Loyola Gets a Second Chance

It will be a Del Rey League rematch in next week’s Southern Section Division I championship game, thanks to Los Angeles Loyola’s 17-7 victory over Fontana before an estimated 6,000 at Birmingham High in Van Nuys on Saturday night.

Loyola (12-1), the 1990 Division I champion, will get a chance to avenge its only loss of the season by meeting league rival La Puente Bishop Amat at Anaheim Stadium on Friday night.

Bishop Amat beat the Cubs, 28-14, during the regular season.

“This will be the fight for the Del Rey League,” Loyola quarterback Clelio Boccato said. “This will be our second championship game.”

Boccato, a 6-foot-1 senior, was the key for Loyola. He completed 12 of 18 passes for 186 yards and one touchdown.

“I thought that we’d be able to run on them, but we didn’t,” Loyola Coach Steve Grady said. “We made big plays with the pass. Boccato was able to put the ball on the money.”

The first big play for Loyola came after the Cubs recovered a Fontana fumble on their 31-yard line. Boccato then pumped-faked and connected with Michael Ratkovic for a 69-yard touchdown pass play to give the Cubs a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

That play gave Loyola momentum. The Cubs stopped the Steelers on their next possession.

Behind the running of Jerome Porter and the short passing game of Boccato, Loyola drove down the field with Fernando Chavez, a 230-pound backup fullback, scoring a one-yard touchdown.

Trailing 14-0, Fontana got a break when Jeff McCarthy returned an interception to Loyola’s six-yard line midway in the third quarter. Two plays later, David Griffin reversed field and scored on a six-yard run for the Steelers.

Then, Loyola’s ball-control offense took over. The Cubs kept the ball the rest of the third quarter and drove to Fontana’s two to set up a 20-yard field goal by sophomore Mark McDonald, who had missed three attempts.

“There was some controversy whether we should go for the three points,” Grady said. “But (McDonald) came in and made the big play for us tonight.”