Football: Long Beach Poly’s playoff chances look bleak

Barring intervention by the Moore League principals, 19-time section champion Long Beach Poly is unlikely to be playing in the Pac-5 playoffs this season.

The Jackrabbits, forced to forfeit three league games because of an ineligible player, finished in a three-way tie for third place with Long Beach Jordan and Long Beach Cabrillo on Friday night.

The three schools’ names were put into an envelope to break the tie. The first school chosen was Poly, which eliminated the Jackrabbits from consideration. Jordan will go as the third-place representative because of a win over Cabrillo.

Cabrillo goes as the fourth-place team because of a forfeit win over Poly. Poly can apply for at-large spot, but its 4-6 record and weak league credentials puts it at a disadvantage in the playoff criteria.

In the Trinity League, a three-way tie for third place was broken by coin flips. Orange Lutheran gets third place, JSerra fourth and Servite fifth. That means the Trinity League could once again get the two at-large berths because of Servite’s strength of schedule edge over Chaminade, the fourth-place team from the Mission League.

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