Backup QB Maloney tosses 3 TD’s as Loyola downs Carmel

Although it wasn’t an ideal prep for Loyola Academy’s upcoming Chicago Catholic League Blue Division showdown at Mount Carmel there doesn’t seem to be any reason to push the panic button.

Coach Beau Desherow saw a lot of things he didn’t like — namely inopportune penalties — when his Ramblers were 34-16 winners at Carmel on Friday, Oct. 18.

“Too many stupid penalties — just plain dumb,” Desherow told his team. “That’s not who we are.”

In extending their winning streak to five games, the winners of the last two IHSA Class 8A state championships offset those costly penalties by getting big plays from Dom Maloney, Drew MacPherson, Will Carlson and Robert Clingan.

Meanwhile, their opponents from Mundelein never could make a concerted effort to pull off an upset.

Moreover, Loyola won by 18 points without star senior quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald, who was selected the Blue Division’s most outstanding offensive player last season.

“I gave him a week off to completely heal (from a nagging hamstring injury) so he’s ready for the playoffs,” Desherow explained.

“Our sophomore quarterback (Maloney) started off a little rocky but as he got more involved in the game he started to put some very good drives together and make some very good reads.”

Making the second varsity start of his career Maloney pitched touchdown passes on plays covering 23 and 14 yards to Carlson in the first and second quarters and 65 yards to MacPherson in the third quarter.  Earlier in the third quarter MacPherson ran 6 yards for the Ramblers’ other touchdown.

The TD on the ground was set up when Clingan ran a kickoff from the Loyola 1-yard line to the Corsairs’ 22 after a field goal by Luca Martinez reduced the home team’s deficit to 17-10 with 9:18 to play in the third quarter.

Zak Zeman kicked all four of the extra points plus a pair of field goals — connecting from 22 yards in the first quarter and 30 yards in the final minute of the third quarter to increase Loyola’s lead to 34-10.

Maloney’s trifecta gave him nine passing touchdowns this season, a statistic that seemingly bodes well for his next two seasons of high school football.

“It’s good experience for sure,” he said. “Now, I’ve adjusted to the faster pace of the game (at the varsity level).

“Tonight my receivers did a great job of getting open and our offensive line did a fantastic job of giving me time to throw.”

Senior Tyler Isaacson has been one of the stalwarts on the offensive line during the winning streak in which the Ramblers have improved their record to 6-2 after an out-of-character 1-2 start.

“We’ve come together as a unit,” he said.  “Because of injuries, we have two young guys who are both juniors in there right now — left tackle Tom Frauman and right guard Colin Vardijan — and they’ve been working hard and playing well. We want to keep our quarterbacks protected and get our running backs clean holes. Those guys, the quarterbacks and running backs, are making us look good.”

Carmel (3-5) stayed within striking distance until early in the third quarter. The Corsairs cut the Ramblers’ lead to 10-7 on Jordan McKie’s 1-yard run that climaxed a 75-yard drive in the second quarter and after falling behind by 10 points for the second time later in the quarter, they began the second half by moving to within seven points on the field goal by Martinez.

But then Clingan made his long kickoff return to give the Ramblers excellent field position and preface MacPherson’s run for his sixth rushing touchdown of the season. Less than two minutes later MacPherson took Maloney’s long pass to the end zone for his fifth touchdown catch this season, making the outcome a foregone conclusion.

Carmel concluded the scoring with 7:06 left in what had turned into a one-sided game when sophomore quarterback Trae Taylor tossed a 3-yard pass to Jack Greiber to put the finishing touches on an 80-yard drive.

In the final minute, the Corsairs made another long drive, penetrating to the Loyola 8 before Henry Newton’s interception at the 1 ended the foray and the Ramblers then let the clock run out.

In his postgame talk Desherow reminded the Ramblers that the Catholic League Blue Division title will be on the line when they play their last regular season game at Mount Carmel on Friday night, Oct. 25.

Loyola is going into the showdown with a 3-0 conference record, while Mount Carmel’s resume reads 2-1, deadlocking the Caravan for second with Brother Rice, also 2-1. After losing to Loyola 28-21 on Sept. 23, Brother Rice beat Mount Carmel 16-13 on a last second field goal on Oct. 4.

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