Loyola graduated a ton - but, hey, it's Loyola
It doesn't matter the year, the goal remains the same for the Loyola Ramblers football team.
"When you're at Loyola Academy you always want to talk about a state championship possibility," said Loyola's 16-year head coach, John Holocek. "But I just talk about one day at a time - one day, one week."
One was a common theme last season in Wilmette. Playing an abbreviated schedule shifted to this past spring from its usual fall slate by the COVID-19 pandemic, and played without a state series, the Ramblers were everyone's No. 1.
They fielded the Champaign News-Gazette and Chicago Sun-Times player of the year, running back Vaughn Pemberton, now at Ball State.
Each team Loyola (6-0, 4-0 CCL/ESCC Blue) faced was in its respective Associated Press top 10 ranking by enrollment class, the Ramblers No. 1 in Class 8A.
Outscoring its foes 180-41, Loyola's 3-4 defense blanked Hillcrest and Phillips, and beat Mt. Carmel, the No. 1 team in Class 7A, 35-17.
Loyola's net rushing total was nearly three times that of its opponents, and the Ramblers averaged 330 yards of offense.
"We didn't get the ring, but we were pretty good last year, probably the most talent we've ever had," Holocek said.
This fall, Loyola's journey toward a fourth Illinois High School Association state championship ring will be different. That's what happens when you graduate 15 returning starters and seven scholarship athletes.
Holocek returns but two starters on either side of the ball. Offensively he's got senior guard John Michael Telanges, around 6-foot-2 and 250 pounds; and Will Livingston, a versatile 6-3, 285-pound senior able to play center or command the left tackle position. All of Holocek's offensive linemen are very flexible, he said.
The defense is led by three-year starting nose guard Mike Williams, a stout, tenacious senior who goes around 5-10, 220 pounds. Senior James Kreutz, 6-1, 210 pounds and the son of former Chicago Bears center Olin Kreutz, moved from safety to linebacker.
Kreutz tied for the team lead with 39 tackles; Williams made 23 tackles last season, including 4 sacks.
Each of those four returners are team captains.
Among those playing significant roles this season will be senior running back Marco Maldonado, who last season ran for 315 yards and 2 touchdowns rotating in with Pemberton. Junior quarterback Jake Stearney, around 6-2, 190, split time between varsity and a 5-0 sophomore team last season. He ran for 1 touchdown and passed for another, a promising leader for the Ramblers' spread offense with run-pass option ability.
"He's fast with a good arm," Holocek said. "He's a definite run threat, but he's a passer."
Loyola will miss prospective college tight end James Kyle, who quit playing football. Receiver Roger Simon, who averaged 20 yards a reception this spring, is out the first half of the season with an injury.
Lacking vast experience and multiple college prospects entering the season, Loyola will do as most grade-A programs do - plug the next wave of talented juniors and hungry seniors into positions and get after it.
"At Loyola, we always say it's better to be a smart team, to be in the right spot. Everything we've asked of these kids they've done. I think we're going to be a solid football team," Holocek said.