Football: Providence Cooled By Loyola Academy

Breaking It Down: Providence Catholic's football team kept within striking distance as the Celtics began the fourth quarter only trailing, 21-14, against Loyola Academy on Saturday in Wilmette. But things unraveled quickly early in the fourth quarter of a 41-21 setback for Providence.

Loyola quarterback Peter Pujals connected with a wide-open Kristopher Coker for a 49-yard touchdown with 10:08 remaining to make it 28-14. But that wasn't the worst of it. On the Celtics' next play from scrimmage, they fumbled the ball back to the Ramblers. Loyola didn't waste any time in taking advantage as Pujals scampered for a 16-yard touchdown run on the next play and the Ramblers were in command, 34-14, with 9:36 remaining.

Patch’s MVP: Peter Pujals, Loyola. The senior was precise, cutting through the Providence defense with lots of high-percentage short passes. He completed 20 of them and also rushed for 67 yards.

Loyola Stat Pack: Pujals completed 20-of-27 passes for 250 yards. He also tossed three three touchdown passes and ran for another score. Julius Holley had 36 yards on nine carries and scored two touchdowns. Luke Ford had a game-high 119 receiving yards. He caught four passes, including a touchdown.

Providence Stat Pack: Miles Boykin only caught three passes, but two of them were on leaping catches in the corner of the end zone for touchdowns. Boykin finished with 65 receiving yards. Brandon Price was busy, carrying the ball 20 times for 52 yards. Quarterback Dominic Lagone was a big part of the offense, rushing for 63 yards on 15 carries. He completed 12-of-23 passes for 110 yards.

Quotable I: "It wasn't terrible," Providence Catholic coach Mark Coglianese said. "Loyola is such a good team and you can't make mistakes like we did. Our two turnovers led to touchdowns and gave them a short field. We've got to get better in all phases. We're close, but against the Catholic Blue, our competition, that's not going to be good enough."

Quotable II: "We didn't come out here and execute like we needed to," Providence sophomore wide receiver Miles Boykin said. "We should've played this game a lot better. I felt we moved the ball up and down the field and sustained some drives. We just needed to play better."

Team Records: Providence is 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the the Catholic League Blue. Loyola is 3-1 and 2-0.

What’s Next: Providence hosts St. Rita on Friday, Sept. 21, while Loyola travels to Gordon Tech.

Scores of Interest: Thornton 49, Lincoln-Way North 42; Brother Rice 23, St. Rita 21; Fenwick 21, Kankakee Bishop McNamara 18 (OT). For more scores, visit IHSA ScoreZone.