It’s hard to imagine a team more in desperate need of a win than the Long Beach Poly football team. The Jackrabbits entered Friday night’s contest with Tustin at 0-2, and hosting their last nonleague game before getting into the Moore League and then facing nationally-ranked Mission Viejo. Poly looked dead in the water trailing 21-0 midway through the second quarter, but the Jackrabbits dug deep and found a spark. They pulled together for a total team effort that brought home their first victory of the year, 28-27 over Tustin.
“How bad did we need the win?” asked Poly QB Deuce Jefferson. “REAL bad. We needed that bad. Coming off those two losses and then the previous year people wrote us off. We battled through adversity and came back.”
Jefferson was a huge part of the turnaround for Poly, shaking off a slow start that saw him begin 4/8 for 28 yards with an interception to finish 14/23 for 257 yards and 4 TDs with the pick. There was real evidence of his growth on the game-winning play, where he stood in the pocket in the face of a blitz and found the open man running into the area where the blitz came from, hitting Jayden Coley for a go-ahead TD with two minutes left.
It was a moment almost unimaginable a few hours earlier, where Poly was being outgained 10-1 and had nothing going defensively or offensively, trailing 21-0. At that point, Kasim Shepherd hauled in a goal line interception that prevented Tustin from taking a commanding 28-0 halftime lead. Instead, Jefferson seemed inspired by the sense of urgency as he took over on his own five with 2:19 left in the half. He hit Zion Anderson for a gain, then pushed upfield using his legs to get to the 28, and then completed a 51 yard strike downfield to Coley. Ultimately he found Jaden Hernandez for a 10-yard score just before halftime–Poly’s first touchdown in a game and a half at Vets to that point.
That seemed to wake something up in the entire team, as the Jackrabbits came out of the locker room looking like they were up 14 instead of down by two scores. Running back Harry Johnson led the team right down the field as he began utilizing a straight-line running approach that allowed his power to take over, instead of trying to beat defenders to the edge. Johnson had 60 all-purpose yards in the second half. Jefferson found Coley for a 16-yard touchdown that closed the gap to 21-14 early in the third quarter.
Tustin wouldn’t quit, however, scoring a long touchdown on the ensuing drive; after a penalty moved them back, they went for two and failed to get it, leaving the score 27-14.
Poly needed a quick response and got one, as Jefferson found Zion Anderson the star sophomore for a 46-yard touchdown strike. The teams traded big plays after that as Poly got a blocked field goal that was returned to midfield by Cal commit Deon Jackson. Neither scored again in the third but after Legend Galeai tackled the Tustin punter deep in Tillers territory, Poly looked destined for the win.
Instead, what looked like a touchdown pass from Jefferson to Georgia commit Donte Wright Jr. was ruled incomplete by the officials, a decision that had the sideline in an uproar since it appeared Wright Jr. had both feet inbounds in the end zone with possession. Instead, that game-winning TD was not scored, Poly missed a field goal, and Tustin took over with six minutes left, needing a score to ice it.
The Poly defense took a while getting off the field, but did force a turnover on downs with 3:38 left in the game. After a pair of Johnson runs were stuffed, it was 4th and 2 for Poly on their own 46 with two minutes left–do or die. Jefferson read the blitz perfectly, hit Coley in stride, and celebrated as Poly tied the game up; and then went ahead on an extra point by Jonas Mendoza.
“We knew they’d blitz, and I knew I just needed to deliver the ball and it’s gonna be end zone,” said Jefferson. “We called alert when we saw it and he made a great catch, run the seam and bam, ball in his hands.”
The game still wasn’t won at that point, though, with Poly up 28-27 and two minutes for Tustin to mount a comeback. They hit a few big plays to get to the Poly 21 with time running out. But the sophomore Anderson made a huge play, snagging an interception to end it and give Poly a W.
“They’d been going deep the whole drive, I just told myself to catch the ball and seal the game,” he said. “It was a great game but we had more heart. This win does a lot for us.”
Not only does Poly improve to 1-2, but they got the win with a total team contribution. Jefferson had his best game at QB, Poly ran the ball effectively, the offensive line was effective, and six Poly receivers had a catch including Coley hauling in five catches for 135 yards and two scores. Defensively, Shepherd’s interception keyed a turnaround and Poly got big sacks or tackles for a loss from Jaden Hernandez, Toa Tamasoa, and others. Special teams chipped in as well as Mendoza made all four extra points, and Galeai and Jackson teamed up for stuffs on the blocked punt and field goal attempt.
“It was definitely a team win,” said Poly coach Justin Utupo. “I’m just so happy for the kids–this is why we’re here, this is what we do it for. We do it for them, to see them be successful. We did some great things tonight but there’s also a lot more to improve on.”
Utupo was visibly relieved after getting his first win, and said his team has definitely been hearing it after an 0-2 start.
“I love the Poly community, but if you’re not in the trenches with us Monday through Sunday you don’t know what’s really going on within the program,” he said. “We’re fighting all four quarters. This group does that week in and week out.”
Poly will have a bye before opening Moore League play with road games at Jordan (Sep. 19) and Lakewood (Sep. 26).
