By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
If the authorities are looking for a place to hide out someone in the witness protection program, they missed a golden opportunity Friday night at Jerry Burton Stadium.
Put them on the punting team. Didn’t matter it was Northwood’s or Loyola’s. Neither one made an appearance on the field.
You might think that a game that finished with a score of 71-53 would have all sorts of craziness in it, but as 124-point games go, this one was pretty simple. Both teams scored touchdowns every time they had possession of the ball – more on that in a moment – until the Flyers took a knee to end the game and raise their record to 3-1. And even then you weren’t sure if somehow the ball might end up in the end zone.
Loyola was able to pass it in, run it in and kickoff return it into the end zone 11 times.
Northwood was able to mostly run it in (there was one TD pass) and made it to the end zone eight times.
The difference in those possessions was the difference in the game. (It sure wasn’t because of the punting.)
Let’s boil it down for you: Northwood’s running game couldn’t be stopped (415 rushing yards, 8.0 per carry) and Loyola’s passing game couldn’t be stopped (422 yards, 20.1 yards per completion.) However, it should be noted that the Flyers ran for 158 yards and Northwood was 8-for-8 in passing.
But the Flyers took advantage of three opportunities that changed everything.
The first came at the end of the first half. The very end of the first half.
After the back-and-forth touchdowns put Northwood ahead 28-19 with 52 seconds left before halftime, the Flyers deftly made their way down the field to try to eke out one more score. J.T. Taylor caught a swing pass as the clock was winding down and was tackled at the Northwood 22. When everyone turned to the scoreboard, it showed 0:00.
The Falcons began to head to the dressing room while the Flyers insisted there was one second remaining. Loyola caught a bit of a break because Taylor’s catch-and-run was in the direction of the scoreboard and the referees were able to see both the tackle and the time in sequence. (Game film later showed that Taylor was down with 0:01 on the clock).
But the Flyers still had to score from 22 yards out with one second left. That’s when quarterback Bryce Restovich scrambled out of the pocket to his right, and as the Falcon defenders drifted toward him, they lost sight of receiver Charlie McKenzie standing lonesome on the goal line. Restovich flung it across the field and McKenzie hopped into the end zone for an improbable touchdown to close the gap to 28-27.
The real payoff of that score was that Flyers got the ball to start the second half. When Restovich found Graham Kyle for a 64-yard score on the first play of the third quarter, Loyola had scored two touchdowns in 15 seconds of game time.
Striking quickly has been a cornerstone of the Flyers’ offense this year (averaging 53.8 points per game) and this game was no different. All 11 scoring drives lasted 3:28 or less and nine of them lasted no longer than 2:16.
The first possession lasted 14 seconds, which is how long it took Ty Walsworth to run into the end zone on an 87-yard kickoff return.
That was part of a huge night for the two junior receivers for the Flyers. McKenzie caught eight passes for 137 yards and Walsworth caught seven for 131 yards. Both had two touchdowns receiving.
“Those wide receivers look like defensive ends,” Northwood coach Austin Brown said. “And obviously Restovich is spectacular.”
“I’m just glad to have No. 3 (Walsworth) and No. 9 (McKenzie),” Loyola coach John Sella said. “And No. 8 isn’t too bad either.”
That would be Restovich, who completed 21 of 32 for 422 yards – his second-highest game in a career that now is approaching 8,000 yards. His 42-yard pass to McKenzie in the third quarter was the 100th of his career – and then he threw three more.
Even more impressive was this stat for Restovich: In a game in which every possession was critical, Loyola was 5 of 5 on fourth down and the senior quarterback either threw or ran for all five.
That came after the Flyers took advantage of the other two opportunities they had. Loyola was able to steal offensive possessions by recovering two onside kicks in the second half and convert them into scores.
“Only one of those was intentional,” Sella said sheepishly. “We kind of mis-hit the other one.”
“Those things (the last play before half and the onside kick) were probably 21-point swings,” Brown said.
Northwood freshman Caden Stewart led the impressive Falcon running game with 144 yards on 23 carries.
Both teams will hop right back into the fire next week. Loyola will take on No. 1-ranked Calvary (Class 2A) and Northwood (1-3) will play No. 3-ranked North DeSoto (Class 4A).
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com