Brother Rice Football Misses Golden Opportunity to Join Heavyweight Ranks

Brother Rice coach Steve Nye said all the right things after his team’s 20-13 loss to Loyola Academy on Friday night.

With one game left in the regular season and only two weeks before the playoffs start, Nye wasn’t going to talk about the “ifs”, “ands” or “buts.” He wanted to focus on what's ahead for the Crusaders.

“It’s really what we do going forward,” Nye said. “Our season is going to be defined by what we do in the playoffs.”

That may be true, but Nye and Brother Rice have to be shaking their heads after missing a golden opportunity to take down one of the state’s premier programs.

Loyola dominated the first half without playing its best. Rambler quarterback Malcolm Weaver had an inconsistent night throwing the ball, and Brother Rice’s Dan Lyons picked off a pass early in the second quarter to set Brother Rice up in good field position. But the Crusader offense couldn’t take advantage, punting the ball away after a three-and-out.

On two occasions, Brother Rice held the potent Loyola offense to field goals in the red zone, aided by a dropped touchdown pass form Loyola’s usually sure-handed Charlie Dowdle. This came shortly after Weaver was knocked out of the game with a head injury on Loyola’s second possession of the third quarter.

Down 13-3, Martez Walker took a fumbled kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to three. After Loyola failed to gain a first down on a fake punt attempt, Brother Rice found itself with an opportunity to take the lead. Pat Parrilli found Andrew Walker for a 28-yard catch-and-run and Brother Rice had first-and-goal at the 7. But two big plays for negative yardage, including one of Loyola’s seven sacks, knocked the Crusaders back and Brian Kane missed a 30-yard field goal attempt.

“We’ve got to do a better job of protection, and we’ve got to get rid of the ball in some situations,” Nye said. “We can’t take a sack in some situations. Sometimes you have to live to play another down instead of trying to make the big play.”

Three plays later, Loyola hit a screen pass for a 79-yard touchdown and the Ramblers went up 20-10. Brother Rice put up a late field goal, but never sniffed the end zone again.

This theme isn’t new for Brother Rice. The Crusaders play the toughest schedule in the state, so they have plenty of opportunities to prove themselves against the best. But, so far, they have yet to come through. They lost by four points to St. Rita and fell to Mt. Carmel by 11 earlier in the season. Both were winnable games. Both would have been statement victories.

“If we continue to play that way we’re going to be a formidable opponent for anyone,” Nye said. “I wouldn’t want to play us.”

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