Pick-6 propels Loyola past Maine South to 8A rematch with Lincoln-Way East

WILMETTE – Maine South knows all about turnarounds.

One kept their season alive. Another led to the end of it.

The Hawks, who began the season 1-3 and rallied to make the state quarterfinals, fell 35-14 to Class 8A rival Loyola on Saturday in Wilmette.

Loyola (10-2) will host top-seeded Lincoln-Way East (12-0) next weekend in the semifinals. The two teams have met in the state title game the last two seasons, with Loyola winning both games.

“It matters that we improved each and every game,” Maine South coach Dave Inserra said. “These seniors were an absolute joy to coach. In the end, we didn’t take advantage of a few things and played three really good quarters. That mistake before the half couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

Maine South (8-4) had things pretty much in their control in the first half.

The Hawks had taken a 7-0 lead, driving into a stiff southern wind. Michael Dellumo (11 carries, 98 yards) capped a 12-play, 68-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. The Hawks got a huge break two plays earlier when Loyola had an 85-interception return for a touchdown wiped out due to a roughing the passer call.

Maine South’s defense stymied Loyola in the first half, limiting the Ramblers to just 88 yards of offense. They also got another break when the Ramblers missed a 30-yard field goal to keep the score at 7-0.

Maine South was looking for more points in the final minute of the half. That’s when the game changed.

Loyola cornerback Donovan Robinson, headed to the University of Washington next year, jumped a route and picked off a pass. He then raced untouched 59 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 with 38.9 seconds left in the first half.

“That was a tough one,” Inserra said. “We kept going and kept playing, but you have to play well against good teams. We are a great team, they are a great team. We just didn’t get there today.”

With momentum, Loyola began to to get its offense in gear. Drew McPherson (20 carries, 170 yards), who is headed to Iowa next season, busted off an 81-yard touchdown run to put Loyola up 14-7 early in the third quarter.

Maine South came back late in the quarter. Set up by a pass interference call against the Ramblers and a 44-yard run by Dellumo, Jameson Purcell (15-of-30, 140 yards) hit Joey Naughton for a 30-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 14-14.

It was all Loyola from there.

The Ramblers scored on the final play of the third quarter on a 1-yard pass from Ryan Fitzgerald to Jamie Mackie. MacPherson would add a fourth-quarter touchdown run of 17 yards, and Luke Foster would tally on a 2-yard scoring run as Loyola had 252 yards of offense in the second half.

“Our offense really got going in the second half,” Loyola coach Beau Desherow said. “They made the adjustments we needed to make and give Drew (MacPherson) a little bit of space. And when you give Drew space, he is dangerous.”

Dellumo said his team came together and became even tighter after the Hawks’ 1-3 start.

“After the first couple of games, the seniors came together,” Dellumo said. “We made a pact that we would not let the rest of the season go down the road that we were going down at that time. Every single day, all of us went together in practice and left it all out there.”

Tyler Fortis, who was named to the Class 8A coaches all-state team this past week, said the Hawks became even more cohesive.

“We were like glue and stuck together no matter what,” said the Maine South defensive lineman. “That Barrington game set us up. We took it personally, and from there on we kept going.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241116/prep-football/loyola-overtakes-maine-south-in-second-half-advances-to-8a-semifinals/