Loyola defense shuts out Lincoln-Way East in state quarterfinal

WILMETTE, Ill. - When Lincoln-Way East and Loyola fans settled into their seats at Loyola's Sachs Stadium, they most likely weren't expecting what they were about to see over the next two hours.

To be fair, probably nobody - including players and coaches - was expecting the game that was about to occur on a chilly afternoon in Wilmette.

What unfolded was a defensive slugfest between arguably two of the state's best defenses and a mere field goal separating the winner from the loser. Luckily for Loyola, a field goal was all it needed, as it defeated visiting Lincoln-Way East 3-0 Saturday afternoon.

“Best team in the state, best team in the Midwest,” Griffins coach Rob Zvonar said of Loyola. “We went toe-to-toe with them all afternoon. ... I know we came up short and that’s not the standard at our place. But I have nothing but positive things to say about our group.”

Despite being on opposite ends of the Chicago area, the two schools have developed what's turned out to be quite the playoff rivalry. The two teams have met in three of the last four state playoffs (2017 title game, 2018 semifinals, 2021 quarterfinals), with Loyola taking the latter two.

In fact, the Ramblers are the only team to defeat the Griffins in the playoffs since the Griffins' 2017 title run.

"We know every time we play them it's going to be a great game," Sam Rushin, who finished with two-and-a-half sacks. "They've got great coaching and have been such a powerhouse program, every time we play them, we know it's going to be a hard game."

Michael Baker's 32-yard field goal with under 10 seconds remaining in the first half were the only points the Ramblers needed and that was thanks to an extremely stout defensive performance.

Loyola was in the Lincoln-Way East offensive backfield what seemed like all game, resulting in seven sacks of Griffins quarterback Chase Arthur.

None were bigger than two on Lincoln-Way East's second offensive drive of the second half. With Loyola in punt formation and facing a 4th-and four from the Griffins 47-yard line, a bad snap over quarterback Jake Stearney's head bounced all the way back to the Ramblers' 15-yard line, giving the visitors excellent field position as they looked to take the lead.

However, two rushes by Trey Johnson (63 rushing yards) resulted in one yard and then a delay of game penalty gave the Griffins a 3rd-and-14 but a sack by Rushin followed by a fourth-down sack by Graham McCabe thwarted that opportunity.

"Our scheme was really good. Our coaches drew up a good game plan,” Rushin said. “All the guys in coverage kept them locked down and we were good up front so we were able to stop the run.”

“He has steadily gotten better,” Loyola coach John Holecek said of Rushin, who moved over to linebacker this year from the defensive line. “He’s been really good the second half of the season — really good.”

While the Loyola defense was shutting down the Griffins offense, Lincoln-Way East's defense was containing Loyola's potent attack as well.

The Ramblers, who had scored no fewer than 21 points in any game this season and 30 or more points in nine games, struggled to move the ball in the game and if they did, often times had penalties hurt them at the worst times.

“Offensively, we didn’t play the best,” Stearney said, “We’ve got a lot to learn for next week. But our defense, they had the game of their lives. They played lights out. They’re the reason why we won today.

"They did a good job of taking out the quick stuff, that's what we do best," Stearney said. "They were reading that and crashing hard into the box, especially when we went to our wide zone plays. They started slanting and taking that away.

"They were very well coached."

Stearney led the way for Loyola offensively, completing 18-of-28 passes for 178 yards, and had arguably the biggest play of the game on 4th-and-3 from the Lincoln-Way East 47-yard line with just over two minutes remaining.

The junior quarterback, who doubles as the team's punter, completed a pass to Jack Parker off to his left side and the junior tight end took the pass all the way down to the Griffins' 18-yard line.

From there, the Ramblers were able to go into victory formation and kneel out the rest of the clock.

"If you're not going to play safe, if you're going to come after us, our quarterback is the punter, that's gambling," Holecek said.

"Win and move on."