Lucas Ruske couldn't imagine a better ending to the high school football season than being surrounded by 90 of his closest friends at chilly Soldier Field in Chicago.
The Loyola Academy quarterback and his teammates turned in a dominating performance Friday afternoon at the 75th annual Prep Bowl and blanked Lane Tech 17-0 to claim the City championship.
The last team from the Chicago Catholic League still standing on the final weekend of postseason play, Loyola won its ninth Prep Bowl in as many tries and finished 11-3 on the year. That's the most single-season wins the Ramblers have earned since the 1993 team won the state championship with a 12-2 record.
It also marked the first Prep Bowl title for the Ramblers since 2003. They also won the city crown in 1996, 1995, 1988, 1986, 1969, 1966 and 1965.
Ruske was selected the game's Most Valuable Player after throwing for one touchdown and running for another. Game officials could have added a team award to the Loyola defense, which pitched its sixth shutout of the season while limiting the Indians to 70 yards rushing, 39 passing and only six first downs.
Ruske passed seven yards to Joe Gross for a touchdown in the first quarter, and ran four yards for a TD in the fourth quarter when the Ramblers finally broke the game open.
Overall, the senior standout carried 18 times for 54 yards and completed 8-of-13 passes for 84 yards. He also scored on a two-point conversion run. Gross finished the season -- his only year as a starter -- with more than 1,000 yards rushing and more than 1,400 yards passing.
"It was heartbreaking when we lost to (eventual Class 8A state champion) Maine South in the state playoffs, but we all had an opportunity after that that no one else gets," Ruske said. "There's no place I'd rather be right now than right here with all 90 of my closest friends, my teammates. They all worked so hard to get here. This is something I've always dreamed about, going out as a champion. I wouldn't have had it any other way."
The only real threat by Lane Tech (11-3) came up about one link of the chain short of a possible game-tying drive late in the third quarter, when Loyola defensive back Mike Wojkowski tripped up the Indians' scrambling quarterback, Luis Negron, on fourth down at the Ramblers' 16. Loyola was clinging to an 8-0 lead at the time.
"I was holding my breath on that measurement," admitted Loyola head coach John Holecek. "I thought it was ours -- but you never know. I'm so proud of these guys. Our defense has stepped up like that all year, except for one bad game (Mount Carmel) and a couple of plays against Maine South. We have a tremendous senior class."
A junior, linebacker Jim Ford, accounted for a defensive score via safety when he forced Negron into an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone. That play came after Ruske's rushing TD, an interception by Luke Lopatka, and a punt by Paul Delaney that pinned Lane back at its own 13.
Ford forced an incompletion with a blitz on first down, then tackled Lane star Thaddeus Scott for a two-yard loss after a reception on the two plays prior to the safety.
"We just tried to play physical football. That's what it had to be about, because that's our game," Ford said. "We had a lot of fun playing here. This place (Soldier Field) is awesome."
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