Loyola Academy beats Lincoln-Way East to win second straight Illinois 8A football championship

Ryan Fitzgerald racks up 292 total yards, three touchdowns

NORMAL, ILLINOIS – Even with its pedigree – seven trips to state and three titles since 2013 – Loyola Academy didn't automatically expect more of the same this fall.

After all, there were new faces in key spots: head coach Beau Desherow and starting quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald.

"Going into it, we knew that our offense was going to be younger and we were gonna have to rely on a veteran defense," Desherow said. "But they hit the ground running. ... And after that first game, I'm like, 'Yeah, we have something here."

What did the Ramblers have? Their second straight 14-0 season and Class 8A title, capped by Saturday night's 26-15 win against Lincoln-Way East at Hancock Stadium.

Fitzgerald was 17-for-21 passing for 203 yards and two touchdowns, and the junior also ran 16 times for 89 yards and a score. Drew McPherson, another junior, had 15 carries for 120 yards and a TD.

Senior linebacker Jack McGrath had 12 tackles to lead a Loyola defense that limited Lincoln-Way East (13-1) to one TD for the first 40 minutes.

Like Desherow, Fitzgerald figured to take some time to get his bearings.

"I mean, we knew that it was going to be a struggle," Fitzgerald said. "And we knew that our defense was going to have to bail us out sometimes. And with the (Neuqua Valley) game, they got a pick-six and they got really nice turnovers.

"And so I think once we hit that groove, we just didn't look back."

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The Ramblers were good enough to end Lincoln-Way East's season for the third straight year – the second in a title-game matchup of unbeatens.

"I take my hat off to Loyola Academy," Griffins coach Rob Zvonar said. "Unbelievable football players, unbelievably well-coached."

Lincoln-Way East came into the final having allowed six points total in its previous five games, and never more than 14 in a game all season.

"The first time we've kind of been on our heels defensively this year and I really credit them more than looking at our guys that (were) making the mistakes," Zvonar said. "I don't think they punted, which is not what we are on defense. But that's a credit to them."

Senior linebacker Conner Durkin agreed.

"They came out, they knew our weaknesses well and they really hit them hard," he said. "They ran some perfect plays and caught us out of position sometimes. Credit to them."

McPherson's 12-yard touchdown run at 10:11 of the fourth quarter pushed Loyola's lead to 26-7.

He had been battling an injury suffered in the Ramblers' semifinal win over York and missed several days of practice. But that didn't matter on Saturday.

"Coach said before this game if we had anything left in the tank we didn't give enough," McPherson said. "And I was just leaving it all on the field with a lot of great blocks from the wide receivers."

But Lincoln-Way East followed McPherson's score with Braden Tischer's second TD pass, a 7-yarder to Cade Serauskis, and Tischer's conversion run to keep it interesting.

"The kids battled all night," Zvonar said. "It just wasn't in the cards and we probably got beat by a little better team."

Durkin and offensive lineman Josh Janowski, an Iowa commit, each started their 40th straight varsity game – a remarkable feat considering regular seasons last nine games.

"These juniors and seniors know nothing but the state championship game each year," Zvonar said. "They lost two games in their entire high-school career. They were undefeated as freshmen and sophomores and 13-1 two years in a row.

"The sting of this will last for a little while but when it wears off they're going to realize they did a lot of special things. And I think they represented Lincoln-Way East and our entire community and high-school football in general in an exemplary manner."

ILLINOIS FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS COVERAGE

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Wilmington gets defensive to beat Athens in Illinois 2A football title game

Camp Point Central tops Lena-Winslow to win Illinois 1A football championship

Illinois 8A football championship: Loyola Academy - Lincoln-Way East

Photos from Tim Vizer

Photo by Tim Vizer