Ramblers give homecoming crowd plenty to cheer about in blowout victory

Homecoming brought out the best in Loyola Academy football.

The winners of the last three IHSA Class 8A state championships rebounded from the 22-point loss to Brother Rice that ended their winning streak at 13 games by coasting to a 42-14 victory over 2024 Class 4A champion DePaul Prep on Friday night, Sept. 26, at Hoerster Field.

In addition to this being homecoming, it was the first home game of the season for coach Beau Desherow’s team (3-1). The second half of the regular season will consist of a home game against St. Ignatius on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 4, a road trip to Providence Catholic on Oct. 10, and home games against Carmel Catholic on Oct. 17 and Mount Carmel on Oct. 24.

The score of the DePaul Prep game wasn’t indicative of how one-sided it was. Desherow began subbing in the third quarter and had third and fourth stringers on the field in the fourth quarter.

Ironically, DePaul Prep (1-4) scored the first touchdown of the night, following Loyola’s lost fumble on the opening kickoff.

DePaul’s lead was short-lived. Senior Konnor Sayer ran the kickoff back to the Loyola 44 and seven plays later sophomore Matthew Lee hurled a 20-yard pass to junior Charlie Fowler, who made a diving catch in the end zone, and Zak Zeman’s extra-point kick tied the score.

Zeman’s kickoff to the end zone produced a touchback and the Rams were unable to advance from their 20-yard line and had to punt. Senior Robert Clingan made a fair-catch at the Ramblers’ 49 and on the second play from scrimmage Lee found Fowler open up the seam, and the tight end took the football down the field for a 43-yard touchdown, giving Loyola the lead.

Thereafter the outcome was never in doubt. The Ramblers were on cruise control.

“Charlie was one of my main targets last year on the sophomore team so we have that chemistry going for us,” Lee said of his collaboration with Fowler on the two big touchdown plays.

“As a team we did a great job of getting back on track. My goal was to be off the field (because the Ramblers were far out front) by the second half and that’s what happened.”

The TDs were the first of Fowler’s varsity career.

“I put in hard work all week in practice and it paid off,” Fowler said.

“He had his coming out party tonight,” Desherow said. “He was great all summer (at practice) and I’ve been waiting for him to have a big game.”

In the second quarter Loyola scored three unanswered touchdowns — on a 3-yard run by Melo Maldonado, a 49-yard breakaway by fellow sophomore Jayden Garrett for his first career TD, and a 2-yard run by senior Cody Reilly.

Zeman’s fifth extra point made the score 35-7 at halftime.

As was the case with Fowler, Desherow wasn’t surprised by Garrett’s derring-do: “Jayden was a little banged up at the start of the season; now he’s healthy and feeling good.”

“We told Jayden to trust us,” said senior Colin Vardifan, speaking for his fellow offensive linemen (seniors Tommy Fraumann, Liam Walsh and Henry Lemmon and sophomores Brock Thompson and CJ Nielsen). “We’ll give you the holes and you go right through them.

“We have some studs and tonight we wanted to make a statement. Our (offensive line) coaches (Mike) Kotowski and (Mike) Herbert gave us everything we needed in terms of preparation.”

In the third quarter, the rout continued when Garrett ran 17 yards for his second touchdown and, with Zeman getting the second half off, senior Tommy Mitchell kicked the extra point.

The game was long gone by the time sub quarterback Blake Yucan passed 25 yards to Matthew Osterman for the second DePaul TD with 3:16 to play.

After scoring six touchdowns in his first two games, Jordan McKinley failed to score but the big and strong sophomore wide receiver continued to make an impact by drawing the pass interference penalties that were instrumental in two of the touchdown drives.

Junior linebacker Gus Vollmer’s fumble recovery at the Rams’ 42 was the catalyst for the last of those drives.

There were many other bright spots in the compelling conquest.

According to Desherow, sophomore linebacker “Will Mettee was all over the field making things happen. (Senior linebacker) Charlie Devine came in and made a big play in the second half by getting a sack.”

Fraumann pointed out Garrett and Maldonado provided diversity to the Ramblers’ running game: “Melo is more of a side-to-side runner while Jayden is more straight ahead.”

Junior quarterback Dom Maloney, who started the Ramblers’ opener but was injured in the fourth quarter and has since then played behind Lee, was on the field for much of the second half, and gave a good account of himself before Desherow gave Mitchell some reps in the closing minutes.

“I feel like I’m making progress,” Maloney said of his recovery from the hip and leg injuries he sustained in the opener.

“Tonight everyone did their jobs. Our receivers blocked well on the perimeter, Matthew was on target with his passes and our running backs hit the holes. Jayden Garrett is starting to assert himself. I think he’s going to be a big part of our offense the rest of the season.”

Junior wide receivers Brendan Fitzgerald and Joe Haughey made receptions that contributed to the success of the passing game.

Senior running back Murph Hesburgh got some significant playing time for the first time this season in the third and fourth quarter and broke loose for a 29-yard carry.

Overshadowed by the Ramblers’ finest offensive performance of the season was their strong play on defense.

“We came out there and played a physical game,” said senior Kai Calcutt, a standout on the defensive line. “It was a good bounce back after Brother Rice.”

Desherow rewarded his Ramblers by giving them the rest of homecoming weekend off.

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