Mission matches up against Troy for homecoming this week

LOYOLA - An improved effort from the secondary wasn't enough for the Mission Bulldogs to pull out a victory as they dropped to 1-4 on the season with a 39-0 loss at Loyola Sacred Heart on Friday, Sept. 30.

The defense, which struggled a week ago against Florence, kept the Bulldogs in the game against the Rams, holding Loyola to just a first-quarter touchdown early on, but a pair of second-quarter scores pushed the deficit to 20-0 at halftime.

"They improved quite a bit," head coach Rich Ferris said of his secondary. "But [Loyola] ran the ball pretty well."

The Rams added two more TDs in the third quarter to take a 32-0 lead before adding one last touchdown in the fourth. Mission's offense struggled to move the ball, as Dylan Evans, who left last week's game with an injury, came back, but couldn't jump start the offense. Evans finished with four yards passing and added 16 on the ground.

"We just need to get back to the basics," Ferris said. "We need to make sure we block and drive through their guys. We did that at the beginning of the game, but as the game went on, it fell off a bit."

The Bulldogs will have a week to regroup before they welcome the Troy Trojans for a game in St. Ignatius. Ferris says the week is a chance to get back to fundamentals as they try to get back in the win column.

"We will focus on getting under people's pads and driving through the ball," Ferris said.

The Bulldogs will host the Trojans Friday night at 7 p.m.