Friday night’s game between the Ramblers and Crusaders was like your favorite action thriller movie. It had it all. The build up, the anticipation, and the excitement.

The Ramblers edged out rival foe Brother Rice 46-43 in a high scoring offensive battle. The game was highlighted by a record breaking performance for the senior Loyola running back Marco Maldonado. Maldonado ended the night with 335 yards and 4 touchdowns, breaking the previous Loyola single game rushing record of 330 yards set by James Bradley in 2001 in a game against New Trier.

Every bit of that performance was needed to oust the Crusaders.

The two teams traded touchdowns from the beginning of the game. The Crusaders offense was led by the Notre Dame recruit quarterback Jack Laush. Laush went from 16-26 on passing, totaling 289 yards with three touchdown passes.

The Rambler’s field general had a night himself, Stearney went 14-24, throwing for 196 yards and a touchdown. Stearney also picked up another touchdown via the ground, scampering for a 49 yard touchdown in the second quarter.

The Ramblers pulled ahead by 3 points, 24-21 when the teams went to halftime. Despite an extended halftime due to lightning, the teams made it back out on the field to resume play and both teams picked up right where they left off. After the Ramblers marched down the field to score a touchdown on their opening drive, the Crusaders fired back with a Jack Laush 22 yard rushing touchdown.

Laush’s heroics came back into play in the waning moments of the 4th quarter as the Crusaders found themselves down 10 points before Laush marched his team down the field to score a touchdown to pull his team within 3 with 3:34 left in the game.

The game came down to a third down play, with the Ramblers in possession of the ball. The Crusaders had stopped the Ramblers short of the first down marker, but the defensive unit was penalized for a face masking penalty sealing the game for the Ramblers.

After the game Brother Rice head coach Brian Badke said in an interview with the Sun Times, “Defensively we played horrible. We weren’t prepared in a couple areas and they exposed us. But we will be back.”

Despite a few hiccups the Brother Rice squad played a pretty sound game, but just couldn’t stop the monster performance by Maldonado. Rambler coach John Holecek said following the win, “We knew they were a state contender. We knew how good the quarterback was. They have speed everywhere. We knew that if we could win this game, we’re right there in the conversation too.”

Holecek also commented on the performance by Maldonado saying, “If he doesn’t have a ton of offers after this game. The patience, the acceleration he has – he is amazing. I think that’s the best game I’ve ever seen from a running back.”

The Ramblers improved to 4-0 after the win, marking the second win against a top three opponent on the season. The Ramblers remain in the number one spot of the Sun Times rankings. Their next game comes on Friday night against the Friars of Fenwick high school.