Long Beach Poly players and coaches alike agreed: they wanted a strong performance against Lakewood to close the regular season on a high note. That’s exactly what Poly did in a dominant win, beating the Lancers 53-18.
“We knew what we needed to do today, and we came out and did it,” said Poly coach Stephen Barbee.
The win gives Poly an undefeated Moore League title and closes the regular season for the Jackrabbits, who have the bye next week and will now await next Sunday’s CIF-SS bracket release.
Poly opened up a 34-6 lead after the first quarter and a 41-12 lead at halftime. Everything Poly did offensively seemed to work, as they averaged 13.6 yards per play. Quarterback CJ Montes was 9/13 for 256 yards and four touchdowns, with 68 yards rushing and another touchdown.
The scoring opened on a 50 yard touchdown run by Montes and then continued a few minutes later when he hit Kenyon Reed on a wide receiver screen that turned into a long touchdown.
Amajay Gravelly ran in a score as well, and Oregon State commit Alex Austin had a huge night on the eve of his official visit to Corvallis. Austin had a 90-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and a 47-yard touchdown catch.
“It’s my last regular season game, I had to make it memorable,” he said.
For Lakewood, Jakob Lemeiux had a kickoff return for a touchdown and Sebastian Kronberger ran in a score as part of his 101-yard effort. Quarterback Gevani McCoy hit Mister Bridges for the Lancers’ third score.
The game was played with a running clock for the third and fourth quarters.
“It wasn’t our best effort,” said Lakewood coach Mike Christensen. “Now we’ve just got to win and hope for the best.”
Lakewood needs a win over Cabrillo next week and for Compton to beat Wilson in order to force a three-way tie for third place between the Lancers, Tarbabes and Bruins.
Read more about the playoff scenarios here.
Full story coming soon
