Ramblers answer call after opening loss, throttle Hilltoppers in Week 2

It was almost a replica of Loyola Academy’s first game of this football season — just one major difference.

This time it was the Ramblers who were dominant in every phase of the game as they rebounded from their shocking 27-point loss to East St. Louis at Illinois State University by scoring an unexpectedly resounding 42-7 victory at Glenbard West on Saturday, Sept. 7.

The winners of the IHSA Class 8A championship the last two seasons led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, 28-0 at the half and activated the running clock by increasing their lead to 42-0 with 7 minutes 34 seconds to play in the third quarter.

(The running clock with no stoppages for incomplete passes or first downs goes into effect when a team gains a lead of 42 or more points in the second half.)

“This was the total opposite of last week,” said senior wide receiver Brendan Loftus, who caught four passes for 101 yards with two going for touchdown. “We had the best week of practice so I knew something good was coming. I knew if we came out and did what we can do we’d have a big game.

“Now we’re back on track and looking forward to the first night home game in Loyola history (at 6:30 on Friday, Sept. 13 against St. Francis).”

Senior quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald gave every indication that he’s ready for prime time. He immediately perished the thought of what he considered a sub-standard performance against East St. Louis — 7 completions in 13 attempts for 33 yards — by excelling on the Ramblers’ first two touchdown drives covering 83 and 66 yards, respectively.

On the first drive he completed all four of his passes for 55 yards and ran five times for 28 yards. He connected with senior wide receiver Will Carlson on three of the passes, the last of which was an 18-yard touchdown play with 8:18 remaining in the quarter.

The second drive took only two plays: Fitzgerald’s passes of 35 and 21 yards to junior wide receiver Robert Clingan.

“Last week was not indicative of who we are,” Fitzgerald said. “We knew what were are capable of, and this week we executed our game plan.”

After completing all nine of his passes for 184 yards, Fitzgerald left the game with a minor hamstring injury, and sophomore Dom Maloney relieved him early in the second quarter.

“I could have gone back in (after a brief stint on the sidelines) but we were rolling,” Fitzgerald said. “So why not give Dom the opportunity? He wound up throwing three touchdown passes.”

Sandwiched between the TD receptions of 12 and 42 yards by Loftus was a 32-yard completion to senior running back Drew MacPherson for the fifth touchdown.

“I didn’t suit up for the sophomore game so I was kind of expecting to go in a little bit,” said Maloney, who was 6-for-9 passing for 106 yards before being replaced by junior Tommy Mitchell in the fourth quarter. “I did a lot of work with these guys over the summer and I watched a lot of film this week, which helped me to know what I wanted to do before I did it.

“Last week I played a little bit at the end of the game but this was my first meaningful time out there. It was a good time.”

“In games like this you get the opportunity to give experience to younger guys who at some point we’ll have to rely on whether it be later in the season or next year,” Loyola coach Beau Desherow said. “Dom is just a sophomore but he has a lot of moxie. We were confident. Dom coming in didn’t change anything we were trying to accomplish.

“The biggest improvement between Week 1 and Week 2 was focusing on our game plan and getting back to fundamentals and executing.

“It was great to see Ryan come back after last week and have great success. He could have gone back in today (after being replaced by Maloney) if we needed him but we didn’t need him.”

Loyola’s final touchdown was the only one that came on the ground, a 53-yard dash down the right side by senior running back Luke Foster.

It was followed by the sixth extra point kick by junior Zak Zeman, who also was outstanding on kickoffs on this windy afternoon, seemingly oblivious to the persistent gusts that posed a potential problem.

On Glenbard West’s first play from scrimmage following the activation of the running clock, junior Jamarcus Kelly ran 80 yards down the left sideline for the Hitters’ only touchdown and senior Aidan Adachi kicked the extra-point, concluding the scoring with 7:22 left in the third quarter.

Leading the Ramblers’ defense that made life miserable for sophomore quarterback Oliver Valdez was senior Tommy Ghislandi, who racked up two sacks.

“After last weekend we had that chip on our shoulder,” Ghislandi said. “We had that motivation in practice every day. We knew exactly what they wanted to do (on defense); we were the most physical team out there.”

Desherow praised Ghislandi: “Thomas is a really good player; he’s a West Point (Army) commit.”

The loss was the second straight for the traditionally powerful Hitters, who have won three state championships (the most recent coming in 2015). In their Aug. 31 opener they were defeated by Batavia 35-28.

“Batavia should be one of the best teams in 7A but today you see the gap from 7A to 8A,” said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. “Loyola is just a different breed. It becomes insurmountable when you’re losing every battle.

“We knew they’d be coming in angry (because of the lopsided loss to Class 6A perennial powerhouse East St. Louis). How good is East St. Louis?”

Ask Desherow and his Ramblers and they would reply: “East St. Louis is a great team.” In the wake of the opening game drubbing Fitzgerald predicted East St. Louis would go on to an undefeated season.

As for the Ramblers, their second game performance suggested that they might have what it takes to win all of their remaining games and a third straight Class 8A championship.

The Record is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community newsroom that relies on reader support to fuel its independent local journalism.

Subscribe to The Record to fund responsible news coverage for your community.

Already a subscriber? You can make a tax-deductible donation at any time.