Stay Connected with YourSeason
Football: Malcolm Weaver leads Loyola past Lyons
Lyons Township's Jemari Burks breaks a tackle and rushes upfield during their playoff game against Loyola Nov. 12. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~Sun-Times Media
Updated: November 12, 2011 6:04PM
Not even a stiff wind could stop Malcolm Weaver and No. 1-ranked Loyola on Saturday afternoon.
The senior quarterback threw for more than 300 yards in the first half as the Ramblers raced past Lyons for a 33-10 win in Wilmette to advance to the Class 8A semifinals for the third season in a row.
Weaver connected with Charlie Dowdle for a 59-yard touchdown toss on the game’s fourth play to start a scoring spree that lifted Loyola (12-0) to a 33-3 lead by the half. Weaver threw three TD passes to three receivers and ran for another in the first two quarters.
Willie Palivos scored the Ramblers’ other touchdown in the first half on a 41-yard run, giving the team three scores of at least 40 yards.
“We haven’t been able to get over the hump in the last few years, but we will try to do it again next week,” the senior running back said of Loyola’s consecutive season-ending losses to Maine South in the semifinals. “We want to keep this dream season going.”
Often overlooked on an explosive offense, Palivos once again got the job done on the ground, running 12 times for 128 yards.
“It’s fine with me,” said Palivos. “The offense we run is the spread, and it’s been working. We will stick with it.”
Weaver went 25-for-37 for 356 yards. He threw three TDs and one interception. Dowdle caught 10 balls for 185 yards.
Lyons (7-5) couldn’t solve Loyola’s defense, which allowed its most points since 20-13 win over Brother Rice on Oct. 14. The Lions didn’t get into the end zone until the 2:45 mark of the fourth quarter.
Lyons was in the game early after Jake Elliott’s 29-yard field goal left the score 6-3 midway through the first quarter. But Lions got only one more first down the rest of the first half.
Loyola limited Jaime Jones to 27 yards on nine carries and didn’t let Matthew Harris get too loose on the field. The junior speedster finished with 119 receiving yards and four rushing yards.
Lyons found the end zone on Zachary Mahoney’s 8-yard pass to Evan Booth.
“Offensively, we played well,” Loyola coach John Holecek said. “The only issue I have is we had some missed tackles.”
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment