By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
SPRINGHILL – Given their offensive prowess, seeing “47” on their side of the scoreboard is not an unusual occurrence for the Loyola Flyers.
However, seeing a “0” on the other side of the scoreboard in Friday night’s District 1-3A game against North Webster was certainly a little bit different.
The 47-0 win over the Knights was a welcome sight for Loyola, which came into the game giving up an average of 39.3 points per game. But the Flyers’ M.O. this season has revolved around trying to outscore their opponents. Coming into Friday night, there have been at least 60 combined points in every game Loyola has played.
“I was happy with the defense,” Loyola coach John Sella said. “I told them no matter who you’re playing, it’s not easy to shut somebody out. Getting a zero on the board was good for their confidence.”
It was another typical offensive night for the Flyers — scoring on seven of nine possessions and never punting – but as it turned out, they had all the points they needed after their first drive of the game resulted in a 17-yard pass from Bryce Restovich to Brock Geter.
Throw in a 75-yard punt return by Ty Walsworth two minutes later and Loyola had established control of the game and kept it throughout.
There were a number of defensive superlatives: North Webster had only seven first downs, Loyola came up with five 3-and-outs against the Knights and the Flyers allowed a season-low 132 yards.
After giving up 66 points in a loss to Sterlington three weeks ago, the Flyers have now allowed only two touchdowns in the last eight quarters (and one of those was on the final play of the game with a running clock).
Senior linebacker Dominic Rinaudo led the Loyola defense with 12 tackles and Mason Pavlick had eight, including three tackles for loss.
“We preached all week about 11 people running to the football,” Sella said. “I think there were some touchdowns out there (for the Knights) if we didn’t run to the football tonight.”
As for the offense, it was about what everyone has come to expect. Restovich had another outstanding night – he was 11 of 12 for 161 yards in the first half for three scores – and finished with 234 yards (completing 20 of 26).
Running backs J.T. Taylor (118 yards) and Ellis Wilson (67) contributed to a season-high team rushing total and three touchdowns.
“We spread the ball around a good bit,” Sella said. “We planned to mix around some running backs before the game and Ellis ended up with some explosive plays, which was good. It’s going to be good for us in the future.”
Walsworth’s punt return was his third kick return for touchdown this season.
The only negative for the Flyers? Two fumbles lost, matching the total they’ve had in the previous seven games combined.
“I hate that because every week we say ‘Don’t turn the ball over (and) don’t go backwards,’ ” Sella said. “Every film we had of (North Webster), they forced a turnover. We just didn’t do as good a job as we have in the past on that.”
The win puts Loyola at 6-3 overall heading into a non-district home game against Red River to close the regular season. The Flyers sit at No. 8 in the current Division III (select) power rankings; the top eight will earn a first-round playoff bye.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com