By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
Loyola coach John Sella promises he is not the least bit conscious of records being set during a game.
“Not even a little bit,” he said.
If that’s the case, you got to hand it to the guy on maintaining his primary focus while some pretty impressive stats were being posted.
As records were being dropped at his feet all throughout the Flyers’ 56-0 win over Southwood Thursday night at Independence Stadium, Sella remained steadfast in what he was trying to accomplish as the team’s play caller.
“I’m trying to get people involved, trying to stay in a rhythm,” Sella said. “I’m trying to keep in the back of my mind to stay balanced and not just commit to one thing. No, records are not in my head at all.”
Those six touchdown passes by quarterback Bryce Restovich, tying a school record? Didn’t notice.
The four touchdown catches by sophomore receiver Charlie McKenzie? Failed to register.
What about the 92-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Ty Walsworth, the longest pass play in school history (which goes back more than 100 years)? If you say so.
However, there was one number that Sella was interested in and didn’t involve a record.
Zero.
The staggering stats by the Flyer offense is nothing new this season – Loyola (4-0, 1-0 in District 1-4A) is now averaging 55.5 points per game – but there was a marked improvement by the defense in terms of aggressiveness.
“I don’t know what it was about this game,” Sella said. “Maybe it was getting into district and wanting to send a message, but they were on fire tonight. We have a number of starters back on defense and I was happy for them and (defensive coordinator Sherrod) Lewis to get a shutout.”
It’s the first shutout since the Flyers won last year 50-0 against Southwood and the largest margin of victory in a shutout since 1967.
Southwood (2-1, 0-1) only had two trips into Loyola territory in a night that was punctuated with some defensive highlights. J.T. Taylor returned a fumble 28 yards for a score (his second of the season), linebacker Hayden Horton came up with his first career interception and Alex Mitchell continued his assault on gathering turnovers when he recovered a fumble, the sixth time he’s come up with a fumble or an interception in just four games.
Oh, and did anyone mention that running back Mason Drake averaged 11.3 yards a carry as part of a 147-yard night?
“We try to be balanced,” Sella said. “It’s just a numbers game. Wherever we have better numbers and better matchups, that’s where we are going to go with it. Mason ran hard and we made some big plays when we needed to.”
In addition to McKenzie’s four scores and Walsworth’s record-breaker, Jake Black had a 25-yard touchdown, the only score of the second half after the Flyers led 49-0 at halftime.
Loyola (4-0) will get its toughest test so far this season when the Flyers play host to Minden next Friday at Messmer Stadium. The Crimson Tide won 28-12 last year.
“This is the point in the season where we see where we belong in the district,” Sella said. “Are we able to hang with teams like Minden that beat us last year? That’s the message after the game; enjoy the win, but we have to move on to Minden.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com