Long Beach Poly (1-2) got its first win of the season last week over Leuzinger, but the Jackrabbits will face the best team on their schedule tonight when they travel to Corona Centennial for their final nonleague game. The Huskies are 3-0 and have won their three games by a combined score of 140-28. They’re ranked No. 4 in the Southern Section by CalPreps and No. 4 in the State.
“Coach Logan does an incredible job year in and year out and truly gets the most out of his players,” said Poly coach Stephen Barbee.
The Jackrabbits are getting a major player back with the return of Daylen Austin from injury, marking the first time the mega-recruit defensive back will actually take the field in a varsity game for Poly.
“It’s nice to be getting some guys back, we’re still not close to our full roster yet for another few weeks but I’m excited to have Daylen and the others back,” said Barbee.
The Jackrabbits are down linebackers Ike Mikaele and Dylan Williams, which has forced another restructuring for a defense that had been down most of its top defensive backs so far this season.
More important for the long term success of the Jackrabbits than just picking up a win last week was the development of some offensive continuity. With co-QB Darius Curry sidelined with injury, Shea Kuykendall had one of his best games for Poly, and running back Devin Samples took the full brunt of the run game responsibilities capably.
“I think we found some things in that game, we were able to manage it and dictate things,” he said. “Obviously they made some plays but we didn’t flinch, we continued to play and execute--that needs to continue for Centennial but also for the rest of the year.”
The game will be livestreamed on Bally Sports, and can be viewed here.
