Calvert Hall holds off Loyola Blakefield to claim a 28-24 victory in the 105th Turkey Bowl

Calvert Hall quarterback Oliver Noll quickly made amends for a rough outing in last year’s Turkey Bowl against Loyola Blakefield by leading the Cardinals to a 28-24 victory Nov. 27 in the 105^th meeting between the Towson-area Catholic schools.

Calvert Hall players celebrate with their schoolmates after a 28-24 victory in the 105th Turkey Bowl. (John Strohsacker/For The Catholic Review)

The junior, who threw three interceptions in a 17-14 loss in 2024, came out firing in front of nearly 8,000 fans at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium in the 2025 edition of the storied rivalry. He threw two TD passes in the opening minutes and then the Cardinals held off a comeback by the Dons.

Senior Chris Hewitt’s return of the opening kickoff gave Calvert Hall (6-4) good field position for its first drive — a 59-yard, six-play sequence aided by Noll’s 23-yard scramble and a 28-yard touchdown toss to junior wideout Micha Morozov.

The Cardinals doubled the lead on their next possession after Noll connected with sophomore receiver Amar Lanier for a 41-yard touchdown. Junior Cole Kantorski made both conversion kicks to make it, 14-0, midway through the first quarter.

Loyola (5-6) responded on its third chance, going 51 yards in eight plays with sophomore quarterback Carlos Spencer’s run covering the final 9 yards for the Dons’ first score to halve the deficit. Spencer’s 22-yard pass to freshman Levi Axe on fourth down paved the way for the touchdown.

Calvert Hall players celebrate after the Cardinals second touchdown in the 105th Turkey Bowl. (John Strohsacker/For The Catholic Review)

The Cardinals struck back in short order when Ace Holmes shredded a tackle in the backfield and exploded through a hole on a 78-yard jaunt into the end zone to increase the lead to 21-7 just 15 seconds into the second quarter.

When asked what happened once he spotted the opening, the senior running back was a man of few words.

“Gone,” he said about his sixth TD of the season and a career-long scamper. “Skedaddled.”

The margin ballooned to 28-7 after Noll bolted 19 yards for another score on the ninth run of a 10-play drive. His screen pass to senior running back Harrison O’Connell converted a third-and-8 to help the cause.

Noll was up front about struggles in last year’s showdown.

“One hundred percent,” he said. “But I exchanged three picks for three touchdowns today.”

Loyola Blakefield quarterback Carlos Spencer celebrates a Loyola score with lineman Parker Matthew in the 105th Turkey Bowl. (John Strohsacker/For The Catholic Review)

His run for the Cardinals’ final score came from a play that he thought might work.

“My coaches told me that we would come back to that play (at the right time),” he said.

The Dons dug into the deficit with an 11-play sortie, concluded on Spencer’s 17-yard strike to sophomore wideout Logan Furst with just 17 seconds left in the opening half. Completions to senior Brayden Pross and junior Evan Jackson kept the drive alive.

A muffed punt by the Cardinals gave Loyola more momentum to open the third quarter, leading to a 6-yard scoring pass from Spencer to Pross followed by senior James Lazzati’s 37-yard field goal on its ensuing possession to pull within 28-24 worth 2:25 left in the period.

That gave the Dons plenty of time to complete their comeback, and they marched to the Calvert Hall 6-yard line before missing a 26-yard field-goal attempt against a brisk wind early in the final quarter.

Neither team could get much traction in the late going, although the specter of a Loyola rally loomed until sophomore defensive back Jordan Hicks’ third interception of the season secured the Cardinals’ first win over Loyola since 2022. The Dons still maintain an all-time lead in the series 52-45-8.

Hicks said he rolled out in the same direction that Spencer did before tracking the ball.

Calvert Hall coach Ty Ward gets the winning bucket treatment. (John Strohsacker/For The Catholic Review)

“It fell right in my hands,” he said. “It just feels really good to beat those guys.”

Noll said that things got a little scary in the second half before the ‘D’ came to the rescue.

“We needed to do a better job of finishing in the second half,” Noll said. “But our defense ended it.”

Calvert Hall coach Ty Ward — a veteran of playing in four games in the 161-year-old rivalry between his alma mater, Lehigh University, and Lafayette College — said that the annual Turkey Bowl battle is a positive event. It’s a “good thing that the players get to play in a game that so many people care about.”

He also emphasized that facing Loyola will always be a challenge.

“They’re going to keep being a formidable opponent every year,” Ward said. “(Loyola) coach Holzer does a great job. We knew that they would try to stop our running game, so we had to loosen them up and go over the top.”

And he was pleased that Noll was up to the task.

Calvert Hall celebrates its 28-24 victory in the 105th Turkey Bowl. (John Strohsacker/For The Catholic Review)

“I think some people unfairly criticized him last year,” Ward added. “He did everything he needed to do today.”

Holmes said that he and the Cardinals had Noll’s back.

“He played in the game at quarterback as a sophomore, and that can be overwhelming,” he continued. “Oliver is just a natural-born leader.”

Holzer lamented some late mistakes by the Dons that were very costly.

“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot because we were making mistakes, assignment-wise,” he said. “I think offensively we didn’t move the ball as well as we wanted initially because I got too cute in the game-planning process. We did some things that aren’t within our wheelhouse, as opposed to sticking with what we do well. I think it was a combination of things.”

To view more photos by John Strohsacker of the 105th Turkey Bowl, click through the slideshow below: