Underdogs unite!

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Starting tonight and continuing Friday, teams from the Southeast/South Coast area will have a golden opportunity to shake up The Times’ top 25 rankings.

I doubt they will be able to pull it off, but then, that’s why they play the games. Right, Long Beach Poly?

The Jackrabbits, ranked No. 2 two weeks ago, found out the hard way when they fell to Birmingham, 20-7, two weeks ago.

Unranked Long Beach Wilson (1-2) gets the first crack at a ranked team and will try to avoid its third loss in a row by knocking off No. 17 Los Alamitos (2-0) in a nonleague game at 7 tonight at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

On Friday, unheralded Inglewood (1-1), which lost to Wilson, 39-26, in its opener, travels to San Clemente to take on the No. 22 Tritons (2-1). The Sentinels will have to rely heavily on quarterback Marlon Johnson, who is their leading passer and scorer, averaging 122.5 yards through the air and 10 points a game. He also rushes for an average of 67.5 yards a game, second to Alex Harper’s 83.

Also on Friday, improving Long Beach Cabrillo (1-2) faces a daunting opponent in visiting Mater Dei (2-0), the top-ranked team in the Southland and the No. 7 team in the nation in USA Today’s Super 25 rankings, and Carson (1-1) looks to play the role of spoiler again for No. 12 Long Beach Poly (2-1) in an intersectional game at Veterans Stadium.

- Lauren Peterson