Photo By: Jackson Baca / The Loyalist
In their second game of the season, The Loyola Cubs Varsity football team hosted St. Augustine High School on their home turf.
The Cubs looked to have a strong defensive line on the first play of the game, when junior Steven Arellano tackled St. Augustine’s quarterback for a loss of three yards. However, on the very next play, St. Augustine’s tight end Michael Ambagtsheer traveled down the field for a 81 yard touchdown to open the scoring. With Loyola now in possession of the ball, quarterback Nathan Priestly started off with two incomplete passes to wide receiver Ceyair Wright. Loyola decided to switch their offensive strategy on the next play to senior running back Hunter Ballard. However, Ballard dropped the ball mid run. Luckily, Loyola held on to their possession the ball, but ultimately was forced to punt. On St. Augustine’s next drive, senior David Anawalt stopped the opposing running back for a gain of 0 yards on the play. Byron Cardwell of St. Augustine rushed down the field for a run of 35 yards, putting the Saints in a great position to score. As St. Augustine’s running back was trying to cross the end zone, senior Danny Dixon stopped the potential touchdown for a gain of 1 yard on the play. To end the first quarter St. Augustine’s running back punched through Loyola’s defensive line to bring the score to 14-0.
To begin the second quarter, quarterback Nathan Prieslty handed off the ball to running back Hunter Ballard only to be stopped twice by St. Augustine defensive line. After an incomplete pass intended for Ceyair Wright, Loyola was forced to punt. St. Augustine’s punt returner was only able to gain a few yards on the kick because of a tackle from junior Nikko Gonzalez. Senior Chase Branigan stopped the Saints from making progress on the first play of their drive, resulting in a 3 yard loss. Loyola struggled to stop St. Augustine from gaining yards, as their running back Byron Cardwell dodged our defenders and rushed down the field for a gain of 15 yards. To put St. Augustine up by 3 touchdowns, tight end Michael Ambagtsheer ran 35 yards into the end zone for his second touchdown of the game. Loyola’s next three drives saw little success. Quarterback Nathan Priestly was unable to connect with wide receiver’s Zakhari Spears and Ceyair Wright. Running back Hunter Ballard also dropped the ball twice, a result of Loyola’s offensive line. The first half ended with St. Augustine leading 21-0.
Beginning the second half, quarterback Nathan Priestly completed an eight yard pass to wide receiver Zakhari Spears. Following that play, Loyola dropped the ball for the fourth time but still held possession. With their third play of the drive senior running back Hunter Ballard covered the remaining two yards, but fumbled the ball. Junior Steven Arellano recovered the ball at the 20 yard line and ran for 8 yards, resulting in brand new set of downs for Loyola. Furthering Loyola’s drive, Junior Brenden Pernecky caught two consecutive passes, putting Loyola in a good scoring position at St. Augustine’s 18 yard line. Senior running back Hunter Ballard battled through St. Augustine’s defense and ran for a touchdown. However, Ballard’s run did not count due to an off-sides penalty. To put Loyola on the scoreboard, senior kicker Nicholas Barr-Mira successfully scored a 30 yard field goal. With just over a minute in the third quarter, running back Hunter Ballard fumbled the football during 6 yard run, resulting in St. Augustine possession. Loyola was able to stop the Saints from scoring on fourth down, and gained possession on the 18 yard line. On the first play of their drive, quarterback Nathan Priestly completed a 22 yard pass to junior wide receiver Michael Jones to end the third quarter.
Opening the last quarter of the game, running back Speed Fry traveled down the field for a gain of 11 yards. On St. Augustine’s 18 yard line with 7 yards to go for a first down, Nathan Priestly gets sacked for a turnover on downs. Later in the fourth quarter, Loyola’s wide receiver Dominick Belisle ran for 13 yards into the end zone, cutting their deficit by 11. Ending Loyola's first home game, junior Michael Jones caught two consecutive passes for a total of 31 yards. The final score was 28-10.
Coach Rick Pedroarias said, "St. Augustine was more physical than we were on the front. Our offensive line did not play well. We expected them to be physical we just had to continue to be tenacious. In the second half we did move the ball. However we stalled every time we got a penalty or a late hit. One of the big factors of the game was protecting the football, which we have talked all week about. We fumbled the ball six times and were lucky enough to only lose it once. The mistakes that we made tonight were pretty much mental -- fumbles and penalties are mental mistakes, and we need to fix that as soon as we can."