Loyola strikes early against Lyons Township, advances to Class 8A semifinals

WILMETTE — Loyola knew the road to the Class 8A semifinals would come through a quick offensive start against Lyons Township.

The Lions’ running game was a major threat heading into their quarterfinal game on Saturday and the Ramblers wanted to take away that threat by jumping out to an early lead.

Loyola scored on its first three drives and quarterback Jake Stearney threw four touchdown passes to lead the Ramblers past the Lions 30-17 to Loyola’s 11th semifinal appearance in the last 13 playoffs.

“That’s the main goal,” Stearney said of running out to an early lead. “Step on them early and continuously through the game.”

The defense for the Ramblers (11-1) forced a three-and-out on its first possession and Loyola’s offense got to work right away. After Loyola’s offensive line set the tone by creating gaps for its rushers, Stearney moved the ball around in the air, giving his team a 7-0 lead when he found Declan Forde for a 12-yard touchdown pass with 6:31 left in the first quarter.

After another Lions three-and-out, the Ramblers marched from the Lyons Township 47 and Stearney found Forde again, this time for a 27-yard pass to make it 14-0 Loyola with 3:37 left in the opening quarter. The Lions managed a field goal on its next possession, but the Ramblers offense kept running, driving from its own 21 and scoring when Stearney found Quinn Boyle for a 30-yard touchdown on fourth down to make it 21-3 with 6:22 left in the second quarter.

“The passing is there,” Stearney said. “It’s cool that we have a dynamic team that can run and pass.”

Stearney threw his fourth touchdown of the day when he found Spencer Leadbetter for a 10-yard touchdown with 2:33 left in the third quarter. The quarterback completed 15 of his 22 pass attempts for 171 yards, adding 38 rushing yards. Luke Foster led the Ramblers with 57 rushing yards while Forde finished with 79 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Loyola coach John Holecek knew Stearney could handle the responsibility of running out to a big lead as Stearney looked comfortable in the pocket all day.

“He’s always comfortable,” Holecek said. “He’s a special quarterback, we’re going to miss him when he leaves. All our confidence is in him.”

Lyons Township (9-3) scored on its first drive after it took over on the Loyola 24 because of a failed fake-punt attempt. Ryan Jackson found Noah Pffafflin for a 21-yard touchdown to make it 21-10 with 9:22 left in the third quarter.

The Lions’ defense couldn’t stop the Ramblers from scoring a taking up much of the third quarter on its next possession. Lyons Township scored again when Jackson found Graham Smith for.a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it a 30-17 Loyola lead with 3:43 left in the game.

Jackson completed 18 of his 35 passes for 186 yards while Graham had 69 receiving yards. Danny Pasko rushed for 81 yards.

“I felt like they outexecuted us and put pressure on us early with sustained drives,” Lyons coach Jon Beutjer said. “I’m proud of our seniors and captains for leading us. This is a team that never quit.”

Loyola will travel to York (12-0) next Saturday for a chance to go to the state title game in Champaign. The Ramblers know how complete of a team York is and are ready for the challenge to get back to state.

“It’s a huge matchup,” Stearney said. “They’ve been like us all year: dominating. I feel like we’ve been there, we have a chip on our shoulder. We have motivation behind us.”