The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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  • Mankato Loyola’s Trenton Marks scored on a 58-yard run in the first half of Friday’s season-opening football game against Providence Academy. Pat Christman

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  • Mankato Loyola’s Wes Otto (61) comes up with a fumble recovery to stop a Providence Academy drive during the first quarter of Friday’s game. Pat Christman

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September 4, 2010

Loyola shows promise, but falls to Providence in opener

Crusaders amass 345 yards of offense

By Chad Courrier Free Press Staff Writer

MANKATO — At halftime, Mankato Loyola had more than 200 yards of offense and had 15 minutes of possession in the 24-minute half.

Yet, the Crusaders trailed 28-6.

“I felt good about it,” said Kevin Mettler, the longtime Loyola assistant who was making his head-coaching debut. “That was a (Class 3A) school we were playing, and they’re twice the size we are and had twice the amount of players. We just have to cut down on our mistakes.”

Providence Academy scored four touchdowns of more than 50 yards and defeated Loyola 51-20 in a nonconference game at the Loyola field. The Crusaders’ offensive numbers were OK, but the Lions’ offense was more explosive.

“We need work on tackling, but those are mistakes we can work on,” Mettler said. “We had a lot of new guys playing so it was tough.”

After Providence Academy went up 7-0 at 7:20 of the first quarter, Loyola countered with a 58-yard touchdown run by Trenton Mark to cut the lead to 7-6.

But two plays later, the Lions scored on a 58-yard run. Then on a 95-yard run and a 10-yard run, and the halftime score was 28-6.

The second half began with Providence Academy’s 87-yard kickoff return, and a high snap on a punt led to a safety and a 37-6 lead. A 57-yard pass put the Lions up 44-6 late in the third quarter.

Loyola sophomore quarterback Blake Matuska completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to Austin Maher, and Matuska’s two-point run made it 44-14.

After Providence Academy scored again, Loyola capped the game with Brent Douglass’ 5-yard run.

“I thought Blake had a great game,” Mettler said. “He’s a sophomore, making his first start.

“Matt Weber ran hard, Luke Hermer ran hard, Trenton Marks ran hard until he got hurt. We had a couple of injuries that hurt us, but we’ll be OK.”

Matuska passed for 65 yards on three completions. Marks had 83 yards rushing, Hermer added 67 and Weber had 66.

Loyola had 345 yards of offense.

“The offensive line opened some holes, and the running backs ran hard,” Matuska said. “We need to cut down on the mistakes, but we can fix that in practice.”

Loyola plays Friday at St. Peter.

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