St. Francis spoils Loyola’s historic night under the lights in Wilmette

St. Francis of Wheaton arrived at Loyola Academy’s Hoerster Field on Friday the 13th of September very aware of the historical significance of the football game that was about to be played.

It was the first night home game in Loyola history.

“We walked into the stadium and there was energy and intensity like crazy,” said St. Francis running back TyVonn Ransom. “I’ve never experienced anything like it. Their first (home) game under lights and we were part of history. It was amazing and I felt blessed to be a part of it.

“We came in ready to play. We came in ready to win. We gave it our all.”

Playing before a partisan crowd that jammed the stands on the Loyola side of the field, the Ramblers were unable to rise to the occasion. Friday the 13th turned out to be unlucky. They fell behind early and never recovered.

Final score: St. Francis 35, Loyola 21.

Loyola was minus the services of senior quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald, recipient of the Most Outstanding Player in the Chicago Catholic League last season when the Ramblers won their second straight IHSA Class 8A state championship.

“He wasn’t quite 100 percent,” Loyola coach Beau Desherow said of Fitzgerald, who sustained a hamstring injury in last week’s 35-point victory at Glenbard West. “We didn’t want to put him in a position where he might aggravate the injury. We’ve got a long season ahead of us.”

Sophomore Dom Maloney, who threw three touchdown passes in relief of Fitzgerald at Glenbard West, got the start.

But unlike that game in which Fitzgerald passed for two touchdowns to give Maloney a 14-0 cushion when he entered the game, this time the sophomore had to try to surmount a 21-0 deficit.

“They had the advantage the whole way,” Desherow continued. “We have to give them credit. They had a good game plan and they made plays. We also inflicted a lot of damage on ourselves. We made too many mistakes and were in some bad positions. Their time of possession was a big factor and their long drives produced points.”

The Spartans took the opening kickoff and drove 80 yards in 14 plays for the touchdown that came on Ransom’s 2-yard run.

In the opening quarter they limited the Ramblers’ time of possession to 1 minute 52 seconds.

Early in the second quarter the Spartans continued to assert themselves, increasing their lead to 21-0 with 9:25 to play in the half, thanks to a 34-yard pass from Brady Palmer to Zach Washington in the end zone, Palmer’s 5-yard TD run, and the second and third of Evan Kolinski’s five extra-point kicks.

“We wanted to try to slow the game,” said coach Bob McMillen of the undefeated (3-0) Class 5A invaders from Wheaton. “They’re an explosive team. We didn’t want to go toe-to-toe with them. We wanted to eat up as much clock as possible and be efficient on our drives. I give a lot of credit to our quarterback 

“We challenged our boys to be more physical. It showed early when we were flying around (on defense) and were able to stop the runs by (Drew) MacPherson, an unbelievable running back.”

Loyola went on a 65-yard drive and finally got on the scoreboard with 5:58 to play in the first half. Maloney threw completions of 10 and 6 yards to MacPherson, 11 yards to Conlon Kane and 23 yards to Brendan Loftus, and then MacPherson had back-to-back runs of 4 and 1 yard to reach the end zone.

On the Ramblers’ next possession Maloney continued to consistently find his receivers and collaborated on a 39-yard pass to Gavin Vradenburg for their second touchdown. Zack Zeman kicked the extra point and with 74 seconds to play in the first half Loyola reduced its deficit to 21-14.

“Varsity football is a lot faster and guys are more experienced,” Maloney said when asked about the adjustments he had to make to get his game on track. “The guys had my back. We tried to do everything we could to get back in that game.”

Following a scoreless third quarter Palmer led St. Francis on an 85-yard touchdown drive. On a fourth-and-6 situation at the Loyola 35 he passed to Washington in the end zone for a touchdown with 10:59 to play.

Led by Maloney and MacPherson, the Ramblers counterattacked and they collaborated on a 14-yard scoring pass play. Zeman’s extra-point kick narrowed St. Francis’ lead to 28-21 with 7:47 on the clock.

But Loyola’s hopes of making an amazing comeback were dashed when St. Francis capitalized on two face-mask penalties against the Ramblers and the running of Palmer highlighted an 80-yard touchdown drive. The insurance TD with 2:39 left came on Palmer’s 17-yard run, and Kolinski booted the extra point to provide the Spartans with their winning margin. 

The Ramblers refused to give up and penetrated to the St. Francis 12 but they were stopped on downs and the clock ran out.

“I think they may have underestimated us a bit,” Palmer said. “Our whole thing was to come out fast — hit them hard and play aggressively. They weren’t ready for what we were coming with at the start of the game.”

MacPherson was limited to 39 yards in 9 carries but caught 6 passes for 66 yards. Vradenburg, with 5 receptions for 89 yards, was another go-to-guy for Maloney, who had 18 completions in 28 attempts for 225 yards.

In the forefront for the winners were Palmer, 15-for-22 passing for 199 yards and 77 yards rushing in 16 attempts, and Ransom 72 yards in 18 carries.

“We couldn’t have made that game happen without our quarterback,” Ransom said. “Brady Palmer had a phenomenal game.”

Coach McMillen was philosophical. “It’s a different game if Fitzgerald is in there,” he said. “But we’ll take the win.”

Desherow expects that Fitzgerald will be back in the lineup on Friday, Sept. 20, when Loyola (1-2) will try to commemorate the start of Chicago Catholic League play by belatedly scoring its first home field victory under the lights against South Side rival Brother Rice.

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