Cub Football - Sixteen Loyola players earn All-Mission League accolades, including 11 non-seniors
LOYOLA HAS SIXTEEN PLAYERS SELECTED ALL-MISSION LEAGUE
There is no question that Loyola had more than a few outstanding football players on its roster heading into the 2024 season, but it was not known how those players and the team would fare as it moved up from the Angelus to the Mission League, which is regarded as one of the toughest interscholastic conferences in the state and nation.
Despite being a new member of the tough Mission League the Cubs did not let the move up the latter intimidate them as they made their presence felt in a big way, as a total of 16 Loyola players garnered All-League accolades in the honors announcement made by the league earlier this week.
Here is a list (in alphabetical order) of the Cubs who were accorded All-Mission League recognition.
2024 ALL-MISSION LEAGUE LOYOLA PLAYERS
FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
BRYCE COLEMAN (6-4, 175), Wide Receiver, Jr.
MARKUS KIER (6-3, 180), Wide Receiver, Jr.
SEAN MORRIS II (5-10, 195) Running Back, Jr.
NATE TURK, Offensive Tackle, Jr.
FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
HENRY CASANI (6-2, 215), Linebacker, Sr.
BRANDON LOCKHART (6-3, 173), Corner, Jr.
SCOTT TAYLOR (6-4. 230), Edge/Outside Linebacker, Sr.
DESI VALDES (5-10, 176), Safety, Sr.
SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
LANGSTON GIBSON (6-2, 276) Offensive Guard, Jr.
THOMAS KNYAL (5-11, 180), Wide Receiver, Sr.
ASHTON PANNELL (6-2, 190), Quarterback, Jr.
NELSON PYE III (5-11, 265), Center, Jr.
SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
BROCK BOJORQUEZ (5-11, 175), Defensive Back, Sr.
DAEQUAN JEFFES (5-11, 195), Linebacker, Jr.
MAX MEIER (6-5, 240), Defensive End, Jr.
ZION SCRIVENS (6-0, 310), Defensive Line, Jr.
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025, TWENTY-SIX NON-SENIOR CUBS STARTED OR PLAYED SUBSTANTIAL MINUTES THIS SEASON
At twenty-two field positions nineteen non-seniors, including two freshmen, were starters in one or more games for the Cubs this season, and the starting kickers and punter will also return next season.
At least seven other non-senior Loyola players saw substantial minutes in battles this fall.
If all the non-seniors return, the Cubs will be a very serious team with which to be reckoned in 2025.
LOYOLA EXTRA POINTS
Too close for comfort . . . Loyola lost four games this season by a combined eight points (Cathedral, 16-13 (OT); Damien, 30-29; Notre Dame, 35-34; Simi Valley, 28-25). And the Cubs led Serra, 35-21 in the fourth quarter before falling 42-35. Maybe those close losses will be translated to victories next fall with so many veteran players, along with members on the undefeated (10-0) sophomore team, expected to return . . . Junior defensive back PETER SCIARRINO was not given credit for the interception he made against Simi Valley in last week's CIF Division 3 semifinal playoff game. SCIARRINO has been a tackling machine all season also has two picks to his credit. SCIARRINO is one of many unsung but highly talented players who will be returning next season . . . Senior TK KNYAL was asked to make a position switch from the starting quarterback post he held in 2023 to wide receiver. KNYAL refused to let the switch get him down, and all he did was garner All-Mission League accolades and exemplify an impressive team-first attitude for 13 games . . . Seven of the sixteen Loyola players who received All-Mission League honors have FBS scholarship offers, and the number of scholarship-offered Cub players is sure to increase . . . a strength coach who worked for many years under Cub Hall of Fame head coach STEVE GRADY '63 recently said that the team began lifting a week after the season ended and did so throughout the Christmas break . . . It is no wonder that the ethos of physicality played such a dominant role in his teams' successes over his distinguished career as Loyola's head man. There is a direct correlation between strength and winning. Two of GRADY's squads won CIF Division I championships and four others played in the finals . . . No question that TEAMs are built in the weight room.
SPEAKING OF STEVE GRADY . . . It has been 20 years since STEVE GRADY '63 retired as the steward of Cub Football. Before inking a tribute to GRADY in advance of his induction into the California High School Football Hall of Fame, a careful review of his template for success was studied.
GRADY was blessed with a number of dedicated coaches at all levels of the program who toiled at his side for many years. But what really drove his incomparable program was the culture he established and maintained. Discipline, holding players accountable to uncompromising standards, developing an expectation of winning every rep in every series of every game, demanding that TEAM was first, and a year-round mandatory strength and conditioning program all played roles in GRADY's unparalleled coaching success at a school where it is tough to win with such uncompromising admission requirements.
At the heart of GRADY's culture was the violence with which his teams routinely played week after week and season after season for nearly three decades. The physicality with which his squads competed was breathtaking.
Probably the metric which best demonstrates the physicality with which GRADY's teams competed were the points allowed by his defensive platoons, which were headed up by his longtime defensive coordinator, the legendary late Jon Dawson for nearly two decades.
They used to say "defense wins championships". That saying is not as popular now; however, it IS still true. If you do not allow your opponent to score, victory will be at hand most of the time.
Over the span of GRADY's career (1976-2004) Loyola's defensive units relinquished an average of 10.9 points per game. That is an impressive statistic for one game, let alone one season. But his teams accomplished that feat over the course of three decades and 352 games. In a word, incredible.
Since GRADY's retirement Cub defenses (2005-2024) have given up an average of 22 points per game. That is a 100% increase in points allowed.
Whether the last 20 years is simply an interstitial period in the outstanding history of Cub Football or not, Coach Grady's fearsome defenses are a big part of Loyola's football tradition, and a place to look for inspiration as preparations for the 2025 campaign get underway.