Photo By: Liam Gaffney / The Loyalist
Opening up the season on Melrose Avenue, the Loyola Cubs Varsity football team traveled to Fairfax High School.
On the first drive of the first quarter, senior running back Hunter Ballard rushed to the strong side for 45 yards. Dodging a Fairfax defender, Ballard ran down the sideline untouched to open the scoring. The defense held the opposing offense to a 3 and out on their first drive. Later in the quarter, senior quarterback Nate Priestley handed the ball to sophomore wide receiver Ceyair Wright on the weak side. Wright broke open the defender’s angle and took the ball to the house to up the score to 21-0. On the team’s final drive of the quarter, Priestley tossed an over the shoulder pass to senior tight end Osaze Odiase. Carrying two Fairfax defenders with him, Odiase found the endzone to increase the Cubs’ lead to 28.
To open up the second quarter, Fairfax drove down the field, resulting in a six yard touchdown pass, cutting their deficit to 21 points. Immediately after the score, Wright received the kickoff and ran it back for 82 yards, cutting from the left to the right at the fifty yard line. The return brought the lead back to 28 with a score of 35-7. On the resulting drive for the defense, senior defensive tackle Scott Kase sacked the opposing quarterback for a loss of 11 yards. On the offense’s final drive of the half, penalties drove the team out of field-goal range. The half ended as the Cubs were unable to capitalize before the half ended, keeping the lead at 35-7.
Senior kicker Nick Barr-Mira kicked a touchback to open the second half, pinning the Fairfax offense at their own 20 yard line. On second down, senior defensive lineman Marcus Aguilar stuffed the running back in the backfield for a loss of five yards. On the next play, Aguilar broke the play up and forced an intentional grounding by the Fairfax quarterback. A punt of 0 yards gave the Cubs excellent field position on the opponent’s 13 yard line. Cutting across the defense, Wright rushed to the five yard line before being pushed out of bounds. On the next play, Ballard rushed up the gut after the fake to Write for a 5 yard touchdown, increasing the lead to 42-7. Later in the quarter, Barr-Mira kicked a 26 yard field goal to increase the Cubs’ total to 45.
Because Loyola led by more than 35 points after three quarters, the clock did not stop during the final quarter of the game. On defense, junior cornerback Connor Jackson and junior linebacker Ryan Quintanar both nearly intercepted separate passes from the Fairfax quarterback. Giving possession back to the offense, Quintanar rushed for a 45 yard gain, and senior running back Jakob Duchesneau punched it in from one yard out, ending the game at a score of 51-7.
After the game, Head Coach Ricardo Pedroarias ’84 said, “The offense did a nice job. We did a lot of things, we did a Wing-T to spread to two backs. Our mantra has always been to be tough to defend and we threw a lot of different things at the opposing defense.” The Cubs’ strategy paid off as they scored 28 points in the first quarter.
Priestley said, “We’ve been working since November for this first game, so it’s been nice to go out there and hit someone else. All of our conditioning with Coach Andre has paid off.”
Ballard said, “The offensive line did the dirty work really well for the team today, and it allowed us to jump out to an early lead. Overall, we just have to keep practicing like we play."