Second straight loss puts Loyola’s season on the ropes

After winning the IHSA Class 8A championship each of the last three years, Loyola Academy is going into the final game of the regular season in danger of not making the playoffs

For the second game in a row, the Ramblers suffered a major setback Friday night when they were routed 42-14 by Carmel Catholic at Hoerster Field.

This was the sophomore-reliant Ramblers’ worst defeat since their 34-7 loss to East St. Louis in the first game of the 2024 season, and it’s the first time they’ve had at least three regular-season defeats since 2019.

The result leaves Loyola with a 4-3 record going into their Friday night (Oct. 24) home field matchup with undefeated Mount Carmel (8-0), winner of the last three Class 7A championships.

Another defeat would leave Loyola, which has advanced to the playoff tournament every season since 2002, on the postseason bubble.

“We have to beat Mount Carmel to be the co-champions of the Catholic League Blue Division,” coach Beau Desherow told The Record. “If we lose and are 4-4, you never know how the points (for playoff eligibility) shake out. If we get our fifth win we’re assured on being in. We want to control our destiny.”

Before the Carmel game Loyola’s volunteer assistant coach Pat Fitzgerald gave a succinct scouting report. “Their quarterback is outstanding,” the former Northwestern coach said. “Maybe the best I’ve seen.”

Carmel’s senior quarterback Trae Taylor was at his best against the Ramblers. He completed 25 of 31 passes for 349 yards and carried 12 times for 37 yards. In leading the Corsairs to their sixth victory in eight games the Nebraska recruit ran 1 yard for their first touchdown and threw TD passes for their second, third, fourth and sixth TDs on plays covering 24, 5, 13 and 13 yards, respectively.

Neither team made a serious threat until late in the first quarter when the Ramblers’ three sophomore standouts — quarterback Matthew Lee, wide receiver Jordan McKinley and halfback Melo Maldonado —led them on an 81-yard scoring drive.

The touchdown came on Lee’s 10-yard pass to McKinley in the right corner of the end zone with 75 seconds to play in the quarter, and it was followed by senior Zack Zeman’s extra-point kick.

Lee and McKinley also collaborated on the bizarre big play in the drive: a fumbled handoff that wound up back in Lee’s hands and the surprised quarterback then hurled a 30-yard pass to McKinley that put the football on the Carmel 14.

After the game’s first touchdown Carmel embarked on an 80-yard touchdown drive spearheaded by Taylor. Jack Doyle’s extra-point kick enabled the Corsairs to tie the score with 81 seconds elapsed in the second quarter.

Their go-ahead touchdown came on another 80-yard drive led by Taylor. Sophomore wide receiver Greg Bess-Henning was the recipient of the touchdown pass.

In the third quarter Carmel broke open the game by scoring four touchdowns — on another catch by Bess-Henning, sophomore Kyron Hart’s reception, sophomore Jaquel Edmonds’ 15-yard run and senior tight end Joseph Akalauonu’s reception.

Sandwiched between two of those scores was Maldonado’s 18-yard TD run and Zeman’s second extra-point conversion for the Ramblers.

Maldonado finished with 77 yards in 13 rushing attempts and caught 2 passes for 14 additional yards.

“The game plan was for me to run the football a lot,” the sophomore said. “Regardless of how well I played we still lost the game. There’s a lot of things we need to improve on.”

In an attempt to reverse the momentum, Desherow replaced Lee at quarterback with junior Dom Maloney after the third Carmel touchdown. Maloney began the season as the starter but was injured in the second half of the opener and since then has been backing up Lee.

He played relatively well against Carmel. His passing and running were the catalysts in the 80-yard drive that enabled the Ramblers to reduce their deficit to 28-14 and he finished with 58 yards passing on 6 completions in 13 attempts and he had 20 rushing yards to show for his 5 carries.

“We were down and I tried to do everything I could to light a spark” Maloney said.

“Our coaches do an awesome job of preparing us and they kept me ready. I felt comfortable when I came in.”

“There were some bright spots for us,” Desherow said, citing the running of Maldonado, Maloney’s performance in relief and “a few nice plays by our receivers.”

McKinley was the most effective of the receivers. Senior Robert Clingan and junior Brendan Fitzgerald also made some good catches.

On defense junior linebacker Will Mettee continued to make noteworthy contributions. “I tried to do my job and make as many tackles as I could,” he said.

But Mettee and his teammates simply couldn’t cope with the opposing quarterback.

“He’s the total package,” Desherow said of Taylor. “He’s athletic, he can throw and he can run. He’s a super-talented kid and a very bright kid.”

Taylor downplayed his impact.

“It’s not a one-man sport,” he said. “Loyola is a very good team (but) we outplayed them on both sides of the ball. Coming out for the second half we were only up 14-7. We went out and executed and pulled away.

“This year we have made a huge turnaround (after failing to make the playoffs in 2024).”

Now, the Ramblers must make a huge turnaround in their regular season finale to negate the possibility of missing the playoffs.

“We have 24 hours to refocus and prepare (for Mount Carmel),” said senior offensive lineman Colin Vardijan. “We have to do everything in our power to win. It’s our legacy that’s at stake.”

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