No Seconds Thoughts for Long Beach Poly

After a mistake-filled first half, the Long Beach Poly High football team woke up in the third quarter and cruised to a 30-14 victory over Dominguez Friday at Veterans Stadium.

Leading 10-7 at halftime, the Jackrabbits (5-0), one of the top teams in the nation, put up 119 yards and two touchdowns on the Division V Dons (3-2) in the third quarter.

Poly’s Chris Lewis, one of the most highly recruited quarterbacks in the nation, had a bad first half, completing five of 12 attempts for 70 yards and an interception and getting hit often.

After the break, he was almost perfect, going 10 of 12 for 137 yards and two touchdowns. He finished with 207 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

“They hit me hard,” Lewis said. “But I might as well get used to it. Fontana put a lot of pressure on me [last week].

“[At halftime], we sat down, got out the dry-erase board and were really focused on making changes.”

The changes worked for the defending Division I champions.

After committing five turnovers and seeing receivers drop four passes in the first half, the Jackrabbits went 70 yards on their first possession in the third quarter, scoring when Lewis hit receiver Kareem Kelly on a short pass that Kelly turned into a 48-yard score.

“Chris made some good throws underneath in the second half,” Poly Coach Jerry Jaso said. “I was disappointed in our lack of control in the first half. But we controlled the second half.”

The Jackrabbits fumbled the free kick after a bad snap on a Dominguez punt led to a safety.

The Dons also blocked a punt at the Poly 14-yard line, which led to their first score, a three-yard run by Johnny Bentley that gave them a 7-2 lead.

Poly also fumbled at the Dominguez three in the first quarter.

“Our defense played a great game, especially in the first half,” Dominguez Coach Keith Donerson said. “We just made too many mistakes.”