Long Beach Poly Holds On, 27-24

With all the big plays and key turning points, Long Beach Poly High won not with a bang, but a whimper Friday.

A wobbly fourth-down pass from Anaheim Esperanza quarterback Chris Stretch slipped out of the hands of Ryan Wilkins, leaving Poly with a 27-24 victory at Long Beach Veterans Stadium.

The Aztecs, who had to chase the Jackrabbits from the game’s first play, got as far as the Poly 30 in the final two minutes.

Esperanza (3-2), ranked eighth in The Times’ poll, had closed from deficits of 21-7 and 27-16. In the end, though, they were one big play short.

Poly, ranked No. 4 by The Times, went ahead at the start. Stretch’s first pass was tipped by Bruce Carter and intercepted by Jerry Sprewell, who returned it 15 yards for a touchdown. It was one of many big plays by the Jackrabbit defense.

Stretch, who was averaging more than 200 yards passing per game coming in, was 11 of 26 for 92 yards. He was also sacked four times, twice by linebacker Vanrick Francis. Stretch also fumbled a snap, which was recovered by Sprewell, in the fourth quarter.

Aaron Tyler scored touchdowns of two, six and eight yards for the Jackrabbits. The two-yard run came after Tyler returned a kickoff 79 yards to the Aztec four in the first quarter. Poly (5-0) led by 21-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Aztecs stayed close with opportunities provided by Poly quarterback Robert Toler. Kareem Clark scooped up a Toler fumble and went 59 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. Anton Hector intercepted a Toler pass and returned it 58 yards in the third quarter to set up a one-yard touchdown run by Darhin Footman.

Footman led a fourth-quarter drive that ended in a four-yard touchdown run by Stretch. Stretch ran for the two-point conversion to make the score 27-24.