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Weaver gives Loyola an edge
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Updated: October 1, 2011 7:01PM
Loyola didn’t get its running game going all day and it didn’t look good for the passing attack either in the fourth quarter.
But Malcolm Weaver and the Ramblers overcame a stout Mount Carmel defensive effort and a stiff north wind to make enough big plays to pull out a 12-7 Catholic League Blue win Saturday afternoon in Wilmette.
Down 7-6, No. 6 Loyola took over at its own 20 with 9:32 left in the game after a missed field goal by the No. 3 Caravan. After an incompletion and a run for zero yards, Weaver hit Willie Palivos with a screen pass that went for 44 yards before a touchdown-saving tackle by Brandon Greer.
On the next play, Weaver connected with Connor Person on a 36-yard scoring pass to give Loyola (6-0, 2-0) the 12-7 lead with 8:25 left.
“I tried to throw it a little bit harder because I knew it was going into the wind,” Weaver said. “But that wind – I feel like something was against me. It just took off as soon as I let go of the ball and it came back to Connor. I thought he had a 40-inch vertical [leap] after that.”
“We have special receivers,” Loyola coach John Holecek said. “We know that sooner or later they’re going to make a special play.”
Weaver (9 of 18, 139 yards passing; 17 carries, 43 yards) ran eight yards for Loyola’s first touchdown, which pulled the Ramblers to 7-6 with 11:23 left in the first half. But Loyola had just 51 net yards before halftime and didn’t go over 100 yards of total offense until the decisive drive in the fourth quarter. Still, no one on the Loyola side was concerned about style points.
“We did not play well,” Holecek said. “We had drops, we had missed reads. It wasn’t a pretty game. But anytime you can beat an unbelievable program like that, it’s thrilling.”
Mount Carmel (5-1, 1-1) got a 95-yard touchdown run from Greer (20 carries, 190 yards) with 6:07 left in the first quarter. The Caravan had a 20-play, 72-yard drive that lasted 10 minutes, 32 seconds in the second quarter, but Loyola stopped Draco Smith for no gain on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 42 seconds left. Mount Carmel twice had a touchdown called back because of holding penalties on that drive.
“I felt like we controlled the game in a lot of phases,” Caravan coach Frank Lenti said. “We just didn’t put enough points on the board. We had some missed execution on offense at times. ... It’s obviously an empty feeling because the kids played so well; the defense was awesome. For us to score only seven points is inexcusable. We’re better than that.”
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