Ramblers surge into quarterfinals with second playoff shutout

Loyola Academy took another resolute stride down Illinois high school football’s road to the final four by putting down York 42-0 on Saturday afternoon at Hoerster Field.

Next up for the Ramblers (10-1) is a trip to the South Side for a Saturday afternoon, Nov. 14 Class 8A quarterfinal contest against Catholic League rival St. Ignatius (9-2), which advanced thanks to a 35-21 victory at Maine South (10-2).

Although Loyola defeated St. Ignatius 38-7 during the regular season on Oct. 7 the Wolfpack hasn’t lost since then, and coach John Holecek believes the score of that game was misleading.

In his educated opinion: “Take out their five fumbles and it’s a different game. They’re a dangerous team and we’re going there. We have our work cut out for us. Our scout team has an important job to do in preparing us for their crazy offense.”

Nevertheless, the Ramblers have been an irresistible force and an immovable object in their two playoff games since losing to defending Class 8A champion Mount Carmel 38-21 in the last game of the regular season. The lopsided conquest of York was prefaced by a 41-0 rout of Minooka.

Indicative of Loyola’s superiority all but one of the touchdowns in the two mismatches was scored in the first half, and in each game the first stringers played the role of spectators in the second half.

Against York, a 15-yard touchdown pass from Matthew Lee to Joe Haughey followed by Ryan Edwards’ sixth extra point kick concluded the scoring and activated the running clock with 51 seconds elapsed in the second half.

The Ramblers took the game-opening kickoff to the York 39 and scored five plays later on Melo Maldonado’s 13-yard run through the right side of the line with 1:49 elapsed.

Late in the first quarter, linebacker Gus Vollmer recovered a fumble by the punt-returner at the Dukes’ 16-yard line. Maldonado took the football to the 1 on the next play and then carried it to the end zone with 31 seconds left in the quarter.

In the second quarter, Lee connected with Charlie Fowler on two scoring passes, of 41 and 23 yards respectively, that were sandwiched between a 4-yard touchdown run by Jayden Garrett.

“We were spreading the ball around and everyone did their job,” said Lee, citing the effectiveness of receivers Fowler, Haughey, Aidan Collins and Jordan McKinley “who helped us big time in the first quarter.”

Garrett’s TD was set up by the defense when linebacker Will Mette stripped the football from a running back on a third-and-12 situation at the York 29 and Winston Ericson took it down to the 4-yard line.

“It’s one of the moments I’ll never forget,” said Ericson, a senior defensive lineman, of his impact play on the fumble recovery.

Fowler, meanwhile, made major contributions in his third game back following a left elbow injury suffered in Week 3 against St. Rita. Before getting hurt he had seven catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns in his three games.

Fowler said that in the week of practice preceding the York game, he and Lee prepared by rehearsing the routes he ran in Saturday’s two touchdown receptions.

“Great game for Fowler,” Holecek pointed out. “Having him back is big.”

The Ramblers’ coach also praised the defense, calling it “a total team effort.”

“Our defensive line had some sacks,” he pointed out, “and Wes Gundlach and Robert Simmons (in the secondary) had every good games.”

The same can be said for linebackers Mette, Vollmer and Mark Atwood.

“We were locked in all week at practice,” Atwood said. “Immaculate Conception and Mount Carmel were wakeup calls for us. “We had the bye week and then in these last two games we showed how good we can be.”

“It was a fun game for us,” Vollmer said. “Saint Ignatius definitely will be a challenge but the experience of having played against their tricky (triple option offense) should help us. Our scout team will have us prepared.”

Going into the weekend, the Chicago Tribune ranked Loyola third in the metropolitan area (behind Lincoln Way East and Mount Carmel). The Ramblers’ resume includes triumphs over five teams that were in the top 20: No. 4 Brother Rice, No. 5 Immaculate Conception, No. 10 St. Ignatius, No. 20 St. Rita and No. 23 York.

Ryan Edwards’ kicking has been an unsung factor in the Ramblers’ success story. Augmenting his reliability on extra-point kicks and field goals have been his kickoffs in which he repeatedly sends the ball into the end zone for touchbacks that deprive opponents of runbacks and forces them to start from their 20-yard line.

The junior didn’t start playing football until he was a freshman and didn’t take up kicking until he was a sophomore.

“Until this year I played soccer my whole life,” Edwards said. “I was a striker.

“Freshman year I tried out for football and made the team as a wide receiver and that was my position my first two years. Last year I decided to also give it a try as a kicker. This year I gave up soccer to concentrate on kicking.”

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