LOYOLA’S SPEED TOO MUCH FOR SWORDSMEN IN 31-0 CUB VICTORY DOMINATED BY ‘WOLFPACK’, HARRISON ALLEN’S BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE AND STRONG PASSING PERFORMANCE BY BRAYDEN ZERMENO
After a tepid first half offensive performance, Loyola shook off its somnolence after half time to score 24 unanswered points en route to a decisive, 31-0, Angelus League victory over St. Paul in Santa Fe Springs on Friday night.

The Cubs (3-0, 2-0) notched their second Angelus League triumph in their quest for the conference title, but a feisty, undersized St. Paul squad kept things interesting through the first two quarters, holding a much bigger, faster, more athletic Loyola contingent to just seven points. Senior quarterback BRAYDEN ZERMENO found streaking junior running back HARRISON ALLEN on a 21-yard pass play to put the Big Blue up, 7-0, capping a 48-yard drive with 37 seconds remaining in the first half to end what had been a protracted scoring drought.

ALLEN had an outstanding night running the football for the Cubs, rushing for 116 yards on 11 carries (10.5 avg.), including a beautiful 45-yard TD sprint. He also had a breakout effort catching the ball.

For the second consecutive week, Loyola’s “Wolfpack’ defense played fast, smothering football. The front seven, led by linemen JOSH LONG, JEFF JOHNSON, TAVO CASADO, and SHAWN LIN; middle linebackers PATRICK SODL, ZACHARY BOWLES and TYE SMITH; and outside linebackers FINNEGAN POWELL and RAMAN ENIGBOKAN, forced the shifty Swordsmen quarterback to run for his life all night long and forced multiple hurried passes and recorded a slew of sacks and tackles for loss.

The Cubs’ secondary also made things miserable for the St. Paul field general, successfully defending Swordsmen passes from start to finish. Senior All-American corner CEYAIR WRIGHT had an interception for Loyola on the Swordsmen’s first drive, while his battery mates, safeties ZAHARI SPEARS and JACKSON SHEA, and corner JORDAN HEWITT shined in both coverage and run support.

The Cub stop unit held St. Paul to 133 yards of total offense and relinquished just 50 net yards in the second half. The ‘Wolfpack’ forced the Swordsmen to punt eight times and stopped them on downs to close out the contest. Here is the recap of St. Paul’s 11 offensive possessions: interception, punt, punt, punt, punt, time expired, punt, punt, punt, punt, failure to convert on fourth down. The effort in a word, dominant.

Following a lackluster showing in the first half, Loyola turned things around on offense after intermission. ALLEN raced 45-yards for a TD to put a punctuation mark on an 85-yard drive that put the Cubs up 14-0. ZERMENO hit CEYAIR WRIGHT, who turned on his sprinters jets, to score a 41-yard touchdown with 1:34 left in the third quarter to increase the Big Blue’s lead to 21-0. Junior wide receiver PETER VANIS made a great run after catching a ZERMENO pass to score six points from 19 yards out at the 11:32 mark of the fourth quarter upping Loyola’s lead to 28-0. VANIS made several of his customary, spectacular punt returns throughout the game.

ZERMENO finished the night completing 17 of 25 passes (68%) for 226 yards and three touchdowns.

Junior Cub kicker JACKSON SHEA converted a 31-yard field goal with 6:51 left in the game to make the final score, Loyola 31, St. Paul 0.

The Cub offensive line, tackles SAM YOON and JACK SUSNJAR, center CIARAN O’LIONAIN, guards JOSH MORALES and ANDY PEREZ, and tight end JOE TAYLOR did a solid job protecting ZERMENO and opening holes for the rushing attack. See the photo below, from left, SUSNJAR, PEREZ, O’LIONAIN, MORALES, YOON.

Loyola will host Crespi Carmelite next Friday to close out the delayed 2020 season. The Cubs will be looking to secure the Angelus League championship.