Defense Allows Loyola to Avoid Upset

An eerie feeling momentarily rushed through Pierce College on Friday night when Loyola found itself close to being upset by a City Section team for the second consecutive year.

Last year it was Crenshaw. This year it was Harbor City Narbonne, which trailed by three points with plenty of time left in the fourth quarter.

This time around, Loyola turned to what it does best. Using dominating defense throughout the game and a clutch drive toward the end, the Cubs shook off the pesky Gauchos for a 17-7 victory.

The possibility of another major upset of Loyola by a City Section team was raised when Donnell Wheaton returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown after Nathan Oakes kicked a 42-yard field goal to give the Cubs a short-lived 10-0 lead.

“They showed on that kickoff return that they have speed to spare,” Loyola Coach Steve Grady said. “You saw what happens when they get into the open.”

Loyola put together a masterful 16-play drive that covered only 56 yards. All of things they couldn’t do throughout the game, the Cubs erased with the methodical march that ate up over seven minutes.

Senior quarterback Matt Ware got a first down on third and a half-yard at the Narbonne 47. Bo Renaud, who didn’t run the ball at all until the drive, got four yards and another first down on third and four at the 38.

The Cubs stayed with the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust approach. On fourth and one at the Narbonne 25, Renaud went off right tackle and got four yards.

It seemed to be the final blow for Narbonne.

With the Gauchos poised to stop the run on third and three at the four-yard line, Grady called a play-action pass and Ware hit tight end Joe Killefer for the touchdown with 3:28 left.

“We run a lot of plays, don’t we,” Grady said with a relieved smile. “That was a great drive.”

So dominant was the Cub defense that it forced Narbonne to punt on its first seven possessions. The Gauchos’ last two possessions ended with incomplete passes by quarterback Monty Long, something that occurred throughout the game.

Narbonne managed only 41 yards of total offense.

“We weren’t able to throw the ball,” Narbonne Coach J.R. Ortiz said. “They were able to stunt a lot and we weren’t able to run. To do one, you’ve got to be able to do the other.

“There’s no question we know now where we stand. To play Loyola 7-0 into the fourth quarter--I hope it bodes well for us down the line.”

Loyola wasn’t much better offensively. When it couldn’t move the ball, it punted. When it did move the ball, it stalled either due to turnovers or its inability to get a key first down.

All the Cubs would need for a while was Rafael Rice’s three-yard touchdown run four plays into the second quarter. Rice set it up with a 25-yard run the play before, while Ware sparked the eight-play 68-yard drive with a 22-yard keeper.

Rice finished with 89 yards rushing and the UCLA-bound Ware added 79 yards in 17 carries.

The defense took it from there.

“I thought our defense was exceptional,” Grady said. “We saw [Narbonne] on film against Crespi and saw what speed they had. I think we put them in a lot of long third-down situations, which really helped.”