Poly is rounding into shape
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With its victory over Compton complete, Long Beach Poly looks ready for the Southern Section Pac-5 Division playoffs.
The Jackrabbits (8-1, 5-0), who took over the top spot in the Pac-5 coaches’ poll this week following Mater Dei’s 31-12 loss to Orange Lutheran on Friday, are ranked No. 4 in the Southland by The Times.
They will close out the regular season with a Moore League finale against Long Beach Jordan (5-4, 2-3) on Friday with an eye toward recording their eighth consecutive victory -- and quieting their coach’s ‘harping,’ as Raul Lara refers to his season-long refrain about the constant need to improve.
‘We want to keep playing better and better as a cohesive unit. We’ve been harping about it, and the kids have been responding to it,’ he said.
We have to get better every week if we want to get very far in the playoffs in our division. That division is the toughest of anybody’s, anywhere.’
Still, with junior quarterback Morgan Fennell and the rest of the team rounding nicely into playoff form, Lara believes the Jackrabbits have as good an opportunity as anyone, and a better chance than most, to come away with another section title.
The Jackrabbits already have 16 of them, the last coming in 2004, with a 21-6 victory over Los Alamitos in the Southern Section Division I championship game. Poly lost to Orange Lutheran, 23-22, in the Pac-5 Division semifinals last year and were quarterfinalists in 2005.
‘We’re always expected to be around at the end, and I think we are capable of doing that. I like our chances with anybody, but it depends on what happens, and how we play, how we execute,’ Lara said.
‘Hopefully, we still are going to continue to keep getting better.’
Not to harp on that, or anything, though, right, Coach?
Check out Fennell on this YouTube video of the Jackrabbits’ game against Newport Harbor back on Sept. 14: