Cub Football - spring practice around corner - Loyola spring sports excel
LOYOLA FOOTBALL UPDATES
With eight All-Mission League honorees, five CalHi Sports All-State junior class athletes, and four ALL-CIF Division 3 players returning for the 2025 season, the Cubs are looking forward to getting on the field for spring practice which gets underway on May 5. The Big Blue is looking to improve on its 2024 CIF Division 3 semifinal finish this fall.
DYNAMIC TRIO IS SPECIAL
Watching rising junior quarterback MATT SMITH (6-2, 190) throw the ball of late demonstrated why the Loyola signal caller will be a key component of an offense that should be a very dynamic unit.
Smith started the last two playoff games for the varsity last fall after leading the Cub sophomore team to an undefeated (10-0) Mission League championship last fall. The major college prospect threw for 1,947 yards (17.7 yards per completion) and he averaged an impressive 11.3 yards per carry on the ground.
All-State junior class/All-CIF running back SEAN MORRIS II (5-10, 205) is bigger, faster and stronger. With close to 3,000 rushing yards over the last two seasons, MORRIS has a strong chance to break Loyola’s all-time rushing record this fall. The powerful runner is a highly recruited athlete who recently ran a 10.88 100 meter dash for the Cub track squad.
Rising All-Mission League senior wide receiver MARKUS KIER (6-3, 185), who compiled nearly 900 receiving yards for Loyola’s CIF Div. 3 semifinalist team last fall, will be the beneficiary of SMITH’s accurate, strong right arm. KIER recently was ranked as the eight best player in a premier national show case camp.
All three of those special players will play behind a veteran Cub offensive line led by All-State junior/All-CIF Div. 3 offensive tackle NATHAN TURK (6-4, 279), who recently committed to Harvard.
The offensive line returns six players who started and/or played substantial minutes last season, including three All-Mission League trench men (TURK, guard LANGSTON GIBSON (6-2, 320) and center NELSON PYE III (5-11, 272). Rising senior right tackle SILAS NUR (6-4, 261) is a highly gifted athlete who has the ability to play on Saturdays.
The ‘Wolfpack’ defense will be led by All-American corner BRANDON LOCKHART (6-3. 171), who is committed to USC, and Edge MAX MEIER (6-6, 251) an All-State junior class honoree, who holds 22 scholarship offers from the likes of Stanford, UCLA, USC, Northwestern, North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin, to name a few.
Rising senior All-Mission League league inside linebacker DAEQUAN JEFFES (5-11, 197) is one of the team’s most talented athletes.
Loyola’s rising senior All-CIF kicker JACOB KREINBRING is a key returnee.
A more detailed look at the squad’s excellent personnel will come during spring practices.
LOYOLA SPRING SPORTS EXCELLING
CUB GOLF NUMBER ONE IN CIF SOUTHERN SECTION
Loyola’s golf team was recently ranked the number one links squad in the CIF Southern Section. Senior TUCKER SWEENEY carded a school record eight-under par, while sophomore OWEN GORR shot a seven-under par in recent matches.
VOLLEYBALL RANKED THIRD IN NATION
Loyola’s defending National Champion volleyball squad is ranked third in the nation. The Cubs beat arch rival Mira Costa in the championship match of the prestigious Best of the West Tournament and downed Huntington Beach in the semifinals, but lost to both the Mustangs and Oilers in non-league matches. There is a good chance Loyola will have an opportunity to avenge those losses in the upcoming playoffs.
FOOTBALL PLAYERS HELPING TRACK SQUAD
Running back SEAN MORRIS II recently ran a PR 10.88 in the 100 meters. Sophomore defensive back XAVIER WIMBLEY ran the third leg on the 4X400 relay which clocked 4:20.78, and junior offensive lineman SILAS NUR threw a personal record 50-05.00 in the shot put.
LOYOLA LACROSSE NAMED CIF ACADEMIC CHAMPION
The CIF Southern Section named Loyola’s CIF Div. I runner-up lacrosse squad as the 2024 CIF Academic Champion. The award is based on the highest cumulative non-weighted GPA earned among all CIF squads.
FORMER LOYOLA SWIMMER FASTEST IN THE NATION
Former Loyola swimmer REX MAURER ‘23 set the national high school record in the 500 meter freestyle (4:12.70) as a Cub senior.
MAURER helped lead the University of Texas to the NCAA National Championship in swimming this season, winning the 500 meter race for the Longhorns. MAURER has posted the fastest 500 time in United States history at any level.
LOYOLA ACADEMICS MELD WELL WITH FOOTBALL
Loyola’s academic prowess showed up once again as five senior Cub football players were honored as Scholar Athletes by the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame at its annual awards dinner at SoFi Stadium. The honorees were as follows (in alphabetical order): defensive back BROCK BOJORQUEZ (Johns Hopkins), HENRY CASANI (North Carolina lacrosse), wide receiver/quarterback THOMAS KNYAL, outside linebacker SCOTT TAYLOR (UCLA) and defensive back DESI VALDES.
The President of the NFF Los Angeles chapter is Loyola alumnus CHRISTIAN GASCOU ‘93, who was a starting guard on Loyola’s 1992 CIF Southern Section Division I runner-up squad, before attending Boston College. He will have a freshman quarterback enrolling at Loyola this summer.
SCOTT TAYLOR WINS PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD
Senior All-CIF outside linebacker SCOTT TAYLOR won the Los Angeles Chargers’ LaDanian Tomlinson Player-of-the-Year Award for his outstanding efforts as a linebacker, his academic performance and community service contributions. TAYLOR accepted a scholarship to UCLA
2025 LOYOLA VARSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
8-22 Cathedral
8-29 @ Millikan (Long Beach)
9-5 Mount Miguel
9-12 @ Hamilton
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