The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
Long Beach Poly head coach Rob Shock let out a big sigh of relief after his team’s 26-7 victory over Wilson on Monday evening.
Moore League victories are nothing new to Shock and the Jackrabbits, but W’s have been hard to come by in the preseason. Poly entered Monday’s game winless on the season against a tough schedule, but now with a full complement of players available, the Jackrabbits took care of business against the rival Bruins.
“When we play in that Chargers tournament, there’s some great teams in there, some awesome teams, and we love to be a part of that,” said Shock, who feels the team wouldn’t have benefitted from having some easy wins on their early season schedule. “We want to play to that (high) level, and I need the girls to see what that looks like.”
Poly and Wilson played a back-and-forth game for the first 18 minutes, until the host Jackrabbits were able to pull away.
The green & gold hit the scoreboard first on their second possession of the game, as QB Kenzie Paimany was able to lead a scoring drive. First she relied on Sophia Hernandez over the middle for a few nice grabs to get into scoring range, then running back Amai’a Johnson nearly scored on a dumpoff pass before having her flag pulled at the one-yard line.
Paimany was able to hit Brooklyn Richardson for the score on the next play, putting Poly up 6-0 while getting a nice game started for Richardson.
Wilson was able to respond with a long TD toss from freshman QB Skylar Metcalf to fellow ninth grader Elsa Habig. The pass went through the hands of a Poly defender, but Habig showed great focus to haul in the deflection and then win the footrace to the end zone. When Metcalf ran in the extra point, it gave Wilson a 7-6 lead late in the opening quarter.
Poly rattled off the rest of the points, however, scoring 20 unanswered including a pair of key touchdowns in the second quarter.
First, Richardson checked in at quarterback and on her first play was able to scramble 15 yards into the end zone, eluding multiple defenders along the way which featured a trademark spin move through a pair of Bruins.
Poly then increased its lead to 20-7 at halftime, when sophomore Neveah Johnson shot a pass over to Amai’a Johnson, who was able to scamper her way into the end zone for her first of two TDs on the day.
The running back added a similar catch-and-run TD on the first play of the fourth quarter to cap the scoring, only this time it was Makayla Lumpkin delivering the pass. In all, Poly used four different quarterbacks, and each of them delivered a touchdown.
“I was very happy with the way I was able to go out there and score for my team,” said Amai’a Johnson of her performance in the win. “You know, we had a rough start to the season, so as our first win, I’m glad it was a good game.”
Even though she’s just a sophomore, Johnson played with a lot of confidence and has full faith in her team to shake off the slow start to the year and deliver another Moore League title this fall.
“We’ve got the confidence, we’ve got the players, the skill, the athleticism. So I’m really confident in myself and my team,” she said.
The Poly defense was then able to finish the job, rotating in players to get a consistent pass rush against Metcalf at quarterback. Julie Lopez was able to finish off the game with an interception to put a cherry on top of the win.
Shock hopes his defense will continue to play well on Wednesday when his Jackrabbits visit Millikan for a huge Moore League showdown. His point of emphasis between now and then is making sure the offense stays on the same page.
“I just hope our offense has more chemistry,” he said. “We need to connect and give our receivers an opportunity to catch the ball. If we run our plays, we’re open. I think it’s just about reading that and being smart and making that play.”
Wilson is now 0-2 in league play against the two defending champions, and will look to hit the win column next Monday at Jordan after getting the bye on Wednesday.
