Chiefs fall to reigning champ

RONAN — Jim Benn was pretty straight-forward when it comes to evaluating how his Ronan Chiefs got beat Friday: Loyola Sacred Heart is just that good.

“They’re very talented and that tends to make things not go your way,” the Ronan coach said of the 48-13 blowout loss.

The Chiefs fell to 1-3, 0-1 in Western 6-B following the homecoming defeat, putting them in an early hole in terms of playoff positioning.

Led by quarterback Matt McHugh, Loyola started off hot and didn’t look back on Friday, scoring 21 points in the first quarter and 42 prior to halftime.

Ronan’s offensive unit gained yardage (175 rushing yards total), but workhorse fullback Lucas Gerhardt was held to just 36 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Connor Benn led the charge with 70 yards on 10 keepers.

Senior Ron Cullis registered a team-high eight tackles in the defeat.

“We didn’t play well in any phase of the game,” Benn said. But the loss was certainly a learning experience for his coaching staff.

“Anytime you have a situation like that, you have to take a different look at some of the things you’re doing,” he said. “We found out … how aggressive we have to help our kids be.”

Benn said that his strategy at Deer Lodge this weekend will be much more attack-oriented on the defensive side of the ball against district foe Deer Lodge this week.

“We’re 0-1 in conference and that’s really all the matters,” he said. “We need to win our last three conference games to make the playoffs.”

That will be no walk in the park either against a 4-1 Warden team that crashed St. Ignatius’ homecoming last week.