Loyola holds on to beat Brother Rice 28-21 in CCL/ESCC Blue opener

WILMETTE — Loyola’s players decided to have an honest conversation with one another this week.

Did the Ramblers want to be a team that started the season 1-2 and went on to win a state championship? Or did Loyola want to be the team that started the season 1-2 and fell off the rails?

Loyola gave its answer Friday night.

The Ramblers responded to a 1-2 start with its strongest performance of the season. Senior quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald came back from a hamstring injury to lead Loyola offensively while the defense held on late to beat Brother Rice 28-21.

“A lot of guys, they took it personally,” Fitzgerald said. “They had that chip on their shoulder and they came out here, they performed and executed so well. I’m so proud of everyone on this team.”

It took a full-team win for the Ramblers to win their CCL/ESCC Blue opener. Brother Rice (1-3, 0-1) had two chances to tie the game with less than five minutes left in the game, but the Ramblers defense turned the Crusaders away each time.

Loyola (2-2, 1-0) forced Brother Rice to go three-and-out after the Crusaders for the ball on their own 37-yard line with 4:56 left in the game. Brother Rice started a drive on its own 22 with 45 seconds left in the game and got to the Loyola 30 but Ramblers senior Drew MacPherson knocked down a deep pass from C.J. Gray in the end zone as the game ended.

After disappointing performances for the Ramblers’ defense to start the year, Loyola coach Beau Desherow said the defense holding on to win the game was a big boost.

“I think it was big for our defense,” Desherow said. “I think it was good to have the confidence booster. They played well even though we gave up 21.”

Fitzgerald and the Loyola offense didn’t look like it missed a beat after Fitzgerald missed some of Loyola’s win over Glenbard West in Week 2 all of its loss to St. Francis in Week 3 because of a hamstring injury. Loyola scored on its first three drives as Fitzgerald looked comfortable throwing and running the ball.

The Ramblers took a 7-0 lead when Fitzgerald found senior Drew MacPherson for a 1-yard pass with 8:12 left in the first quarter. Fitzgerald connected with senior tight end Brendan Loftus for an 11-yard touchdown with 5:29 left in the first quarter and a 5-yard pass to senior Conlan Kane with 6:52 left in the second quarter.

The duo connected again when Fitzgerald found Conlon again for a 61-yard pass with 4:52 left in the third quarter to score the go-ahead touchdown.

Fitzgerald went 16-for-23 in his return, passing for 151 yards and four touchdowns along with 60 rush yards. Kane had 100 receiving yards on four catches while MacPherson caught 62 yards and rushed for 23 in the win.

The Ramblers were glad to have their starting quarterback back on the field.

“We missed him,” Desherow said. “I was glad to have him. He’s our leader on our field and it was nice to have back on the field leading us.”

Gray threw two touchdowns to senior Jimmie Maxson III and junior Collin Goggin and rushed for a 75-yard touchdown himself. He completed 30 of his 44 pass attempts for 228 yards and an interception and rushed for 98 yards. Maxson caught for 93 yards and senior Daniel White finished with 62 receiving yards.

“A lot of guys, they took it personally. They had that chip on their shoulder and they came out here, they performed and executed so well. I’m so proud of everyone on this team.”

—  Ryan Fitzgerald, Loyola senior quarterback

For the third straight week, Brother Rice had a chance to win the game but couldn’t come through. The Crusaders lost to Marist in overtime in Week 2 and in the last two minutes to St. Rita in Week 3.

“That’s been the word for the past three weeks now: opportunity,” Quedenfeld said. “We’ve been putting ourselves in a good position, we just need to kick the door down, there’s nothing else to say. We need to kick the door down, we’ll find the way.”

Brother Rice will play St. Patrick on Saturday, Sept. 28, while Loyola will travel to DePaul Prep on Friday, Sept. 27.

Despite the win, Loyola knows there’s plenty of work left to do. They made their case Friday night and they’ll have to do it the rest of the season to win a third straight state championship.

“Right now, the situation that we’re in, we can’t overlook an opponent, not like we ever do, but we need to take everyone seriously,” Fitzgerald said. “Every game is going to be a state championship game.”