Junior Leon Kinnard, Loyola Blakefield’s multi-talented quarterback, confidently led the Dons to a share of first-place honors in the MIAA A Conference football league, ending their season with another routing of the Calvert Hall College High School Cardinals on Thanksgiving Day at M&T Bank Stadium by a score of 33-10.
Kinnard made his agenda known from the Towson Dons’ very first play of the game with a brilliant 58-yard pass to teammate Brandon Floyd to take an early 6-0 lead. The team never looked back, as the Dons rolled to their fifth straight Turkey Bowl win over the Cardinals.
The win gave the Dons a 5-1 league record, 9-1 overall, to share the MIAA title with Mount St. Joseph, a title Loyola shared with two other teams, Gilman and McDonogh, in 2006.
Loyola’s head coach Brian Abbott credits his full senior class with a solid season.
While the Dons’ lone conference loss this season came at the hands of Mount St. Joseph on Oct. 19, 24-7, the Gaels dropped one game to the McDonogh Eagles just one week before. This co-championship gives the Gaels their first title since 1996.