‘He’s our Superman’: MacPherson takes center stage in Loyola’s runaway win against Iggy

St. Ignatius hit Loyola Academy with its best shot at the start of their football game at Fornelli Field on Friday, Oct. 4 — driving 86 yards to go out front — but after Charlie Prior blocked the extra-point attempt, the Ramblers immediately counterpunched and gained the lead on Donovan Robinson’s 82-yard kickoff return and Zack Zeman’s point-after conversion.

Thereafter the defense was unyielding, and Drew MacPherson hammered the home team with touchdown runs of 16 yards in the second quarter, 58 yards in the third quarter and 45 yards in the fourth quarter as the Ramblers KO’d the Wolfpack 27-6.

Two-year starter Robinson was especially happy about getting the first touchdown of his senior season right off the bat because he was returning after sustaining a leg injury on Sept. 20 when the Ramblers downed Brother Rice.

“I had some great blocks and then I was able to break a few tackles,” he said of his trip in traffic down the right sideline. “It felt so good.”

In MacPherson’s opinion, “Donovan’s kickoff return set the tone for the game” that was highlighted by his own resounding running performance.

MacPherson, who carried the football 23 times for 214 yards and caught 2 passes for 23 yards, played down his own derring-do: “It showed what a great job of blocking our offensive line did and then our defense held them to only six points. It was an incredible team effort.”

Coach Beau Desherow was pleased with the injury-plagued Ramblers’ overall performance in winning their third straight game and improving their record to 4-2, while the Wolfpack fell to 3-3.

“Before the game I challenged our offensive line to keep our quarterback (Ryan Fitzgerald) safe,” he said. “Great game offensive line!

“(St. Ignatius is) a triple option team and it’s tough to prepare for them. After that first drive I think we adjusted to it pretty well.”

Center Joey Herbert and Tyler Isaacson were in the forefront among the offensive linemen. John Dooley also earned praise for his offensive line play as did Tommy Fraumann, a junior who in Desherow’s opinion “came in and played really well after John hurt his shoulder.”

Another player getting a pat on the back from his coach was senior Theo Koulianos. “Theo is an offensive lineman who’d never played defense before but because we had so many guys hurt we moved him to nose guard and he came in and did a very good job,” Desherow pointed out.

Fitzgerald normally is a major contributor to the running attack but in the game plan for St. Ignatius his input was limited to passing in order to protect the leg injury he aggravated in the first half of the previous weekend’s victory at DePaul College Prep.

When he did pass, he was effective, completing 6 of 7 attempts for 59 yards and most notably connecting on short tosses to Will Carlson, Gavin Vradenburg and MacPherson for first downs that enabled the Ramblers to maintain their momentum at various times in the game.

“We had to take advantage of every single possession,” Fitzgerald said. “We did that and it worked out. We knew what holes they were going to give us. And when the ball is in Drew’s hands a lot of special stuff happens.”

In the second quarter Fitzgerald was intercepted for only the second time in his career, stopping a Loyola drive to the Wolfpack’s 5-yard line.

“You always learn from your mistakes and I remember those interceptions vividly in my mind,” he said. “Last year I overthrew my receiver. This time I carried it too long and their safety (Liam Doyle) was able to recover —good play by him.”

St. Ignatius could not capitalize. With the line of scrimmage the Wolfpack’s 21, on their first play following the interception quarterback Jack Wanzung was sacked by junior Nick Richter for a loss of 8 yards and they were forced to punt from the 18 on fourth down.

The punt was downed on the St. Ignatius 39. Six plays later MacPherson scored his first touchdown on the 16-yard run after collaborating with Fitzgerald on the big play in the drive, an 18-yard pass completion.

Starting from their own 20-yard line, the Wolfpack then penetrated to the Ramblers’ 34, but on third down Ramblers junior defensive lineman Chris Evangelides threw Wanzung for an 8-yard loss as he was attempting to pass and that was the last play of the first half.

On the fourth play of the second half with 1 minute 53 seconds elapsed, MacPherson took his 58-yard TD trip. Loyola’s extra-point attempt struck the top of the left goal post, for its first missed conversion this season.

Trailing 20-6, St. Ignatius took over on its 20 and drove to the Loyola 1 where Wanzung was stopped on fourth down with six seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Ramblers then advanced to the St. Ignatius 48 before being forced to punt, after which the Wolfpack surrendered the ball on downs at their own 45.

On the first play from scrimmage MacPherson took a direct snap and burst through the line for the 45-yard run that produced the last touchdown with 5:39 left on the clock.

“We’re going to get him a cape because he’s our Superman,” raved Desherow.

Four straight incompletions by Wanzung gave the Ramblers the ball back at the St. Ignatius 35. Sophomore Dom Maloney replaced Fitzgerald at quarterback and Luke Foster replaced fellow senior MacPherson at running back.

They led the Ramblers to the home team’s 5-yard line where in a fourth-and-goal situation Maloney let the clock run out to end the game.

“I love how we’re looking right now,” said senior linebacker Charlie Daly, one of the Ramblers’ defensive stalwarts who accounted for nine unassisted tackles in the previous week’s victory. “Defending against the triple option is a team game and that’s the kind of game we played tonight.”

The upwardly mobile Ramblers will return to the friendly confines of Hoerster Field for their homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m. against Providence Catholic.

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