Loyola shrugs off Mount Carmel in a dominating league-championship clincher

In a matchup pitting the perennially powerful winners of the last two IHSA Class 8A and Class 7A state championships, Loyola Academy invaded Mount Carmel and scored a compelling 31-7 conquest to capture the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division title in the final game of the regular season on Friday, Oct. 25.

The Ramblers rebounded from a 34-7 loss to East St. Louis in their season opener and a 35-21 loss to St. Francis of Wheaton in their third game to win six straight and finish with a 7-2 record, while the Caravan is going into the playoffs with a 6-3 resume.

Loyola earned the No. 12 seed in the IHSA 8A tournament and will open play by hosting 6-3 Bellville East, the 21st seed, at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, in Wilmette.

The winner will play the winner of No. 5 Marist (8-1) and Glenbrook South (5-4) in the second round.

“We checked off one of our goals,” coach Beau Desherow told his team, referring to their second straight Catholic League championship. “Now, it’s a new season. We’re 0-0. All of our goals are in front of us.”

“For our defense going from (losing) 34-7 to (winning) 31-7 is a big turnaround,” said quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald who put the Ramblers on the road to victory by hurling first-quarter touchdown passes to Will Carlson and Conlon Kane on plays covering 30 and 31 yards after getting time off the previous weekend to rest a nagging hamstring injury.

“The hamstring felt great. It didn’t bother me at all. It’s a testament to the training staff.”

Loyola kicked off to start the game. Led by the passing of quarterback Jack Elliott and the receiving of Quentin Burrell the Caravan drove to the Loyola 29-yard line. But then Elliott threw four incompletions in a row and the Ramblers took over.

They wasted no time. On their first play from scrimmage Fitzgerald connected with Drew MacPherson on a 41-yard pass, moving the football to the Mount Carmel 30. After MacPherson was held to no gain on a run, Fitzgerald passed 30 yards to Will Carlson for the touchdown. Zack Zeman then kicked the first of his four extra points.

“We preached all week about getting off to a fast start and tonight we came out early and set the tone,” Carlson said.

Less than two minutes after Loyola took the lead, Quentin Burrell got behind the Loyola secondary and took Elliott’s pass to the end zone on a 67-yard play. The point-after kick by Nico Mullen tied the score.

The Ramblers immediately retaliated. Donovan Robinson returned the kickoff to the Mount Carmel 30. The Caravan defense stiffened, and Fitzgerald was faced with a fourth-down situation at the 31. He responded by throwing a pass to Conlon Kane for the touchdown that put Loyola out front to stay.

“We came out and did a stop on their first offensive series and then our offense came out firing,” Desherow said. “They got the long touchdown pass and we made the corrections — it was a matter of keeping their receivers in front of us. They’re an explosive team; we knew if we could limit that we’d be in pretty good shape.”

The Caravan tried to counterattack following the Ramblers’ go-ahead touchdown and moved the football to the Loyola 44. Gambling on a fourth-and-3 situation, Mount Carmel got burned when Robinson threw ball-carrier Cooper Lehman for a 6-yard loss.

Again the Ramblers capitalized. Fitzgerald’s short passes to Gavin Vradenberg and Conlon Kane and MacPherson’s running advanced the ball to the home team’s 14 yard line. MacPherson took it from there, running 14 yards for a touchdown with 10:34 to play in the first half.

Late in the half the Caravan drove to the Ramblers’ 12 but again the drive stalled because Elliott was unable to connect with his receivers.

This time, when the Ramblers regained possession of the football, Fitzgerald threw passes of 31 and 20 yards to Carlson to put them back in striking position before finding themselves in a fourth down situation with 17 yards needed for a first down.

Zeman came in with three seconds to play in the half and kicked a field goal that increased the Caravan’s deficit to 24-7.

Fitzgerald’s passing statistics were indicative of his impact in the first half: 13 completions in 20 attempts for 208 yards.

In the second half Fitzgerald completed short passes and MacPherson picked up yardage on the ground to enable the Ramblers to take time off the clock. The Caravan threatened early in the third quarter but failed to score.

The Ramblers then went on a prolonged 77-yard drive for their final touchdown. It was scored by MacPherson, who took a direct snap from center and powered his way to the end zone with 5:49 left in the game.

“Great passing by Ryan; great blocking by (wide receiver) Gavin Vradenburg and the offensive line,” MacPherson said, offering a synopsis of the Ramblers’ success story in their role as slight underdogs.

He praised Fitzgerald’s commitment, not only on the field but in the film room and weight room as well: “We feed off him. When you’ve got a quarterback like him who’s pumped up all the time it gets you going.”

A drive by the Caravan in the closing minutes proved to be a microcosm of the game they played. They were on the move in Loyola territory only to have Robinson intercept a goal-line pass by Elliott and run the football out of harm’s way, enabling the Ramblers to run out the clock.

Elliott finished with 260 passing yards on 22 completions in 43 attempts but the Loyola secondary continually thwarted his attempts to reach the end zone.

“You can move the ball all you want but you have to score inside the 25,” lamented Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch.

Although the Caravan went down in defeat in their last regular season game, Desherow believes they are equipped to make a strong bid for a third straight Class 7A state championship.

“They’re going to do well in the playoffs,” the Loyola coach predicted.

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.