Loyola Suffers From Hart-Burn in 24-10 Setback

Hart High wide receiver Cody Joyce was jumping up and down and yelling so loudly his voice was splitting.

“Yea, baby. Go Hart. Yea!”

Go Hart, indeed.

Thanks to some big plays by Joyce, Hart upset Loyola, 24-10, Saturday night at Glendale High.

Loyola was No. 3 in the state, having beaten four opponents by an average score of 39-8.

The Indians (3-2), defending Southern Section Division II champions, felt they had something to prove after splitting their first four games.

“I wanted to beat these guys bad,” said Joyce, who had seven receptions for 136 yards. “This takes away our two losses as far as I’m concerned.

“That was a new, young team working through the kinks. And this proves it.”

The Indians put together two impressive drives, committed only one penalty for one yard and twice stopped the Cubs on fourth down in a 14-3 first half.

If Loyola didn’t know trouble had arrived by then, there was no question after the third quarter, when the Cubs committed three of four turnovers--two fumbles and an interception.

The Indians stuffed John Hilvert on a fake punt early in the game and needed only four plays to make it 7-0. Travis Carroll hit Joyce on a slant pass that went 40 yards for a touchdown.

Loyola moved to the Hart 11 in the second quarter but settled for Mike MacGillivray’s 28-yard field goal.

When Hart got the ball back, Joyce was brilliant.

The 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior leaped for a 17-yard reception, then caught a Carroll bomb on the next play to give Hart first and goal at the five.

Carroll ran it in from there.

Loyola managed 162 yards of offense in the half, but the Indians got tough inside the 20. With Todd Hourigan, Nate McAfee and Toby Coe making stops on successive plays, Hart turned back Loyola on fourth down at the four with 2:27 left in the half.

In the third quarter, a fumble by Stephen Faulk led to an 11-yard, Carroll-to-Scott Collins touchdown pass and a 21-3 lead.

After a fumble by Hilvert, Greg Collalejo kicked a 22-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.