Ramblers fall to 4-4 but sneak into Class 8A postseason

(Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Sunday, Oct. 26, when playoff brackets were released.)

The Loyola Academy football team’s prayers were answered Saturday night when the IHSA announced the 256 teams that will have a hereafter in the state championship playoffs.

The winners of the last three Class 8A championships left Hoerster Field in a state of uncertainty Friday night following their regular-season-ending 35-24 loss to the state’s top-ranked team, undefeated Mount Carmel, that left them with a three-game losing streak and a 4-4 record.

“Maybe there’s a way in at 4 and 4,” coach Beau Desherow said when he addressed his team afterward. “We’ll see (when the IHSA announces the playoff teams). I’m sure there are a lot of teams out there that don’t want to see us in the first round.”

Coincidentally, the team that will see the Ramblers in the first round is Mount Carmel, moving up to Class 8A after winning Class 7A championships each of the last three seasons. The rematch will be played Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Carey Field on the South Side school’s campus.

The Ramblers were at a significant disadvantage in their playoff quest because they could not find a second week opponent even though Desherow and Athletic Director Genevieve Atwood tried their hardest.

Strength of schedule is the obvious factor that enabled Loyola to make the cut because performances of opposing teams factor into the equation.

Mount Carmel (9-0) is one of three teams that defeated the Ramblers during the regular season that the three members of the WCIU telecast team on selection Saturday projected as champions in their classes. The others are Brother Rice (7-1) in 7A and Providence Catholic (6-3) in 5A. Other opponents in the playoffs are Carmel Catholic (7-2), a 7A team that knocked off the Ramblers on Oct. 17, and St. Francis of Wheaton (6-3), a 5A team that lost to them on Sept. 12.

“Throughout the day when we saw what teams won and what teams didn’t win I started thinking there was a pathway for us to get in with 4-and-4,” Desherow said Saturday night. “Last year we played a 4-and-5 team in the first round. I had a pretty good feeling we were going to be the 32 seed or the 31 seed.”

Although Mount Carmel defeated Loyola by 11 points, the Ramblers have reason to believe they have the right stuff to pull off an upset, because they had the South Siders down by three points early in the second half.

Desherow had no excuses when he spoke to his players and then The Record North Shore immediately after the game.

“I’m proud of you guys,” he told the Ramblers. “You fought to the very end. Hold your heads high.“

“They’re the No. 1 team in the state for a reason,” he said in the interview with The Record. “They made more plays than we did. And there were a couple of penalties that really hurt us.”

Desherow alternated quarterbacks and both sophomore starter Matthew Lee and junior reliever Dom Maloney were effective. Maloney had 6 completions in 9 attempts for 87 yards and two touchdowns and Lee was 15-for-24 for 143 yards and the other touchdown.

The Caravan was led by senior quarterback Emmett Dowling, who completed 22 of 32 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more TDs.

Starting from its 20-yard line following the opening kickoff the Caravan got on the scoreboard seven plays later on a 13-yard pass from Dowling to sophomore wide receiver Marshaun Thornton followed by sophomore Ethan Hamer’s extra-point kick.

Midway through the second quarter the Caravan increased its lead to 14-0 when Dowling’s 3-yard run climaxed a 60-yard drive and Hamer added the extra-point.

Then sophomore Melo Maldonado returned the kickoff to the Loyola 40 and the Ramblers began their valiant comeback. With 4:29 to play in the second quarter Maloney hurled a 13-yard pass to fellow junior Joe Haughey in the left corner of the end zone and senior Zack Zeman kicked the extra-point.

The counterattack continued when Zeman kicked a 32-yard field goal with 11 seconds remaining in the quarter and the Ramblers began the third quarter by taking a 17-14 lead on a 71-yard drive led by Maloney. The touchdown came on his 15-yard pass to Haughey in the right corner of the end zone and was set up by his passes of 36 and 27 yards to, respectively, sophomore Jordan McKinley and Maldonado.

On Mount Carmel’s ensuing possession it looked as though the Ramblers would have an opportunity to sustain their momentum when senior linebacker Gavin King picked off Dowling’s pass in the end zone.

But the interception was erased by a roughing the passer penalty, putting coach Jordan Lynch’s team in a first-and-goal situation at the Loyola 8, and the Caravan capitalized by regaining the lead on junior Nathan Samuels’ 2-yard run.

Later in the third quarter King recovered junior Quentin Burrell’s fumble at the Loyola 17 and the Ramblers advanced the football to the Caravan 32 but then the drive stalled.

Mount Carmel went back on the attack and gained what turned out to be an insurmountable 28-17 lead with 8:01 left in the contest, thanks to Dowling’s 31-yard touchdown pass to Burrell and Hamer’s fourth extra-point.

With 1:59 remaining Dowling’s 2-yard TD run and Hamer’s extra-point sealed the victory.

Refusing to surrender the Ramblers scored the final touchdown with three seconds on the clock on Lee’s 5-yard pass to junior Brendan Fitzgerald and Zeman booted his third extra-point.

After the game Ramblers appeared to be resigned to missing the state tournament for the first time in 24 years.

“Our goal was to leave nothing on the field and we did that against a very good team,” Lee said. “We fought very hard and had our opportunities.”

Haughey downplayed the two highlight film touchdown catches that increased his season total to four after he was unable to practice from May until mid-August because of a fractured hip.

“I’d rather have had a win than score 100 touchdowns,” he said.

The 2025 season can best be described as a rebuilding year because the Ramblers’ attack has been spearheaded by sophomores (wide receiver McKinley, quarterback Lee and running backs Maldonado and Jayden Garrett) and juniors (quarterback Maloney and wide receivers Haughey, Fitzgerald and Charlie Fowler).

The seniors who have made the most significant contributions are wide receiver Robert Clingan; linebackers King and Konner Sayer; defensive linemen Chris Evangelides, Kai Calcutt and Nick Richter; center Liam Walsh; and fellow offensive linemen Tommy Fraumann, Colin Vardijan and Henry Lemmon.

Senior wide receiver Teddy Kurtzweil stood out in the season-opening victory at Merrillville (Indiana) but sustained a season-ending injury when he caught the pass for the game-winning touchdown with 12 seconds to play.

When the seniors left Hoerster Field they feared that their high school football careers had ended.

Instead, they were destined to return to the gridiron the following weekend, trying to pick up where they left off early in Friday’s second half and renew their quest for a fourth consecutive state championship season.

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