Connor Francek and the Shrine Knights fell to Detroit Loyola, 29-0, and fell out of the Division 7 playoffs. (Liz Carnegie/Daily Tribune)
DETROIT — It was a different location with different implications, but the story was the same for Royal Oak Shrine in its Division 7 district contest with Detroit Loyola on Saturday.
The Bulldogs racked up 370 rushing yards against the Knights, propelling Loyola to a 29-0 win at Detroit U-D Jesuit.
Shrine finished the season with a 9-2 record after losing twice to Loyola (11-0), 40-0 in the Catholic League C-D championship game and in Saturday’s playoff contest.
“Bottom line, we got beat by a better team,” Shrine coach John Goddard said. “They’re a better team. It’s as simple as that.”
Junior quarterback Connor Francek was 11-for-19 passing for 95 yards. His favorite target of the afternoon, fellow junior Jack Wangler, caught eight passes for 70 yards.
The Knights limited Loyola standout receiver Amos Huston to just four catches for 46 yards, all of which came in the first half.
However, Shrine had no answer for the Bulldogs’ run game and junior Keymonn’e Gabriel in particular. Gabriel rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
“Amos is an all-state receiver and I have kids that can catch the ball,” Loyola coach John Callahan said. “My offensive line has come together so well that we function well running the ball. Until they take that away, we’ll continue to do that.”
The Knights stalled on their first drive of the contest, but it took the Bulldogs just four plays to find the end zone. After starting at its own 23, Loyola moved on rushes of six, 16 and 14 from Jaylin Gaddie, followed by a 41-yard run from Gabriel.
After an offside call moved the Knights up, Loyola went for two and punched it in on a Gaddie run.Continued...
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Loyola forced a three-and-out on Shrine’s next possession, but the Knights moved the ball on their next drive. After starting on their own 35, the Knights moved all the way to the Loyola 26 in six plays. But a sack and a holding call doomed the drive, forcing Shrine to punt on fourth-and-25 from the 41.
Shrine pinned the Bulldogs down to their own 13, but the potent Loyola running game proved to be a dangerous factor once again early in the second. The squad went 87 yards on 11 plays, nine of which came on the ground. Eventually, Gabriel ran it in from 9 yards out to cap off the possession.
Late in the second and trailing 15-0, Shrine ran its hurry-up offense in hopes of getting on the board before the half.
Instead, it was Loyola adding seven more points.
Francek’s pass was tipped by Bulldog linebacker Darryl Clemons and fell into the hands of Larry Lige. The Bulldog defender returned the interception down to the Shrine 39. Six plays later, Donovan Jackson ran it in from 7 yards out to put Loyola up 22-0 before the break.
The damage had already been done, but the Bulldogs added one more score to start the second half just for good measure. After starting the drive at its own 23, Gabriel set up a scoring play with rushes of 14 and 33 yards. Wenton Lacy finished the deal with a 21-yard rush that proved to be the nail on the coffin.
“I think we were lucky to come away with the score that we did,” Callahan said. “Some of my kids played very, very well today. They had to step up and they did. That’s a credit to my kids, but also a credit to (Goddard) and his staff. They put together a great game plan.”
Loyola, which has outscored opponents 402-60 this season, will move on to face 11-0 Hudson. The Tigers are the defending Division 7 state champs and have won 48 of their last 49. The lone loss came in the 2009 Division 7 state championship game.
On the Knights’ end, it was a season that ended a little too soon, but was still deemed as a success.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see (Loyola) playing on Thanksgiving weekend at Ford Field,” Goddard said. “If that’s the case, we lost two games to the same team that goes to the state championship. There’s no shame in what we did, either.”
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