October 24, 2022

Cub Football - Share of Angelus League championship on the line on Friday - Loyola freshmen have shot at undefeated season

DESPITE DEFLATING LOSS TO CATHEDRAL, LOYOLA WILL BE PLAYING FOR A SHARE OF THE ANGELUS LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP AT HOME ON FRIDAY
For Loyola, this is not the time for a “hope springs eternal” elegy after an ugly 21-3 loss to Cathedral last Friday, but rather the time for an exigent call to arms for the looming battle against long time arch rival La Canada St. Francis at Smith Field this Friday at 7:00 p.m.

The Cubs are good enough to derail the high-scoring Golden Knights, but to do so, they will need to play passionate, focused, mistake-free football. Loyola must turn its regression last Friday into positive progression this week.

Whenever the Cubs and Golden Knights face one another, regardless of the sport or the teams’ respective records and comparative talent, emotions run high and the heat of the battles is typically at a boiling point.

Despite the distressing, unexpected setback against Cathedral, Loyola can earn a share of a third consecutive Angelus League title with a win over St. Francis. Another large home crowd is expected for the final regular season contest with a share of the conference championship on the line.

A LOOK AT THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS
St. Francis, which has averaged 40 points per game through nine contests, is one of the highest scoring teams in the CIF Southern Section. The Golden Knights just hung 49 points on a decent Santa Fe Springs St. Paul squad last Friday.

The flip side is not so good, though, as St. Francis has yielded an average of 34 points per contest. The Golden Knights are officially 7-2 and 4-0 in the Angelus League, but one of their wins was by forfeit against Long Beach Millikan, whom they lost to on the field.

St. Francis’ game results are as follows: (L) West Ranch 61-41, (W) Mira Costa 52-48, (L) Millikan 54-28, (L) St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 47-22, (W) Pasadena Muir 41-0, (W) Lancaster Paraclete 45-14, (W) Cathedral 48-39, (W) Crespi 48-21, (W) St. Paul 49-20.

With five straight victories under their belts, the Golden Knights will enter Friday’s league title showdown with a full head of steam. It’s lowest scoring output in that span was 41 points. 

St. Francis is led by prolific senior passer Jack Jacobs (6-6, 220). The veteran, three-year starting quarterback has completed 60% of his passes for 2,188 yards with 26 TD throws and five interceptions. His completions average an eye-opening 16.6 yards.

Jacobs’ top targets are senior receivers Jett McCullough (6-0, 185, 22 receptions for 569 yards, 25.9 yards per catch, nine TDs) and Antonio Merlos (5-7, 165, 33 receptions for 588 yards, 17.8 yards per catch, six TDs).

Allen High, Texas transfer running back Devyn Turner (5-9, 190), who helped lead Allen to the Texas large schools semifinals last fall (1,046 yds., 8.6 yds. per carry) provides a punishing double shot to Jacobs’ powerful passing punch. In six outings Turner has rushed for 603 yards with an off-the-charts 10.2 yards per carry average and has scored eight touchdowns. Against St. Paul last Friday the senior speedster rushed for 220 yards in 18 carries (12.2 yds. per carry) and four touchdowns. He added 57 receiving yards on two catches with a TD. Turner accounted for 277 yards of St. Francis’ total of 366 yards, and five of its seven TDs. He runs behind a big, physical offensive line led my junior strong man Philip Ocon ( 6-4, 320).

Junior middle linebacker Preston Jernegan (6-2, 215) leads the Golden Knight defense with 75 tackles, including 24 solo stops. Jernegan also has three interceptions and two sacks to his credit. Sophomore linebacker Julian Navarro (5-10, 180) has made 49 tackles. The Golden Knights have an impressive 14 interceptions on the season.

GAME OUTLOOK
Loyola’s average score through nine games is 19-22. St. Francis’ average score to date is 40-34.  The only comparative score among three common opponents that favors the Cubs is their 49-0 demolition of Crespi Carmelite versus the Golden Knights’ 48-21 rout of the Celts.

While the odds favor St. Francis, this is a rivalry game, and most of the teams’ battles over the past six decades have been close. Loyola’s offensive line must show up on Friday and the Cubs need to be able to pound the rock effectively.

If the Big Blue performs on offense as it did against Cathedral it will be a long evening for the home squad. The Big Blue needs to have its most productive offensive output of the season.

The Jacobs-Turner pass-run combination may be the best Loyola has faced. The Cub ‘Wolfpack’ defense will have to hold the Golden Knights to their lowest scoring output of the campaign to notch a win for Loyola.

The CalPreps.com computer projection has St. Francis winning 34-26. The good news is that computers don’t put on pads or Don helmets.

THE SERIES
The Loyola-St. Francis rivalry did not start with a game, but rather with an inter-squad scrimmage in 1962 before the Cubs launched their 35-game unbeaten streak, including winning the 1962 and 1963 CIF Southern Section AAAA championships.

As has been the case for decades, many of Loyola’s players on the ‘62 squad hailed from the San Gabriel Valley foothills and the La Canada and Pasadena areas, and the scrimmage was accordingly a very competitive fray among familiar neighborhood rivals.

Cub head coach Lew Stueck ‘53 and Golden Knights head man Jack Friedman ‘46 were both Loyola grads, so the sparks were really flying as a rivalry was born.

The schools’ first game was in 1968 when both squads were members of the newly formed Del Rey League in which they competed through 1989, the season in which the Cubs recorded their most lopsided win (49-0) against St. Francis.

One of the most memorable contests between the arch rivals was in 1977, when Loyola donned Pittsburgh Steeler uniforms just before the kickoff on the hill. The Cubs won that down-to-the-wire slugfest, 7-0. The Steeler uniforms were donated by Charles Maguire, the producer of the movie Heaven Can Wait. Maguire’s sons Dennis ‘75 and John ‘76 were standout players at Loyola.

The Cubs have dominated the rivalry with a 20-8-1 (74%) win-loss advantage. Last fall in La Canada, Loyola eked out a 6-3 win in a fiercely contested bout.

LOOKING AT THE UPCOMING CIF SOUTHERN SECTION FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS
The Cubs are guaranteed to finish no worse than third place in the Angelus League, and given that they compete in a six-team conference (the first three teams in six-team leagues qualify) they have automatically qualified for a berth in the upcoming CIF Southern Section playoffs which will commence on November 4.

Under the Southern Section’s new competitive equity guidelines, every playoff-qualifying team will be placed in a playoff division this Saturday based upon its ranking by CalPreps.com.

It is expected that Loyola will be placed in Division 6. If the Cubs (4-5, 3-1) upset St. Francis, a Division 5 placement is a probable destination. Loyola is currently ranked 82nd in the Southern Section by CalPreps.

Division 1 will likely be limited to eight teams and the other 13 divisions will each consist of 16 squads.

LOYOLA FRESHMEN HAVE A SHOT AT PERFECT CAMPAIGN
The undefeated Cub freshman team has a shot at a perfect 2022 campaign as they travel up to La Canada on Thursday afternoon to take on St. Francis at 4:00 p.m.

Loyola’s freshmen are 8-0 after their latest triumph over Cathedral’s JV team last Thursday by a score of 41-8. The Cubs have outscored their opponents 313-58.

FOUR CUBS ON ACTIVE NFL ROSTERS  
Cub alumni ANTHONY BARR ‘10 (Dallas Cowboys LB), COLEMAN SHELTON ‘13 (Los Angeles Rams OL ), MYLES BRYANT ‘16 (New England DB), and DAVID LONG, JR. (Los Angeles Rams DB) are currently competing in the NFL. Loyola is tied for first in the state for most prep graduates on National Football League rosters.