* First of all, as the picture above shows, it was a rainy, wet night in Champaign. (Glad I didn't go this year.) The game itself was full of turnovers (3 for Loyola, 5 for Bolingbrook), mistakes, questionable calls by the refs, and questionable calls by the coaches (e. g., why did Bolingbrook pass with less than five minutes remaining and the lead?).
* Who would have ever thought that Bolingbrook quarterback Aaron Bailey would pass for more yardage (140) than his counterpart, Malcolm Weaver, of Loyola (99)? (Bailey also ran for his 29th and 30th touchdowns of the season.)
* Which brings me to Bolingbrook's defense. I think I've underrated these guys all year. (It's easy to do when you are being dazzled by Bailey on offense.) The Raiders are fast and held Loyola to just ten yards of offense in the second half and 182 total yards for the game. And that was without star middle linebacker and Florida-bound Antonio Morrison! Defenders Andre Allen, Tevin Teamer, Anthony Harris, Emile Wisdom, Parrker Westphal, Phil Wilson, Austin Van Meter, and Diaron Rhodes (who shut down Loyola receiver Charlie Dowdle and sealed the deal with an interception at 3:39 in the fourth quarter) really stepped up in the playoffs.
* And how about a shout-out to Loyola's D, especially Luke Ford (Rambler Defensive Player of the Game), Eric Bielinski, Daveed Carter, Lars Lopatka, and Eric Hauser?
* While I'm at it, receiver Peter Pujols (and quarterback for the last series of downs) was my Rambler Offensive Player of the Game.
* And what was up with pulling Weaver for his last series of downs as a senior in the 8A championship? Was he injured? Because that would be the only explanation that would make sense to me. (Pujols is expected to start as signal-caller for the Ramblers next year.)
* I was impressed with the television coverage of the game. Jack McInerney, the color guy, did an especially good job, although I disagreed with his assessment that Loyola contained Bailey in the first half. My guess is that Bolingbrook coach John Ivlow thought to himself, "Everybody knows we run Bailey on first, second, third, and sometimes fourth downs. Let's come out with something different and try passing on these guys." (Bailey did run for a first down on a fake punt on Bolingbrook's opening possession.)
* Both Ivlow and Loyola coach John Holecek played in the NFL.
* Here's something scary for Bolingbrook's opponents to ponder in the off-season: Jaden Huff, Emile Wisdom, Parrker Westphal, Omar Stover, Chandler Piekarski and Aaron Bailey will all be back next year.
* Loyola set two 8A championship records: Dylan Brennan punted for 66 yards and Will Cushwa kicked a 40-yard field goal.
* Finally, both teams deserved to win. (The stats at half-time were almost identical.) These were two well-coached, evenly-matched teams. Unfortunately for Loyola, they will be graduating a lot of seniors. This was their year. As for Bolingbrook, I just can't wait to see Bailey and the Raiders next year!
No comments:
Post a Comment