By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
It may not qualify as a turning point in what turned out to be a 36-point game, but there’s no doubt that things were never quite the same after what happened with 5:09 to play in the second quarter in Friday’s game between North DeSoto and Loyola at Messmer Stadium.
The Flyers had second-and-goal from the Griffin 3 and were looking to make it a one-possession game. A few seconds later, it was a three-possession game.
North DeSoto linebacker Hayden Bell picked off a Bryce Restovich pass and returned it 101 yards for a touchdown and completely changed the dynamics of the game as the Griffins went on to take a 49-13 win over Loyola and clinch the District 1-4A title.
“I hate that the final score is what it ended up being because I think we played better than it indicates,” Loyola coach John Sella said. “We got some fourth down stops and we moved the ball fairly well at times. But when you play good teams, you have to do everything right.”
It was part of a frustrating night for the Flyers, especially in the first few minutes. North DeSoto fumbled three times – including the opening kickoff – but the Flyers couldn’t seem to come up with the loose ball.
“When a good team gives you gifts, you have to take advantage of that,” Sella said. “We didn’t do that and it started to wear on us a little bit. That’s what’s frustrating is because we can make plays. We’ve been forcing turnovers all year.”
North DeSoto didn’t waste any time establishing its dominance as quarterback Luke Delafield found Eli Procell open on a 47-yard pass on the opening play of the game. Four plays later – and only 70 seconds into the game – the Griffins were in the end zone on a 5-yard run by Kenny Thomas.
But the Flyers battled back on their second possession, driving 56 yards in 11 plays and getting a 12-yard touchdown pass from Restovich to Ben Brewer on fourth down to make it 7-6.
Thomas scored again on a 2-yard run and Delafield found Jarred Jackson for a 14-yard score early in the second quarter to put the Griffins up 21-6.
On the next drive, an 18-yard pass to Brewer and a 13-yard run by Mason Drake put the Flyers at the Griffins’ 10 and they got even closer after a 7-yard completion to Colby Hamilton had Loyola knocking on the door.
But Bell’s interception return quickly closed that door and the Griffins were never threatened in the second half in improving to 7-2 overall and 6-0 in District 1-4A.
Loyola did match Bell’s play with a long return of its own as junior Jake Black returned a kickoff 92 yards – tied for the fourth-longest in school history – for the only Flyer points of the second half.
North DeSoto had 494 yards in total offense – by far the most the Flyers have allowed this season – but Sella felt like his team help up well against the fast-paced Griffin offense.
“It’s tough because it’s so fast but I thought we held up pretty well,” Sella said. “In the third quarter, we couldn’t flip the field and the offense wasn’t helping the defense, so we began to wear down and couldn’t keep them off the field.”
Delafield threw for 243 yards while the Griffins had a pair of running backs go over 100 yards – Thomas (143) and Braelyn Latin (103).
Drake led the Loyola rushing with 94 yards on 22 carries. Restovich was 18 of 28 for 148 yards and Black and Brewer each caught six passes.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Flyers (6-3, 4-2) as they will close the regular season against second-place Northwood on Thursday night at Jerry Burton Stadium.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
NORTH DESOTO 49, LOYOLA 13
SCORING SUMMARY
ND – Kenny Thomas 5 run (Dakota Denny kick)
L – Ben Brewer 12 pass from Bryce Restovich (kick failed)
ND – Thomas 2 run (Denny kick)
ND – Jarred Jackson 14 pass from Luke Delafield (Denny kick)
ND – Hayden Bell 101 interception return (Denny kick)
ND – Thomas 14 pass from Delafield (Denny kick)
L – Jake Black 92 kickoff return (Cooper Varnadore kick)
ND – Braelyn Latin 1 run (Denny kick)
ND – Latin 6 run (Denny kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: ND — Thomas 28-143, Latin 16-103, Delafield 3-5, Miller Warren 1-0. Loyola – Mason Drake 22-94, Restovich 8-22.
Passing: ND – Delafield 16-13-0-243-2. Loyola – Restovich 28-18-1-148-1.
Receiving: ND – Procell 6-117, Tucker Brewster 2-39, Warren 3-52, Jackson 1-14, Chaz Martinez 1-21. Loyola – Black 6-42, Brewer 6-62, Colby Hamilton 5-48, Drake 1-minus-4