SOUTHERN SECTION ROUNDUP : Antelope Valley Stuns Loyola With Furious Rally

This time, Antelope Valley High completed the upset.

The Antelopes, who came within a whisker of upsetting the third-ranked team in the state last week, finished the job Friday night by knocking off heavily favored Loyola, 15-14, in a nonleague game at Antelope Valley.

Antelope Valley scored 15 points in the fourth quarter to stun Loyola, ranked sixth in the state by Cal-Hi Sports. Despite driving to the one-yard line in the final minute last week, the Antelopes fell, 19-16, to Bakersfield.

Trailing, 14-8, Antelope Valley scored the winner on a 13-yard pass from Mike Gleich to wide receiver David Newman with 15 seconds to play. Chad Shrout kicked the extra point to hand Antelope Valley the victory.

It marked Antelope Valley’s first victory over Loyola in nine tries.

“Oh, man, this is something else,” Antelope Valley Coach Brent Newcomb said. “We wanted to make history tonight. This is what coaching is all about.”

Antelope Valley (3-1) drove 80 yards in 14 plays on the final drive, which was kept alive by third-down holding and face mask penalties against Loyola’s defense in the final minute.

With Antelope Valley trailing, 14-0, Gleich connected with Newman on a 23-yard scoring pass with 11:09 to play. A roughing-the-kicker penalty on Loyola on the conversion try moved the ball to the one-yard line, and tailback Jermaine Lewis scored on a run up the middle for the two-point conversion.

Newman had six catches for 96 yards. Lewis, a sophomore, finished with 108 yards in 20 carries. Loyola (3-1) held Antelope Valley to minus-six yards and no first downs in the first half.