Loyola Prep dominates Magnolia, 45-0, with balanced performance

Loyola Prep easily handled Magnolia 45-0 on Friday night at Independence Stadium to open the regular season.

The running game and defense looked sharp for the Flyers from the outset.

Loyola began the scoring frenzy started with three-yard run from Trace Wall at the 4:58 mark of the first quarter to jump out in front 7-0. Later in the first quarter, the Flyers capped their next possession with a field goal from Avian Smith.

The next Loyola drive ended in paydirt when Wes Barlow scored on a two-yard run a minute into the second quarter to bring the score to 17-0.

Jacob Lafitte’s six-yard run with 6:17 to go in the half made it 23-0.

The Flyer defense made matters worse for Magnolia (0-1) with a pair of late first half touchdowns. An 11-yard score off of fumble recovery by Koran Jackson and fumble recovery in the end zone by Andrew DeFatta gave the Flyers a 38-0 advantage.

Loyola (1-0) scored one last time at the six minute mark in the third quarter with a seven-yard pass from Jacob Lafitte to Tray Taylor

It was a workmanlike effort for the Flyers after the long wait to return to the field.

“The team played hard and showed good effort,” said Loyola head coach Scott Mallien said.

Next Friday, Loyola will play Jonesboro-Hodge (1-0) while a very young Magnolia team will look to bounce back when they play Ringgold (0-1).