Loyola sends message, captures CCL/ESCC Blue title with 31-7 win over Mount Carmel

CHICAGO — Loyola wanted to send out a message Friday night.

After winning back-to-back Class 8A state championships, the Ramblers headed into this season with the goal of going undefeated for a second straight season. Once that goal was taken away in its Week 1 loss to East St. Louis, they wanted to prove they’re the CCL/ESCC’s best team by winning the Blue championship.

[ Photos: Loyola at Mount Carmel in Week 9 Football ]

Loyola did just that.

The Ramblers put on an offensive clinic while the defense limited Mount Carmel’s offense for most of the game to win 31-7 and capture the Blue championship.

“We wanted the outright championship,” Loyola senior quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald said. “We wanted to send a message that the CCL Blue, the CCL in general, we run it, you have to come through us if you want to consider yourself one of the greatest.”

Loyola (7-2, 3-0) sent a message right from the start when it stalled Mount Carmel on its first drive, forcing four straight incompletions from the Ramblers’ 29 yard line. From there, Fitzgerald, who sat out last week’s game with a hamstring injury, led Loyola 71 yards down the field on three plays. Fitzgerald connected with senior Will Carlson for a 30-yard touchdown to give the Ramblers a 7-0 lead with 8:41 left in the first quarter.

After the Caravan responded with a touchdown of their own, Loyola kept the momentum going and scored on its next two possessions. Fitzgerald completed a 31-yard touchdown to senior Conlon Kane with 5:46 left in the first quarter and then senior running back Drew MacPherson scored on a 14-yard run to make it 21-7 Loyola with 10:39 left in the second quarter.

The Ramblers added a field goal right before halftime and MacPherson scored on a 5-yard run with 5:49 left in the game to make it 31-7.

Fitzgerald completed 18-of-26 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns while MacPherson finished with 86 rushing yards on 19 rushes and 75 receiving yards on three catches.

MacPherson credited the strong relationship the Ramblers have with each other, leading to a strong offensive showing.

“We’re all so comfortable back there,” MacPherson said. “We have such a good relationship with each other. It shows up on the field.”

The defense also shined and limited the Caravan’s offense after its first touchdown. Senior Mount Carmel quarterback Jack Elliott found sophomore wide receiver Quentin Burell for a 67-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 7:26 left in the first quarter. But from there, the Caravan (6-3) failed to gain any momentum offensively and failed to score once it got into Loyola territory.

Loyola coach Beau Desherow said the Ramblers knew they needed to contain Elliott and get in front of Mount Carmel’s skill players if it wanted to win.

“They’re an explosive-play team,” Desherow said. “When you watch them on film, they’re scoring on explosive play after explosive play. They got one on us in the first quarter. We knew if we could limit that, make them have to freaking go the length of the field that we would be in pretty good shape.”

Elliott completed 22 of his 42 passes for 261 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Burell caught 10 passes for 151 yards while junior running back Madden Wilson rushed for 34 yards on nine carries while senior Danyil Taylor Jr. rushed for two yards on one carry.

“The key of the game is, you can move the ball, you want to throw the ball, you want to run, we’ve got to score inside the 25,” Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said. “We can’t do that, we haven’t been able to do that against Loyola.”

Both the Ramblers and Caravan will wait to see where they’ll open the playoffs next week. The IHSA is set to start releasing its brackets at 8 p.m. Saturday.

In the meantime, the Ramblers are feeling comfortable heading into the playoffs. They might not be undefeated like last season, but Loyola thinks it’s getting to the same level where it finished last season.

“This was Loyola Academy football,” Fitzgerald said. “Obviously, we’re not where we were in last year’s state championship game, but we’re building there. We’re close.”