Loyola prepares to contend with experienced offense, fresh faces on defense

Loyola players hung a poster in their weight room during the offseason with a simple reminder: 35-21, the final score of the Rambler’s Class 8A semifinal loss to Lockport last season.

Although Coach John Holecek and his staff have moved on from last year, he understands the desire to reach the standard of winning a state championship that his staff has created.

“Every year that you don’t win it, you feel the same pain, the pain to prove yourself,” Holecek said. “We’ve only won it twice, there are 14 other years as a staff that we’ve been here looking to get back to it.”

The defending CCL/ESCC Blue champions will have plenty of new faces on both sides of the ball, with only three returning starters from last season’s defense that allowed an average of 14.1 points per game. Brooks Bahr, John McGuire and Gabe Gyorgy are the lone returners after leading tacklers James Kreutz and Jamie McCabe both graduated.

Holecek has struggled finding out who can play where because of injuries this summer. Gyorgy hasn’t practiced much this summer with an injury while other would-be starters haven’t competed much.

“As long as these guys come at some point,” Holecek said. “We’re going to play enough good football teams with our schedule, it’s ridiculous. We’ll be seasoned tough by the time playoffs start, if we get in.”

Bahr, a Michigan commit who finished fourth on the team last year with 54 total tackles, has taken a leadership role as a captain and helped the incoming players learn what it takes to play at the varsity level. He’s helped them with their hand work and taught them to play more physically and at a higher pace.

“We’re just trying to figure out everything, trying to get together as a unit and figure out our strengths and weaknesses,” Bahr said. “It’s been fun figuring out team chemistry.”

While there are some new faces offensively, Jake Stearney returns as the team’s starting quarterback. The senior was the CCL/ESCC Blue Offensive Player of the Year last year with 2,179 passing yards and 19 touchdowns while also rushing for 532 yards and five touchdowns.

Stearney has spent the summer working on chemistry with his new wide receivers and running backs. Lead receiver Danny Collins graduated but wide receiver Spencer Leadbetter and tight ends Jack Fitzgerald and Jack Parker all returned after finishing top-four in receiving yards on the team last season.

Drew MacPherson and Will Nimeshiem lead the way running the ball after Marco Maldonado and Mike Regan graduated. Nimeshiem rushed for 271 yards on 55 carries while MacPherson ended with 14 yards on three carries.

“(The season will) be coming down to the wire,” Stearney said. “That chemistry we built up with the receivers during the summer will be definitely key. I like where we’re heading right now.”

Loyola starts its season on Aug. 28 against St. Xavier (Ohio) in a game that will be broadcasted on ESPN. St. Xavier has won the Ohio Division-I state title four times since 2005, including a 2020 title.

Loyola still doesn’t have a Week 2 opponent but will continue its tough opening stretch with games against St. Rita, Brother Rice, Fenwick and Marist, respectively, starting at Week 3.

Before they get to Aug. 28, the Ramblers are preparing to avenge last season’s postseason loss and show how quickly they can contend with so many new faces.

“Everyone knows that we’re a fresh group for our team and we’re just going to prove them wrong,” Bahr said. “We’re going to be flying out and make huge plays.”