The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2025-26 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The562’s coverage of Cabrillo Athletics is sponsored by the Cohn Family.
A roller coaster season for the Long Beach Poly flag football team still ended up with the Jackrabbits at the top of the Moore League. The question now becomes: will they have company?
With a 47-0 win over Cabrillo on Wednesday evening, the Jackrabbits secured a share of their third consecutive Moore League championship, and will now await their postseason draw.
With a young roster that’s been in constant flux this season, Poly finishes Moore League play with a 10-2 record, and have never finished outside of first place in the brief history of flag football.
“It’s great,” said head coach Rob Shock. “To continue to have a Moore League title, it means a lot to the kids, and means a lot to the seniors to keep that tradition alive.”
One of those seniors is Ki’ele Ho-Ching, who had another memorable performance in her final Moore League game. Ho-Ching scored four total touchdowns–with three in the first half–to give the Jackrabbits a 21-0 lead at intermission.
She opened the scoring on Poly’s first drive, catching a crossing route from QB Brooklyn Richardson before racing up her own sideline and into the end zone. In the second quarter, she hauled in a 19-yard TD pass from backup QB Makayla Lumpkin.
On the final play of the half, Ho-Ching showed off her versatility, taking a pitch from Lumpkin on an end around, setting her feet and tossing a TD pass to Sunni Vaafuti.
In addition to her TD pass, Richardson also caught some passes at wide receiver and added an interception on defense. That dynamic duo has been a real key for the Jackrabbits as they’ve brought in a bunch of young talent onto the varsity roster.
“The younger kids have stepped up,” said Shock. “You see our rotation of our team putting kids at different positions, not relying on just one or two people, but obviously you can tell who the difference maker is for us here. I mean, Ki’ele did a great job, she had a great final Moore League game. And Brooklyn has been an awesome person who’s been so versatile for us, and played every position.”
Ho-Ching scored a long TD on the first play of the second half to give her four on the day, and the Jackrabbits continued to pour it on from there.
Junior Monica Goggins recorded a Pick 6 on the very next drive, then Lumpkin ran in a score of her own later in the third quarter. Poly capped the scoring on a TD scamper by junior running back Neela Bagley.
Shock also made sure to get one of his injured players onto the field late, as senior Nefi Williams entered the game for a single play. The standout defensive back has missed the entire season, but got to get one carry on offense before gingerly returning to the sidelines.
Now the Jackrabbits will wait to see if they’ll have company in first place as both Compton and Millikan have a chance to join them.
Compton won 40-0 against Wilson on Wednesday and will finish out the regular season at Lakewood on Monday.
Millikan also kept pace with an 18-0 win at Lakewood and will finish out their schedule on Monday when they host Cabrillo.
CIF-SS playoff brackets in six divisions will be released on Oct. 17.
