Loyola 21 - Saint Francis 20

At a packed stadium in La Canada, the Cubs ended their night celebrating on Friedman Field after a come from behind victory that saw Loyola score 21 points in the 4th quarter. What seemed like an easy victory for St. Francis came crashing to a halt as Loyola's offense finally found a rhythm and scored on 3 consecutive drives in the 4th quarter.

After being severely outplayed for 3 quarters, and with fans starting to head for the exits, Loyola turned a poor St. Francis punt into a touchdown as sophomore running back Anthony Barr ran for a 20 yard TD to cap off a short drive. 4 plays later the Cubs found themselves on the St. Francis side of the field again and senior wide receiver Dustin Rosenberg split the seem and hauled in a 30 yard pass for a touchdown from quarterback Stephen Rokus.

Another defensive stop by the wolfpack defense of Loyola had the Cub offense again on a short field, tied 14-14 with less than 5 minutes to play. Successful runs by Barr and a few timely 3rd down hitches by Rokus had the Cubs knocking on the doorstep. A 2-yard draw by Barr capped off the drive and gave Loyola a 21-14 lead with 1:08 remaining, and left the Golden Knights in a stunned state.

A tremendous kick-off return fired up the home crowd as St. Francis had 45 yards to go and 1:00 minute to play. After a few scrambles by backup QB Justin Sciarra, a few good screen plays, and a few Loyola penalties, the Golden Knights had the ball on the Loyola 12 with 9 seconds remaining. An incredulous and inexplanable half-back pass by St. Francis should have ended the night, as nearly 3 Loyola players converged on the ball, with no one coming up with the interception. With 2 seconds remaining, Sciarra hit Dietrich Riley on a slant pattern for a touchdown, as the stadium erupted. As the elation was hitting a new high, the home crowd was hit with a stomach punch as kicker Sean McGuinness missed the extra point, sending the Cubs into a frenzy and schocking the Golden Knights into a stunned silence.

The rollercoaster of a game saw the Cubs turn the ball over 4 times, and committ an ungodly amount of penalties. The defense played well, but were put into tough situations in the first half by the Loyola offense. After a missed field goal by St. Francis, Chris Sember gave the Golden Knights the ball right back, when he intercepted a Stephen Rokus pass and returned it to the Loyola 9. Three plays later, Evan King dove into the end zone with his first touchdown to give the Golden Knights a 7-0 lead. After the ensuing drive saw Loyola fumble the ball around the 50 yard line, King took off on a 45 yard scamper down the sideline to the Loyola 2 yard line, and scored again shortly thereafter.

This game somewhat encapsulates Loyola this season. Terrible first half performances, underachievement by the offense, overachievement by the defense, hoards of penalties and mistakes, and just enough passion and grit to sneak out a win, when they can. The penalties and turnovers need to stop if Loyola is going to even have a chance in the Serra league, and the first half play calling must, must, must improve as well. I know the first half is meant to get a feel for the game, but I think Loyola threw the ball 4 times in the first half, with a spread offense. That left Barr without a fullback or an extra blocker, when the entire world knew that it was a run play. Here's hoping for a little improvement in the focus of the Cubs, along with a little more creative juice on offense. Loyola's defense is good enough to hold them against Notre Dame and Crespi, but they will need to score if they are going to advance to the playoffs.

Loyola will take on high powered Notre Dame this Friday out in Sherman Oaks. Go Cubbies!