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The562’s football coverage for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Long Beach Poly alums Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
SoFi Stadium provided a beautiful backdrop on Friday night for an ugly football game. Long Beach Poly traveled up the freeway to face Inglewood as the Sentinels played their first game at the NFL stadium that’s in the school’s backyard. The shorthanded Jackrabbits were without a quarterback in the game and were outclassed by Inglewood, 36-10.
After the game, frustration spilled over for a beleaguered Poly team, as there were arguments between players on the sideline following the handshake.
“We have to fight through adversity,” said Poly coach Travon Patterson. “Right now we’re going through a lot of it. We have to keep our control and keep our emotions. We know what our team is about–there’s no giving up in our team.”
Patterson said before the season that as a Poly alum, he knew how short the patience was among Poly fans and alum for slow starts, and that such a start brought a lot of pressure to bear. As his program has started 1-4, with two one-score losses, that pressure seemed to come to a boil on Friday night.
The Jackrabbits have one more nonleague game on the schedule on the road against Rancho Cucamonga next week before they open Moore League play–perhaps more importantly, before the CIF-SS Sit Out Period date comes, meaning that their full roster including transfers will be available for the first time.
“Right now we have to let them know that they’re still a good team,” said Patterson of his message. “They have to continue to fight and never give up–they’re right there. Inglewood was better than us today, and we have to do a better job of getting our team prepared for Fridays.”
Preparation aside, the Jackrabbits found themselves in a nearly impossible situation Friday–their quarterback so far this season, Ace Seve, was out with an injury, leaving them with no quarterbacks available on the roster. UCLA-offered sophomore Trevor Scott won’t be eligible until after next week’s game as an SOP transfer, and the third QB on their roster transferred out of the school after not playing in Poly’s first game.
With Seve on the sideline, the Jackrabbits made a tough ask of five-star cornerback Miami commit Donte Wright Jr., who went under center as the team’s emergency quarterback. Wright, who hadn’t played quarterback since youth football, managed to give Poly about the same level of offensive production as they’ve had, going 14/24 for 125 yards, a touchdown and an interception, along with 20 yards rushing. For the most part he did a good job of evading pressure, which has been a challenge for Poly as their offense had given up two strip sack fumble touchdowns in the last two weeks.
Inglewood made a statement on their opening drive, bruising Poly’s defense on a run-filled drive that saw them punch it in on a pass from Lincoln Jahn to Andre Williams. Poly’s offense drove to the Inglewood 30 but stalled there, turning it over on downs and setting up another Inglewood touchdown drive early in the second quarter, making it 12-0 Sentinels.
The Jackrabbits had a long drive after that, as Wright ran the ball several times, completed a nine-yard pass to Zion Anderson, and the Jackrabbits also benefited from a roughing the punter call on a fourth down. But the drive stalled at the nine yard line after the Jackrabbits elected to go for it and the pass fell incomplete on fourth and goal.
After a big sack by sophomore linebacker Jeionn Johnson, the Jackrabbits got the ball back late in the second quarter. A personal foul helped move the ball into the Inglewood red zone, and kicker Jonas Mendoza put Poly on the board with a 35-yard field goal. They trailed 12-3 at the break.
The Poly defense dug deep in the third quarter, forcing a turnover on a sack by Dez Howard and a huge hit by Ray Umi. But a dropped pass stalled the next Poly drive out after just three plays, and forced the Jackrabbits’ defense to make another stop. They did, halting Inglewood at midfield, but a Wright pass was intercepted on the first play of Poly’s next drive, with the third quarter ending 12-3.
Inglewood broke through in the fourth and took control of the game however, with a pair of long touchdowns. Wright finally got Poly into the end zone as he hit Jayden Coley for a score. Inglewood scored another touchdown to wrap it up 36-10.
Poly (1-4) will travel to Rancho Cucamonga next week while Inglewood (4-1) will host Downey.
