Poly’s victory leaves ‘em breathless, but not speechless

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For a game in which only two points were scored, Long Beach Poly’s victory over Orange Lutheran in a Southern Section Pac-5 Division semifinal had a lot going for it.

A defensive struggle, the only points came in the first quarter when the ball was snapped over punter James Rammelsberg’s head and into the end zone. Rammelsberg picked up the ball and stepped out the back of the end zone.

Who knew those would be the only points of the night.

Jurrell Casey, the talented defensive lineman for Poly (12-1), expected his team to score at least 30, and his opponents to put up 20 points, ‘at least a couple of touchdowns.’

Instead, neither team got into the end zone in the rematch of last season’s 23-22 victory by Lutheran that preceded its Pac-5 title and Division II state bowl championship. In that one, Lutheran held a 23-0 lead in the fourth quarter.

On Friday, Lutheran missed a 46-yard field goal, and twice was inside the Poly five-yard line. The Lancers outgained Poly, 172 yards to 150. Poly’s deepest drive was to the 10-yard line and eventually resulted in a botched field-goal attempt, and its next-deepest drive was to the Lancers’ 38.

‘I have a lot of respect for them,’ said Casey, who anchored the line that kept Lutheran out of the end zone four times from the one-yard line at the end of the first half, and twice from the one-yard line at the end of the game.

Ultimately, Lutheran sophomore QB Bobby Wheatley -- who came on after starter Blake Hyepock left the game with a sprained ankle early in the second quarter -- mishandled the handoff to Ricky Pemasa in the final minute. Herman Davidson recovered the fumble with 17 seconds left, and Poly had avenged itself after last year’s comeback ended on a botched PAT kick with 2:11 left in the game.

‘The last play was like a movie scene,’ said Vaughn Telemaque, a strong safety who described himself as speechless but couldn’t quit talking after Poly’s victory. ‘I want to thank them for giving us the fight of our lives.

‘We’re coming with all we’ve got, last play of the season, here comes the fumble, and they weren’t going to get the ball back.’

And, it turned out, it wasn’t the last play of the season.

Poly deserves credit for putting Lutheran (11-2) in a position where it felt it had to go for the touchdown with 27 seconds remaining, although Coach Jim Kunau said if they failed to score the next play was going to be a run to center the ball on the field for what would have been the equivalent of an extra-point length field goal.

‘They do a good job with their field-goal rush,’ Kunau said. ‘They do a real good job of blocking kicks. ‘Let’s go for it.’ ‘

Kunau and the Lancers gambled all night, converting two of five fourth-down attempts, including a fake punt from their own 39.

‘We have confidence in our players, we believe we’re going to execute and make plays,’ Kunau said. ‘We weren’t playing or coaching scared.’

-- Martin Henderson