FOOTBALL : Ellison, Loyola Get a Whole Lot Out of a Half in Win at Canyon

After being nearly unstoppable in scoring three touchdowns and gaining 115 yards in the first half, Loyola High running back Mike Ellison did not gain a yard in the second half of the Cubs’ 34-7 victory over Canyon in a Southern Section nonconference game Friday night at Canyon Country.

That’s because Ellison, a 5-foot-11 senior, was given the second half off by Loyola Coach Steve Grady to allow the Cubs’ younger players to get some playing time.

“We had a great opportunity tonight to get guys who were a little bit behind our first string some plays,” said Grady, whose team improved to 2-0 after defeating Fountain Valley, 21-7, last week. “We played fairly well in that our offense did some good things and our defense also did well.”

In 13 carries, Ellison scored on touchdown runs of 51, two and two, to lead Loyola to a commanding 20-0 halftime lead before Grady called off the attack against an overmatched Canyon team.

“Yes, I’m surprised that we were able to play like this against Canyon,” Grady said. “We just outmanned Canyon. I never thought that it would be like this.”

“Last year, (Ellison) really didn’t play that much for us,” Grady also said. “But, he runs real tough and is getting better every week.”

First-year Coach Larry Mohr, who replaced legendary Canyon Coach Harry Welch, had little success against a stingy Loyola defense as the Cowboys gained only 63 yards in the first half. Last week Canyon (0-2) lost to Righetti, 37-22.

Loyola (2-0) entered the game as The Times’ seventh-ranked team in the Southland and showed Canyon why from the start.

With Ellison controlling the ground attack, Loyola quarterback Kyle Spielbuhler was able to complete eight of 12 passes for 95 yards.

On defense, the Cubs recovered two fumbles and had an interception by Patrick Klein as they held Canyon scoreless until the final minutes of the game, when the Cowboys scored on a fourth-down, five-yard pass play from Brian Bialas to Brian Connelly.

Backup quarterback Scott Walter played in the second half and completed a 22-yard touchdown pass to Matt Peterson before backup tailback Michael Vanis completed the Cubs’ scoring with an eight-yard touchdown run.

Next week: Loyola at Saugus.