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the wilmette beacon | November 7, 2019 | 37
Football
Posted to WilmetteBeaconDaily.com 5 days ago
Loyola outduels Maine South in first-round heavyweight battle
Neil Milbert
Freelance Reporter
The rivalry between
Loyola Academy and
Maine South has become
a high school football version
of the classic boxing
matches pitting Muhammad
Ali against Joe Frazier.
The heavyweights went
at it again under the lights
at Maine South on Saturday,
Nov. 2, in the opening
round of the Class 8A
playoffs.
After being pinned
against the ropes, the defending
state champion
Ramblers counterattacked
in the closing 10 minutes
to knock out the team that
ended their 30-game winning
streak in the 2016
state title game.
When the game was on
the line, Loyola hit Maine
South with its best shot —
long passes thrown by JT
Thomas to Matt Mangan
— and the Hawks fell 14-6.
“That’s one (playoff opponent
down),” coach John
Holecek told his Ramblers
afterward. “Let’s not be
satisfied. We have a huge
challenge coming up.”
Next up is Glenbard West
(10-0) on Saturday, Nov. 9,
at Loyola. Glenbard West
is averaging more than 46
points-per-game and holding
opponents to under 10
points, and in the season
opener the Hilltoppers got
the best of Maine South
45-28.
The Hawks also lost their
next regular season game
to Mount Carmel but then
won seven in a row to go
into the playoffs with momentum,
whereas the Ramblers
(7-3) were coming off
a 14-6 loss to Marist.
It seemed that the Ramblers
were vulnerable and
it took some big defensive
playoffs by free safety
Marty Auer to keep Maine
South off the scoreboard in
the first half.
With the Hawks on the
Loyola 4-yard line early in
the second quarter Auer intercepted
a pass and ran it
back 100 yards to the end
zone but an illegal use of
hands penalty wiped out
the touchdown and instead
the Ramblers took possession
on their own 3-yard
line.
They managed to get out
of that precarious situation
and advance to the Hawks’
44 before losing the ball on
downs.
Maine South then went
back on the attack and advanced
to the 18 but Auer
broke up a third down pass
and on fourth down he
blocked John Sassan’s 35-
yard field goal attempt with
49 seconds left in the half.
In the third quarter, the
Ramblers continued to live
dangerously. They found
themselves deep in their
own territory three times
— at the 11-yard line, at
the 1 and at the 5 — and
each time they managed to
escape.
Then, with 15 seconds
elapsed in the fourth quarter,
they suffered a staggering
blow. The Hawks’
Liam Barry stripped the
football from a Loyola ballcarrier
and took the fumble
25 yards to the end zone.
The Hawks tried for a
two-point conversion — a
pass from Luke Leongas to
Jack Leyden — and when
an official raised his arms
it seemed as though they’d
succeeded. However, the
other officials saw it differently,
asserting that the diving
Leyden had fielded the
football after it had hit the
ground, and after they conferred
for nearly a minute,
LOYOLA VERSUS MAINE SOUTH
1 2 3 4 F
LOYOLA 0 0 0 14 14
MS 0 0 0 6 6
Top Performers
1. JT Thomas, QB – 2 passing TD, 189 passing yards.
2. Matt Mangan, WR – 9 receptions, 116 yards, TD.
3. Marty Auer, DB – INT, blocked FG.
the two-point conversion
was invalidated.
Given a reprieve, the
Ramblers took advantage
of the situation and went 80
yards in five plays for the
touchdown that decided the
game.
Earlier in the game
Thomas had connected
with Mangan repeatedly on
relatively short passes.
On this drive, they went
long. A 35-yard pass to
Mangan put the ball on the
Hawks’ 35 and two plays
later the wide receiver outdueled
a defender to catch
Thomas’ pass in the left
corner of the end zone, tying
the score.
Then, Nate Van Zelst
kicked the extra point, putting
the Ramblers on top
7-6.
As is his custom, Mangan
downplayed his role.
“The credit goes to our
offensive coordinator,
coach (Tyler) Vradenburg,”
he insisted. “Coach Vradenburg
does an incredible job.
He knew their defense and
he called the play. He trusted
JT and me and JT threw
the perfect ball to make it
happen.
“Before that, our team
was a little down but when
we scored it picked us up.”
On their next possession
the Ramblers drove to the
Maine South 12 before being
stopped on downs with
just over three-and-a-half
minutes to play.
Two pass completions
put the ball on Loyola 44
but on a first down rushing
attempt by Ryan Kilburg
linebacker Kyle Zupec
jarred the ball loose and
Auer took the recovered
fumble to the Hawks’ 36.
Two plays later — in a
third-and-six situation —
Thomas threw the ball to
James Kyle in the clear
and the big sophomore parlayed
the catch into a 32-
yard insurance touchdown
NORTH SHORE
Loyola’s Luke Desherow tackles a Maine South running
back during the teams’ first-round playoff matchup
Saturday, Nov. 2, in Park Ridge. Margo Grogan/22nd
Century Media
with 63 seconds remaining.
Van Zelst kicked the extra
point to seal the triumph.
“Our defense played really
well,” Holecek said.
“Marty Auer showed what
a playmaker he is. He was
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a cornerback but Kyle Zupec
has done a great job at
right corner and we also
have Artist Benjamin back
there.”
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