Long Beach Poly took a trip down to Mission Viejo looking for a win, or at least some momentum. The Jackrabbits went 1-2 in their other nonleague games, then found out several transfers were denied by the CIF Southern Section; after wins over Jordan and Lakewood to start Moore League, the ship seemed to be righted, with just one more stop in South Orange County to wrap the nonleague schedule before finishing the Moore League slate.
Instead of getting good news, the Jackrabbits came home with plenty of bad news, as more key injuries and their sloppiest game of the season sank their hopes against the Diablos in a lopsided 56-7 loss that saw the clock run almost the whole fourth quarter.
“We got to get there,” said Poly coach Justin Utupo. “We have to watch film—it’s not going to be pleasant, what we’ll watch film. We have to get it corrected, because next week we have another big matchup and we can’t continue to make the same mistakes.”
The loss cost more than just dropping the team’s record to 3-3 overall, however. Quarterback Deuce Jefferson injured his foot towards the end of the first half, leaving Poly with no option but to direct snap to a running back until the second half. Jefferson gave it a go in the second half but came back out again, with backup QB/defensive end Legend Galeai in the rest of the game.
That throws plenty into question with a big game looming next week between Poly and Millikan.
“He felt like he could go in the second half, and then we took him out to keep him healthy moving forward for the season,” said Utupo. “We still got a long, long season ahead.”
The game started well for the Jackrabbits. After Mission Viejo drove into Poly territory, a Jaden Hernandez sack slowed them down and then the Jackrabbits came up with a big play to get off the field on fourth down. The Jackrabbits drove to the Diablos 37 yard line with a series of nice throws by Jefferson, but he was intercepted with a long return to set up Mission Viejo’s first touchdown.
The Jackrabbits answered though, on a drive that saw Hernandez take a fake punt 30 yards for a huge gain. Jefferson had runs of 21 yards and 15 yards as well as the five-yard touchdown that tied the game 7-7 with 8:32 left in the second quarter.
The Diablos would take control of the game, however. They scored on their next drive, then forced a three-and-out that saw Jefferson injured on a sack. The Diablos scored on a 60-yard touchdown pass the next play, and Poly was left to try and unsuccessfully run the clock out on the ensuing drive, with the Diablos scoring their third touchdown in the final five minutes of the half to take a 28-7 lead into the locker room.
Poly got a long drive out of Jefferson to start the second and a half, burning more than seven minutes of game time and driving to the Mission 30 before turning it over on downs. The Diablos would go on to score every other time they touched the ball, while the Jackrabbits did not get much offense with Jefferson of the field.
Mission Viejo QB Luke Fahey, committed to Ohio State, was excellent going 22/24 for 321 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Poly (3-3, 2-0) will host Millikan at Veterans Memorial Stadium next week at 7pm.
