 2-3) the loss to the Knights (5-5, 2-3) did not end their season. That being said, the one point loss had a feeling of finality to it as Loyola's roller coaster regular season had come to an unceremonious end with two consecutive losses.
Whether Loyola finds a way to regroup after the serendipitous tosses of a coin and make a run in the CIF Southern Section playoffs is an open question.
One thing is certain, the Cubs will need to play much better than they have in the last two weeks to take advantage of their unexpected good fortune.
There was only one thing Loyola had to do to assure itself of a victory in its fifty-first meeting with Notre Dame in a rivalry dating back to 1950, and that was to slow down the Knights' ultra talented Washington State-bound quarterback, Steele Pizzella.
Unfortunately for the Cubs, they were unable to corral the Knights' signal caller who put on a magnificent aerial show for a full four quarters.
Notre Dame won the pre-game coin toss and in a wisely prescient move elected to receive the opening kickoff.
The Knights' QB immediately went about putting on a passing clinic. Notre Dame drove 87 yards in just five plays, all passes, with the score coming on a 30-yard strike with less than two minutes gone in the first quarter. While it was the night after Halloween, the Notre Dame horror show was on full display.
The Knights were devoid of a running game, but they did not need one.
Following a 40-yard kickoff return by senior DESI VALDES, Loyola quickly drove 55 yards in three plays, capped by a six yard scoring jaunt by Cub running back SEAN MORRIS II, who had sprinted 38 yards on the penultimate play of the drive. JACOB KREINBRING's PAT kick knotted the score at 7-7.
Just as the Cubs could not foil Notre Dame's aerial onslaught, the Knights were unable to slow down MORRIS who had a career outing.
After the teams traded interceptions (one by Loyola's BROCK BOJORQUEZ) and punts, Pizzella hit on a perfectly executed 78-yard TD pass at the end of the first quarter. The PAT kick gave Notre Dame a 14-7 lead.
Following a Cub punt the Knights embarked on another scoring drive which covered 67 yards in four plays, highlighted by a 42-yard pass and capped by a 1-yard TD toss that upped the Notre Dame lead to 21-7.
Following another excellent kickoff return by VALDES, Loyola began its next possession at the Knights' 46 yard line. Aided by a pass interference penalty on their first play, it took the Cubs just four plays to score, the TD coming on a 3-yard MORRIS run at the 7:32 mark of the second quarter, cutting the visitors' lead to 21-14.
It took the Knights just two passing plays of 25 and 55 yards to score on their next possession to forge a 28-14 lead.
Loyola corner BRANDON LOCKHART intercepted a Notre Dame pass late in the second quarter which ended with a missed 37-yard Cub field goal attempt. Notre Dame left the field at halftime with a commanding 28-14 lead.
On its first possession of the third quarter Loyola marched 75 yards in eight plays, capped by a 27-yard MORRIS race to the end zone. The PAT kick narrowed the Knights' lead to 28-21.
A 10-yard sack by Cub outside linebacker SCOTT TAYLOR on Notre Dame's next possession forced the Knights' to punt. The punt was blocked by CONNOR KLEIN, and Loyola was in business at the Notre Dame 40 yard line. MORRIS capped the five-play drive with an 11-yard sprint to pay dirt. The PAT kick tied the score, 28-28 with 4:59 left in the third quarter.
The Cubs' 'Wolfpack' defense buckled down and forced the Knights to punt on their next possession.
Loyola, which took over at its 30 yard line, was driving for a go-ahead score when disaster struck. The Cubs fumbled the ball away on the Notre Dame 20 yard line.
All the momentum in Loyola's favor evaporated as the Knights marched 80 yards in 10 plays, capped by a 15-yard TD pass with 6:04 remaining in the contest to go ahead 35-28.
But Loyola wasn't done. The Cubs marched 80 yards in 10 plays, scoring on quarterback ASHTON PANNELL's 8-yard misdirection run with 2:26 remaining on the clock. Loyola elected to go for the win on a two-point conversion play, but the attempted pass failed, and Notre Dame came away with the 35-34 one-point victory.
MORRIS finished his brilliant rushing effort with 279 yards on 39 carries (7.2 yards per carry) and four touchdown runs. The junior star now has 1,251 rushing yards (5.7 yards per carry) and 13 TDs on the ground.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR LOYOLA
On Sunday the CIF Southern Section will announce its divisional playoff brackets.
Under the competitive equity system, playoff participants will be placed into divisions based upon their CalPreps' rankings. After their loss to Notre Dame, the Cubs dropped eight places to 38th in CalPreps' Southern Section rankings.
It is anticipated that there will be eight teams in the Division 1 bracket with 16 teams in each of the other 12 divisional brackets.
Loyola will likely be a low seed in Division 3 with a first round road game against one of the top four seeds.
UPDATE ON UNDEFEATED LOYOLA SOPHOMORE CAMPAIGN
It was pointed out after the news story on the Loyola sophomore team's undefeated season that at least one other soph team, the 2003 squad, was undefeated in the new Millennium. The 2024 Cub soph team, though, is in rare company, to be sure.
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)
All games on Fridays @ 7:00 p.m. * Denotes Mission League game
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