Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet said what was on everyone’s mind after Loyola beat his team 42-7 on Saturday in Glen Ellyn.
“How good is East St. Louis?”
The No. 2 Ramblers dominated No. 19 Glenbard West, not even missing a beat when quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald, a Player of the Year candidate, left with an injury in the second quarter.
Sophomore Dom Maloney came in and threw three touchdown passes.
“He’s got a lot of moxie,” Loyola coach Beau Desherow said. “We were confident with him going in there for sure.
The Ramblers played four quarterbacks in the running clock victory. Fitzgerald, an Iowa recruit, left with a minor injury. Desherow said he could have played if necessary.
Maloney was 5 for 8 passing for 112 yards. He connected with Brendan Loftus on a TD pass on his first drive and then found Loftus for a 41-yard TD in the third quarter. The third TD pass was a 32-yard screen pass to Drew MacPherson.
“It was exciting to get out there after putting in so much work over the summer,” Maloney said. “I’d been waiting for this moment to make everything pay off.”
East St. Louis beat Loyola 34-7 last weekend in Normal. The preseason top-ranked Ramblers had won 26 consecutive games, 22 consecutive road games and back-to-back Class 8A state titles. It was a rare stumble and many area fans relished Loyola’s defeat.
“It was a punch on the chin,” Ramblers defensive lineman Tommy Ghislandi said. “It put a chip on our shoulder for the entire week of practice. We showed up with intensity and motivation. Last week we weren’t communicating like we should have.”
Ghislandi had two sacks and a pass deflection for Loyola (1-1). The Ramblers first-team defense didn’t allow a touchdown.
Glenbard West quarterback Oliver Valdez, a sophomore, was 4 of 12 passing for 40 yards. The Hilltoppers touchdown came on an 80-yard run by JaMarcus Kelly with 7:22 to play.
“We knew they wanted to run so we read our keys and shut them down,” Ghislandi, an Army recruit, said. “We’re the most physical team out there.”
Loyola looks like its old self on the first drive in Glen Ellyn.
Ryan Fitzgerald to Will Carlson for an 18-yard TD.
Ramblers lead Glenbard West 7-0. pic.twitter.com/onfb029bz2
— Michael O’Brien (@michaelsobrien) September 7, 2024
Fitzgerald completed all eight of his passes for 169 yards and two TDs. Loftus had four catches for 101 yards and 2 TDs and junior Robert Clingan caught three passes for 66 yards and a TD.
Loyola led 28-0 at halftime. A 53-yard TD run by Luke Foster made it 42-0 with 7:32 to play.
“Getting back to fundamentals was our focus this week,” Desherow said. “It was great to see [Fitzgerald] come back and have success. You can attribute that to our offensive line playing as well as they did.”
Glenbard West (0-2) lost to Batavia in a close game last week. The Hilltoppers face ranked teams (Downers Grove North and Lyons) on the road the next two weeks and could start the season 0-4.
“We knew what we were in for,” Hetlet said. “We’re just not at that level right now. Batavia is a very, very good team. But you see the gap between 7A and 8A. Loyola is just a different breed.”