Dominant second half lifts Loyola past Lincoln-Way East

FRANKFORT – Loyola entered Saturday’s Class 8A semifinal against Lincoln-Way East in a very unique position for its program.

The Ramblers were widely considered an underdog in the matchup, a position so infrequently held against Loyola in the postseason that it is hard to remember the last time it happened.

But Loyola didn’t see it that way and it showed in its play, particularly in the second half, as the Ramblers dominated the final 24 minutes and came away with a 27-24 victory over the highly-touted Griffins.

Loyola (11-2) will play York in the Class 8A State Championship at 7 p.m. Saturday at at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium. York defeated Naperville Central 20-15 in its semifinal.

Lincoln-Way East closed its season with a 12-1 record, its third consecutive season that ended at the hands of Loyola.

Loyola trailed 16-13 at halftime and seemed to be fortunate to just be in the game after being unable to cash in some early scoring chances for touchdowns and settled for field goals instead.

But the Ramblers received the ball to start the second half and it didn’t take long to notice that Loyola was about to impose its will on Lincoln-Way East.

The Ramblers went on a 13-play drive that culminated in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzgerald to Gavin Vradenburg, giving Loyola its first lead of the game. It took seven minutes of game clock to complete and with it nearly all of the wind out Lincoln-Way East’s sails.

“Coming out of halftime, we had to score,” Fitzgerald said. “We had to bring the momentum back to our side and send that statement that this game was not over.”

The significance of that third quarter drive was not lost on Loyola coach Beau Desherow.

“It was huge getting the ball to start, and the fact that we were able to take that drive and eat up as much clock as we could and then top it off with a score was absolutely critical,” Desherow said.

On the ensuing drive, Lincoln-Way East gained a rushing first down, but then three quick incompletions sent the ball right back to Loyola and the Ramblers went on yet another long march.

Although the drive was thwarted by an interception of Fitzgerald by Justin Titus, Loyola had clearly established its position as the dominant team.

The Griffins were once again quickly stymied on its next possession, fumbling a handoff on a critical third down, which it recovered, but the mishap forced the Griffins to punt.

Then Loyola put together what proved to be a backbreaking drive. It was largely a run-based drive with Drew MacPherson and Fitzgerald alternating carrying the ball, with Fitzgerald being a particular annoyance to the Griffins by converting three first downs on the drive before MacPherson capped the seven minute plus drive with a 15-yard TD run that put Loyola in front 27-16 with just 2:57 play.

“Getting Ryan healthy adds a whole other dimension to our offense,” Desherow said. “It makes us hard to defend when the quarterback has the option to take it and go.”

Lincoln-Way East quickly tried to jumpstart its offensive attack that had been laid dormant by ineffectiveness and the Loyola clock chewing exercise and did so as Jonas Williams completed four quick passes, the last of which was a 27-yard score to Zion Gist. The Griffins added the 2-point conversion and trailed 27-24 with 2:01 to play.

It appeared Lincoln-Way East might have gotten another break on an onside kick recovery, but Loyola came out of the pile with the ball.

Fitzgerald than gained a few more yards and drained out Lincoln-Way East’s timeouts before putting the Ramblers in a fourth-and-3 near midfield. He promptly drew the Griffins offsides, earning Loyola a first down and allowing the Ramblers to kneel out the victory.

“I’m just really proud of the guys. They’ve shown just grit all year. After that first tough loss, I told the guys that every one of our goals are still in front of us,” Desherow said. “And you know they trusted the process, they trusted each other and they trusted the coaches and we just kept pounding away.”

It was a particularly tough pill for the Griffins to swallow as it’s now five consecutive losses to Loyola in the postseason, including the last two title games in Class 8A.

“They’ve got our number. We’re not going to sit here and pretend that they don’t,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. “They’ve had it now five times in a row. Unfortunately, other than DeKalb, they’ve beat us everywhere in the state and in our backyard now. My hat’s off to them. That’s just an elite level program with elite level players and coaching. And what else can you say?”

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