CHATSWORTH — Late in the first quarter, Sierra Canyon defensive lineman Kasi Currie got into the backfield quickly. It wasn’t anywhere near the only time Currie and the rest of the Trailblazers’ dominant defensive line disrupted Loyola’s offense Friday, but it might have been the most explosive.
Currie took down Loyola quarterback J-C Rising 12 yards behind the line of scrimmage, forcing a fumble that he recovered with an outstretched arm deep in Loyola territory.
While there were still three quarters of play left, the fumble set up a quick touchdown that gave Sierra Canyon a big lead it wouldn’t relinquish in a dominant 41-0 homecoming win over the Loyola Cubs (3-3, 0-1) to kick off league play.
“I’m not going to lie, I had it lined up and I was just thinkin’ of nothing. I feel like that’s when you do your best,” Currie said. “I had to get the ball.”
The strip sack also led to Rising exiting the game with what appeared to be a knee injury, making matters worse for an already depleted Loyola offense.
Rising was seen on the sideline with crutches after the play. Loyola head coach Drew Casani said the team will have to “wait and see” on Rising’s status moving forward.
“We’re all going to pray for him and hope he’s all right,” Casani said.
In Rising’s stead, senior quarterback Gavin Grabe got his first snaps of the season from under center, completing the Cubs’ first pass in the second quarter for one of the team’s few first downs of the game, but quick pressure continued to limit the Loyola offense as the game continued.
Loyola combined for negative total offensive yardage in the first half and finished with negative yardage on five of seven drives as they fell behind big, leading to a running clock in the second half featuring mostly the Trailblazers’ second and third units.
The shutout was the second of the season for Sierra Canyon (6-0, 1-0 Mission League) and the Trailblazers have given up 10 or fewer points in five of their six games.
“It starts up front for them,” Casani said. “They’re a lot to handle, and that was obvious.”
Grabe was sacked three times by Sierra Canyon defensive lineman Brayden Tautolo, who worked in tandem with Currie and Cooper Cook to create pressure and make tackles for loss.
“We practice very, very hard,” Currie said when asked what made the line successful. “Nobody practices like us.”
Loyola was also without its two top running backs. Senior Matthew Fine was on a visit to the University of Utah, where he is committed to play lacrosse, and Jayden Rogers was out with an injury he suffered two weeks ago.
Sophomore Jesse Davis took the majority of the carries for Loyola, finding some success but also being limited by the strong defensive play.
“It was good to see him get an opportunity against, really, the best team we’re going to see all year,” Casani said. “There wasn’t a lot of space. But when there was, he made some plays.”
Besides an opening three-and-out that featured two drops, Sierra Canyon’s offense looked dominant.
Starting quarterback Demarco Hernandez threw for two touchdowns and over 100 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown pass to receiver Sir Homer King Webb, who got separation from a defender and caught the pass over his shoulder in the end zone.
Backup quarterback Ian Patterson came in near the end of the second quarter and also performed well, completing 13 of 17 passes for nearly 100 yards and throwing two touchdowns of his own.
With the Trailblazers’ leading rusher Jaxsen Stokes not seeing any carries Friday, it was Jibri Abdullah II who took control of the run game, rushing for 70 yards on 12 carries and scoring a 2-yard touchdown.
Sierra Canyon and Loyola will both continue Mission League play next Friday, with Sierra Canyon traveling to Serra and Loyola visiting Notre Dame.