Muir No Match for Loyola, 22-7

Pasadena Muir quarterback Ryan O’Hara has lit up several scoreboards since leaving Loyola after his freshman season.

But his old friends at Loyola weren’t in a chummy mood Friday night.

The Cubs dominated Muir and grounded O’Hara along the way in 22-7 nonleague victory Friday at Muir.

O’Hara, who has committed to Arizona, completed 12 of 21 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown, but was bottled up by Loyola after a sterling opening drive.

Muir gained 79 yards in the opening drive but had only 77 yards the rest of the game.

The Loyola offense had several big plays, most coming from quarterback Adam Gonzalez and receiver Quintin Daniels.

“There were a couple of big third and sevens and third and eights where Adam made big plays to keep drives alive,” Loyola Coach Steve O’Grady said. “He’s a very intense individual.”

Daniels scored on pass plays of 35 and 13 yards, the second touchdown giving the Cubs a 15-7 lead with 10:53 left in the second quarter.

Grady, unhappy with the offense after a 35-0 victory over San Francisco St. Ignatius two weeks ago, was satisfied Friday. Sort of.

“We’re still learning,” he said, saving his praise for the Loyola defense.

O’Hara connected with Jason Martin down the sideline for a 56-yard gain on the first play and found Darryl Stephens for a 14-yard touchdown a few minutes later, but Muir was held in check after that.

“After that first play, I thought we shut down the big play,” O’Grady said. “Our defense played strong.”

O’Hara played for Loyola as a freshman, then transferred to Monrovia for two years before landing at Muir this season.

“It brought back memories to play against this team,” O’Hara said. “I really wanted to win bad, but I can’t fault our team.”

Muir was shorthanded before the game started. Starting middle linebacker Jaron Williams was suspended because of detrimental conduct in the classroom, first-year Coach Ron Mims said.

Loyola held Muir to minus-10 yards rushing in 17 carries.

“We tried to stay on the ground to keep the pressure off [O’Hara], but we missed a block here and there and [Loyola] did some impressive things,” Mims said.

Bo Renaud rushed for 132 yards in 18 carries for Loyola.

Gonzalez completed 15 of 19 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored on a nine-yard run midway through the third quarter to give the Cubs a 22-7 lead.

“I think the offense took a step forward,” said Daniels, who finished with six catches for 98 yards.

“The line is blocking better and the receivers and running backs held their positions.”

Martin, who has also committed to Arizona, finished with three catches for 66 yards.

Ian Bell, one of several sophomores on Muir, had five catches for 101 yards.

He was also the Mustangs’ leader rusher with 10 yards in 10 carries.

“He’s going to get better week to week,” Mims said. “We’re going to get better, there’s no doubt about that.”

Loyola improved to 2-0. Muir fell to 1-1.

Joe Killefer had four catches for 43 yards for Loyola.

James Fulton had two catches for 31 yards for Muir. O’Hara had four rushes for minus-31 yards.