By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
Let’s be honest about it – Loyola’s playoff game against Belaire Friday night at Messmer Stadium was little more than a formality.
(Go ahead and insert the standard anything-can-happen cliché here.)
The Flyers knew it and, by all appearances, Belaire knew it too. Down 35 points late in the first half but with a chance to get on the scoreboard with three minutes to go before halftime, the Bengals ran only five plays – two of them in Loyola territory – and seemed to content to just go to halftime.
Even though the running clock was not officially applicable to start the second half, Belaire opted for it and only 20 total plays were run in the final two quarters before the Bengals hopped back on the bus for the trip back to Baton Rouge after the Flyers took care of business with a 42-0 second round win.
While Belaire was picking up its first playoff win in 22 years last week, the Flyers had the week off by earning a No. 2 seed in the Select Division II playoffs. Friday night, it looked as though both teams got what they needed in the first round of the playoffs.
The Flyers were far more concerned about getting two defensive starters back from injuries (defensive tackle Grant Psalmonds and safety Thomas Gosslee) than worried about whether the week off would lead to some rust setting in.
“It was great to see the impact they can have,” Loyola coach John Sella said about the two returnees.
After a Gosslee interception ended the opening drive by Belaire, it took the high-powered Loyola offense all of one play to score a touchdown (a 25-yard pass from Bryce Restovich to Jake Black).
Psalmonds was a major part of a defense that didn’t allow a first down for the next five Belaire drives while Loyola offense never missed a beat. Mason Drake scored on two touchdown runs and Ty Walsworth and Charlie McKenzie each caught touchdown passes in the first half. Of the five scoring drives Loyola had before halftime, only one lasted longer than four plays.
“It was exciting because you never know how they are going to respond coming off the bye,” Sella said. “To come out with that kind of energy with no real rust was great. I feel like we did need that bye (and) it was a good thing for us.”
It was tough enough to keep up with the Flyer offense, but it was even tougher keeping up with the assault on the record book.
- Walsworth set the school record for catching a touchdown pass in his 11th straight game.
- Black broke the school record for career catches (125).
- McKenzie became the first Flyer to go over 1,000-yards in receiving in a season.
- Drake became the school’s No. 2 career rushing leader (2,855 yards).
- Restovich set the record for most completions in a career (423).
It should come as no surprise that Loyola didn’t have a negative play until the second-to-last snap of the game.
A formality indeed.
But from here, it is anything but. Next up is Archbishop Shaw (Marrero), a 49-6 winner over Haynes Academy. That’s not exactly stunning news to the Flyers, who have been eyeing the Eagles as a quarterfinal opponent since the brackets came out two weeks ago.
Coached by legendary Hank Tierney, Shaw is the defending state champion as well as a six-time state finalist. Though the Eagles are the No. 7 seed, they have wins over Lafayette Christian (the No. 1 seed in Select D3) and St. James (the No. 3 seed in Non-Select D3).
Two of their losses are to teams that are No. 1 seeds in their respective brackets.
This will be Shaw’s fourth straight trip to the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the Flyers haven’t been this far since 2016 (when they had a bye to the quarters).
“Hey guys, we are playing during Thanksgiving break,” Sella told his team afterward. “That’s something I’ve never done before. That means we are pretty good. But let’s don’t let this end. Let’s keep it going.”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com