A fortunate high school football team might have one game-changing receiver, but Loyola demonstrated in its 49-8 win over Maine South that it has at least three.
Thomas Smart was Ramblers senior quarterback Emmett Clifford’s primary target on Friday, Sept. 4, in Park Ridge. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior caught a 28-yard pass on Loyola’s third play of the game and finished with 10 receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns. He had eight catches for 178 yards and both scores by halftime.
“We have a lot of threats on offense,” Smart said. “[On Friday], Emmett just happened to keep finding me open.”
Robert Sullivan, a 6-4, 185-pound senior, finished with three catches for 32 yards and two touchdowns, while senior and Northwestern recruit Eric Eshoo, who’s 6-5 and 225 pounds, caught two balls for 55 yards.
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“We didn’t want to change what we did, so we spread ourselves out and made them play us,” Clifford said. “We were able to create some mismatches.”
Loyola offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tyler Vradenburg gave all the credit to Clifford and the receivers for their execution against an inexperienced Maine South secondary. No one in the Hawks’ defensive backfield started a game last season.
“We thought maybe we could manage to do a couple of things, but I have good kids, smart kids,” Vradenburg said. “Our receivers ran beautiful routes, and Emmett threw beautiful balls.”
Both Vradenburg and Clifford said the play-action pass to Smart on third-and-6 on Loyola’s first series was a sign of things to come for the offense. After two consecutive runs, Clifford got Maine South (0-2) to bite on the fake, allowing Smart to sneak behind the secondary.
“Once we hit that, I think it opened up the field for us,” Clifford said. “We just jelled out there.”
Later in that drive, Clifford connected with Smart for a 3-yard touchdown. Midway through the second quarter, the two hooked up again, this time for a 37-yard scoring strike that split a double team for a 21-0 lead.
Clifford’s other touchdown passes were to Sullivan, who, like all Loyola’s receivers, enjoyed a height advantage over Maine South’s defensive backs. The tallest Hawks player in the secondary stood 6-1.
In a little more than two quarters, Clifford finished 16-for-21 for 285 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
“We are blessed,” Loyola coach John Holecek said of his receiving corps.
Notes
* The Ramblers lost two starters during the Friday, Sept. 4 game. Senior running back Jack Loper and senior linebacker/long snapper John Shannon got hurt and didn’t return. Their injuries were unknown after the game. Shannon has verbally committed to Notre Dame as a long snapper.
* The Hawks also struggled on offense Friday. They recorded three first downs in the first half and found themselves down 35-0 at the half. Loyola triggered the running clock when senior linebacker Jack Hough returned a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown with 8 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter for a 42-0 lead.
* Maine South broke the shutout on senior Brian Collis’ 21-yard pass to senior Jon Arenas at the 4:55 mark of the third quarter. Collis went 14-for-26 for 137 yards in the game.
* Maine South senior left tackle Liam O’Sullivan, a Cincinnati recruit, didn’t dress out Friday, Sept. 4. Inserra said he injured his right shoulder during Week 1’s loss to Montini. No word was given on when he might return.
* Loyola’s win means it now owns a 4-3 record in the series between the two schools. The Ramblers won the last meeting, a 35-0 victory in the 2013 Class 8A quarterfinals. It was the first regular-season meeting between the area’s premier programs.
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