Loyola rallies to surpass upset-minded IC Catholic Prep

The only other time IC Catholic Prep had faced Loyola Academy in football, the Knights came into the game banged up, rested starters and lost 47-0 to the eventual 2023 Class 8A champion.

Friday’s game at Lewis Stadium in Elmhurst wasn’t like that at all.

“We were different this time. All the credit in the world to our kids, they do a great job, they fought them,” said Knights coach Bill Krefft.

Host IC Catholic, the No. 1 team in Class 3A, led the state’s top Class 8A team 14-7 after one quarter and 35-21 at halftime.

In the second half Loyola (8-0) got defensive stops and wore out the Knights, winning the Chicago Catholic League crossover 45-35.

Ramblers quarterback Matthew Lee connected on second-half touchdown passes of 4 and 13 yards to Jordan McKinley, the latter giving Loyola a 38-35 lead at 11:50 of the fourth quarter.

IC Catholic (7-1) appeared to get off the field defensively before that go-ahead score. On a fourth-and-6 pass from the Knights 38-yard line, Grant Bowen separated Loyola’s Carmelo Maldonado from the ball on a hard hit.

Instead the Knights were whistled for a penalty, and the Ramblers capitalized with a fresh set of downs.

IC Catholic (7-1) attempted to tie the score on a 33-yard field goal that went wide with 4:55 to play. Maldonado sealed the win on a 53-yard touchdown run about a minute later. The junior ran 14 times for 137 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“Two-platooning is maybe the story of the day,” said Loyola coach John Holecek. “Big school versus little school, but their skills are so unbelievably talented. They’ve got a lot of guys that can run really fast, and the quarterback had a great first half.”

IC Catholic quarterback Nate Lang passed for 317 yards and 5 touchdowns in the first half.

Responding to Loyola’s quick three-play touchdown drive to tie the score at 7-7 with 1:23 left in the first quarter, Lang hit Jaden Penna for a 77-yard touchdown and 14-7 lead with 26 seconds left in the quarter.

The Knights would not trail again in the first half.

“The plan was to come out firing, cut it loose, don’t hold anything back,” Lang said. “That was the game plan. We were firing on all cylinders. We built that chemistry up over the season and I feel like that showed there in the first half.”

Containing Loyola to a pair of Ryan Edwards field goals and Maldonado’s 5-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, IC Catholic built its lead behind Lang’s strong arm.

The senior added touchdown passes of 19 yards to Anthony Carroccio, 15 yards to Will Schmidt, and 20 yards to Bowen, the receiver’s second touchdown catch of the half with 31 seconds left in the second quarter.

“We had a lot of confidence going in,” Bowen said. “We had a lot of big plays to make momentum. That really was the factor of why we did great in the first half.”

Lang finished with 370 yards passing. Bowen caught 10 passes for 109 yards, and Carroccio caught 5 passes for 102 yards.

“I can’t ask more out of our kids, they did a great job,” Krefft said. “I thought they fought the best team in the state for four quarters.”