Cub Football - Rivalry week, Cubs host St. Francis on Friday
LOYOLA HOSTS LONG TIME RIVAL ST. FRANCIS ON FRIDAY
Coming off a 42-21 romp over Hamilton of the CIF Los Angeles City Section last Friday, Loyola will host long time rival St. Francis at Smith Field this Friday in its final non-league tilt before the grueling five-game Mission League slate gets underway on October 3 against Notre Dame in Sherman Oaks.
The Cubs evened their season record at 2-2 with their victory over the Yankees, but the going gets tougher with their rivalry against the Golden Knights this Friday.
St. Francis is 0-4, but don’t let its record fool you. The Golden Knights came within a whisker of defeating Pasadena Muir in a 22-21 loss on Friday, and have been steadily making progress since they lost their starting quarterback to a fractured collar bone before the season began.
Loyola is weathering the setback of an unprecedented number of player departures in the spring, and is gaining traction with a large number of underclass starters and major contributors.
Here are the statistical leaders per Max Preps after four contests:
OFFENSE
PASSING
JOHN-CARL RISING (soph.) 35/69 (51%) 412 yards, 11.8 avg., 2 TDs, 3 Int
RUSHING
XAVIER WIMBLEY (junior) 55 carries, 272 yards, 4.9 avg., 5 TDs
KANE CASANI (junior) 8 carries, 125 yards, 15.6 avg., 2TDs
JAYDEN ROGERS (soph.) 16 carries 110 yards, 6.9 avg., 2 TDs
HOLDEN SMYSER (senior) 3 carries, 67 yards, 22.3 avg., 1 TD
RECEIVING
TOBY THUSS (junior) 9 receptions, 162 yards, 18.0 avg., 2 TDs
SAM FRIEND (junior) 9 receptions, 77 yards, 8.6 avg.
JAYDEN ROGERS (soph.) 5 receptions, 63 yards, 12.6 avg.
BRANDON ALEXANDER (soph.) 5 receptions, 50 yards, 10.0 avg.
DEFENSE
KANE CASANI (junior) 54 tackles/20 solo, 8 hurries, 1 Int.
HOLDEN SMYSER (senior) 33 tackles, 1 Int.
MAX MEIER (senior) 32 tackles, 6 sacks, 18 hurries
MERRICK DOTTS (junior) 27 tackles, 6 hurries
ZACH HARRISON (senior) 1 sack 9 hurries
MALIQUE POLLARD (soph) 4 passes defended
JAYDEN ROGERS (soph.) 1 Int.
LOYOLA NUMBERS OF NOTE
54 and 15.6
Junior MLB KANE CASANI’s total tackles and rushing average. A star is rising.
6 and 18
Number of sacks and hurries by All-State, Stanford-bound, four star senior Edge MAX MEIER (6-6, 255). Another All-State campaign in the making.
26.3
Sophomore MALIQUE POLLARD’s kickoff return average
26
Average points relinquished per game by Loyola defense. If there is not marked improvement in that category, the Cubs will be hard pressed to win a league contest this season
ALOOK AT THE ST. FRANCIS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Talented junior quarterback Shawn Sanders, the centerpiece of the St. Francis offense, fell victim to a broken collarbone during preseason camp, and that loss threw a dagger into the Golden Knights’ non-league prospects.
Head coach Dean Harrington does not expect Sanders to be back for this Friday’s battle with Loyola.
Junior linebacker Luke Danni (6-0, 185) took over signal calling duties and has acquitted himself reasonably well, considering his lack of experience.
Danni completed 68 % of his passes for 178 yards against a very good Notre Dame squad two weeks ago, but took a step back in the one-point loss to Muir last Friday.
St. Francis is only averaging three yards per carry on the ground. The best runner is junior Elijah Wilson (5-8, 175).
The top receivers are sophomore Dal Rock (6-1, 170), senior JT Martin (5-11, 185) and junior Mason Maddox (6-2, 180).
The leaders on defense are linebackers Chris Costa (6-1, 190, sr.) and Russell Muro (5-11, 175, jr.) and senior defensive back Brady Cofre (6-1, 185).
The Golden Knights lost to St. Bonaventure, 19-7; were defeated by Mira Costa, 45-19; were beaten by Notre Dame, 49-12; and were downed in a nail biter by Muir, 22-21.
GAME OUTLOOK
When these rivals meet you can usually throw out the records. The series began in 1968 in the inaugural year of the Del Rey League.
St. Francis put up big yards against a very good Notre Dame squad, and will have to do that again if it want to win Friday’s skirmish. It’s non-league schedule has turned out to be much tougher than that of the Big Blue.
Loyola has more diverse weapons on offense, but the Cubs’ ‘Wolkpack’ defense continues to be victimized by big chunk plays in the passing game. Loyola must stifle the St. Francis rushing attack. If it is unable to do so, the contest may go down to the wire.
THE LOYOLA - ST. FRANCIS SERIES
The Cubs lost in their first meeting on the gridiron with the Golden Knights, 13-6, in 1968, but lead the series 21-9-1.
Last fall, Loyola defeated St. Francis in La Canada, 35-7. The most lopsided Cub victory (46-0) was in 1989.
Perhaps the most memorable battle was at the Golden Knights’ home field in 1977. Loyola changed into Pittsburgh Steeler uniforms after warming up in their regular road outfits. The Cub “Steel Curtain” completely shut down the St. Francis vaunted rushing attack en route to a hard fought 7-0 victory.
The Steeler uniforms were donated by CHARLES H. MAGUIRE who was the executive producer of the movie Heaven Can Wait. All of Maguire’s sons played football at Loyola.
CUBS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Below is the list of Loyola graduates on college football rosters in 2025 according to published collegian 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
JOSHUA LONG ‘21, TE, Eastern Michigan
TAHJ OWENS '22, DB, Princeton
JACK PARIS '23, DL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
RYAN QUINTANAR '20, LB, USC
XAVIER RICE ‘23, QB, Duquesne
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
DESI VALDES ‘25, DB, Pasadena City College
CEYAIR WRIGHT ‘21, DB, Nebraska
SAM YOON ‘22, OL, UCLA
2025 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
8-22 Cathedral (L 36-14)
8-29 @ Millikan (Long Beach) (W 35-25)
9-5 Mount Miguel (L 21-0)
9-12 @ Hamilton (Los Angeles) (W 42-21)
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