Loyola 17 - Chaminade 7

Loyola High School trekked out to L.A. Valley College for a "home game" Friday night, and came back with a much deserved 17-7 victory over Chaminade. Now, traditionally, we would expect Loyola to beat a team like Chaminade by 34 points or more, but we'll take what we can get this season, as the Cubs will have to fight for every victory this season. The good news is that the Loyola's "wolfpack" defense finally showed up for a game, and the Cubs did what they've always done well, play stout defense and grind out a win.

The Chaminade offense, led by Loyola transfer Ryan Griffin at QB, starting the game in their traditional spread formation. After gaining some advantage in field position, the Loyola offense took over after a Chaminade punt. Coach Kearin decided to depart from the pass and tried to establish the run early, with a consistent diet of senior Brian Rios. After trading a few punts, the Chaminade offense was winning the field position battle, and started a series inside Loyola territory. A few passes later, Chaminade found themselves attempting a long field goal on 4th down with 2 yards to gain. A Loyola penalty for 12 men on the field gave the Eagles new life, but the lapse in discipline didn't end up hurting the Cubs as they held the line on a 4th and short three plays later. The rest of the first quarter, Loyola kept trying to run the ball with Rios but were only able to make a few first downs on short yardage passes and roll outs.

In the second quarter, Loyola made the first break through when quarterback Stephen Rokus finally threw a pass over 5 yards, hitting senior wide receiver Dustin Rosenberg on a streak. Rosenberg blew by the DB on single coverage and caught the ball 30 yards on the fly and scampered for another 30 to the end zone. Despite not being able to move the ball much in the first half, the Cubs went into the locker room up 7-0 at half time.

The second half started with a significant change on offense, with Kearin turning to sophomore stud running back Anthony Barr, who has been recovering from a separated shoulder. He had the sidelines buzzing on the very first play as he took the hand off, made a quick move, and turned the corner gaining 8 yards while breaking about 6 tackles. The Loyola offense started to click as Barr took over the workload and began moving the chains. The Cubs running game made the 3rd quarter fly by, and produced a Mauricio Alfonso field goal to make the league 10-0.

The Loyola defense seemed to be in Griffin's face on nearly every pass play, and blitzed often. The strategy worked as when Griffin wasn't sacked, he was somewhat erratic when pressured, tending to overthrow his wide receivers. Even blind squirrels find a nut though, as Griffin hit a few long passes, Loyola committed a few costly penalties, and, after dominating most of the game, the Cubs found themselves only up by 3 after a Chaminade touchdown.

The Loyola sidelines felt a bit tense, especially when the Eagles had the ball and were driving in the 4th quarter. But a Loyola interception followed by key stops by nose guard Joe Goodwin and linebacker Sema'j Myles all but cemented a Loyola victory. The Cubs then looked to add to their lead and run out the clock as the took the over the ball with about 6 minutes to play. Loyola rode the legs of Barr, as he moved the chains and successfully wound down the clock with consistent 4 and 5 yard runs. The Cubs capped the drive, game, and night with a play-action touchdown pass to sophomore tight end John Young on a 4th and goal play from the 2 yard line with 30 seconds to go, bringing the final score to 17-7.

In all honesty, the Cubs outplayed Chaminade on this night. With a stifling and pursuing defense, commitment to the running game, and timely pass completions, Loyola deserved the win and the margin of victory could have been a bit more. It just goes to show, that these Cubs are not the Cubs of the early 2000s. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, those teams would have beaten this Chaminade team with more than enough points to spare. What did impress me was the last drive of the game, when the Cubs needed to secure the ball and move get first downs in order to run out the clock, they did just that. Just like the teams of old, the Cubs won the game in the fourth quarter. The Serra League will be very difficult for this team, and they may not win a game. But what we do know, is that although the sheer talent may not be present, the traditional Cub grit and determination will always be there, and that will give them a shot to win every game.

Loyola will travel to La Canada next week to play St. Francis High School. After growing up about a mile and a half away from St. Francis and having a few friends go there, AND never getting a chance to play them while at Loyola, I'll be there in full regalia to root on the Cubbies!