John Holecek said this year’s Loyola football team doesn’t remind him of any of the previous nine Ramblers squad he’s coached.
Considering the Ramblers (5-0) last won a state championship in 1993, that could be a good thing.
“It’s a very unique team,” Holecek said.
The way the defense has played following the return of one starter, Northern Illinois recruit Ben LeRoy, has been a surprise. After the team’s 35-7 win over St. Ignatius on Saturday, Sept. 26, in Wilmette, Loyola had allowed 31 points in five games.
“We had a lot of unknowns on defense during the summer,” Holecek said. “They had to play catch-up to the offense, and they kept getting better. They had to figure out a way to compete with our offense, and that helped us a lot.”
Current starters like senior linebacker Cross Daffada, senior linebacker Frank Doherty and senior safety Bobby Desherow earned limited playing time on the varsity prior to this year. The same went for junior safety Teddy Falkenhayn, junior defensive back Ian Swenson and junior linebacker Graham Repp.
Senior safety Joey Zitella and junior linebacker Anthony Romano were the biggest unknowns, according to Holecek. Zitella transferred from Naperville North, and Romano missed most of the summer on a service trip to Greece.
“A lot of these guys weren’t in the picture last year,” Holecek said. “But they’ve really come on.”
Falkenhayn, Swenson and Zitella split time in the secondary.
Senior quarterback Emmett Clifford said the experienced offense, which is averaging 40.2 points a game, enjoyed pushing the defense during the offseason.
“We realized we were doing something right when [Holecek] was screaming,” Clifford said. “It can get intense. But I could tell the more we scrimmaged them, the better they got. [The defense] improved leaps and bounds every day.”
With the offense performing as expected and the defense shutting down opponents, Loyola now is a legitimate contender for the state championship. The Ramblers were runners-up in Class 8A in 2011 and 2013.
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“I think we are all pretty happy with where we are right now,” Clifford said. “We knew we had a good group of guys, but Holecek isn’t letting us get ahead of ourselves. Every game means the same, and we have a big one this week.”
Three of the next four games Loyola plays are in the Catholic Blue. The Ramblers, who are 1-0 in the league, travel to play Providence at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2. After playing DePaul Prep, a member of the Catholic Red, on Saturday, Oct. 10, Loyola closes at St. Rita on Friday, Oct. 16 and at home against Mount Carmel on Saturday, Oct. 24.
“I’m looking forward to the last four weeks,” Holecek said. “We have some big tests in front of us, and I am interested in seeing how we react.”
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