Long Beach Poly s John Smith, left, celebrates with teammate Manusamoa Luuga after Smith scored a touchdown against Clovis North s in the second quarter of the Division 1 Regional at Veterans Stadium. (Stephen Carr Staff Photographer)
LONG BEACH - It took a while for Long Beach Poly High to shake what may have been a week-long hangover after winning the CIF Southern Section Pac-5 Division title last week.
But after falling behind Clovis North by a touchdown early, it was all Jackrabbits in a Division I state regional football game Friday at Veterans Stadium, where they scored 28 consecutive points to come away with a 28-7 victory over the Broncos before about 6,000.
The game was tied 7-7 at halftime.
Poly (12-3) will now play Granite Bay (12-3) next Friday night at 8 for the state title at Home Depot Center. Clovis North, winner of the Central Section Division I title, finished 12-2.
Poly did much of its damage on clutch fourth-down plays. On fourth-and-9, Eban Jackson II (4 of 8, 64 yards) threw a touchdown pass to John "JuJu" Smith to tie it at 7-7 early in the second quarter. Jackson had come on to spell Tai Tiedemann (5 of 14, 57 yards), who had been unable to move the Jackrabbits.
Then on fourth-and-14 with 8:23 left to play in the third quarter, Tiedemann was back in and he hit Brock Meckelborg on a 25-yard touchdown connection for a 14-7 lead.
The Jackrabbits, who rushed for only 38 yards in the first half, then went a long way when they embarked on a 16-play, 90-yard drive that featured 13
runs out of the Wildcat formation. It finished with a 2-yard touchdown run by Gerard Wicks (15 carries, 112 yards) and a 21-7 lead. During the drive, Tiedemann hit Smith for a 7-yard gain on fourth-and-5.Poly finished with 216 rushing yards.
"In the first half, with our game plan, we wanted to throw a lot," said Manusamoa Lu'uga, who finished with 91 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. "We saw that the DBs and everybody were playing off, so we looked at it as an opportunity to throw. The only thing that killed us was our execution.
"Going into the locker room (at halftime), we needed to run the ball. That's what coach (Raul) Lara said. Me and Wicks had to do it."
Then the defense, which once again played stellar ball, stepped up on Clovis North's next possession. Broncos quarterback Christian Rossi had taken his team from his 40-yard line to the Poly 29. On second-and-1, Rossi threw a pass that was intercepted by Jordan Davidson with 8:52 left in the game.
"Our defense saved us in the first half," Lara said. "If it wasn't for our defense stopping them, we're probably losing 21-7 at halftime. ... Our defense has been playing big, as always."
Rossi (14 of 24, 167 yards) left the game on his team's next possession after sustaining what appeared to be an injury to his right knee.
Lu'uga completed the scoring with 2-yard touchdown run with 1:17 to play.
Clovis North appeared as if it was going to get on the board at the 7:50 mark of the first quarter, but Kyle Stevens missed wide left on a 23-yard field-goal attempt.
But after holding Poly without a first down for the second consecutive series, the Broncos took the ball at the Jackrabbits' 41-yard line after a short punt. Rossi quickly led his team downfield.
On first down, he connected with Marcus Rose on a 37-yard pass completion for a first-and-goal at the 4. Bolu Olorunfunmi ran it in on the next play for a 7-0 Broncos lead with 5:49 to play in the first.
Poly again went three-and-
out and after just a 30-yard punt by Fernando Martinez, Rossi again began to move his team after starting at the Broncos' 48.
But on third-and-12 at the Poly 13, Rossi was sacked for a 6-yard loss. On came Stevens, who this time missed wide left from 36 yards after his holder had to field a high snap.
At that point, the Jackrabbits were fortunate to be down by just seven.
Jackson came on to replace Tiedemann at quarterback, and he came on to lead Poly on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with the 9-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Smith at 9:28 of the second quarter. Jackson lofted a sweet pass into the end zone, Smith out-leaping a couple of defenders to make the grab.
Later in the quarter, Matthew Mitai - normally a defensive back - was brought in to attempt a 41-yard field goal for Poly. He missed badly.
Clovis North did not get a first down on its next possession and punted the ball away. Smith muffed the punt and Tymon Locklin recovered for the Broncos at the Jackrabbits' 32-yard line.
That take-away did not bear fruit for the Broncos, however. This time, Stevens had a 27-yard field-goal attempt blocked by Smith with 2:12 to play in the half.
Rossi was sacked three times in the half, but he still managed to complete eight of 12 passes for 111 yards.
Poly had just 122 yards of offense in the half.
robert.morales@presstelegram.com
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