Long Beach Poly Is Going Back to Final

They came early and in droves to witness two prep football powers from the area battle for a trip to Edison Field.

Touted as one of the most highly anticipated high school games in the history of the Long Beach region, the Southern Section Division I semifinal between Los Alamitos and Long Beach Poly drew about 10,000 Friday night to Veterans Stadium in Long Beach.

Turns out the hype was better than the game.

Long Beach Poly, bigger, faster and quicker, used big plays and punishing drives en route to a 35-9 drubbing of the Griffins.

Top-seeded Long Beach Poly (13-0) will face defending champion Santa Ana Mater Dei, a 28-21 winner Friday over Rialto Eisenhower, in the championship game next Saturday at Edison Field. It is the third consecutive season the teams have met in the Division I final.

“I don’t know what all the hype was about,” said Poly sophomore running back Hershel Dennis, who rushed for 139 yards in 14 carries and scored four touchdowns. “It was pretty easy.”

Dennis burst through a gaping hole on the Jackrabbits’ second play from scrimmage for a 71-yard touchdown that set the tone and raced 99 yards on a kickoff return late in the first half that gave Poly a 21-6 halftime lead.

He also scored on one and four-yard runs, the latter sealing the victory with 11:31 left.

The Jackrabbit defense limited Los Alamitos (11-2) to a field goal in the second half, despite several Griffin drives deep into Poly territory.

“I thought we had a better chance than this,” Los Alamitos Coach John Barnes said. “But when your offensive line and your defensive line are getting handled by bigger, more physical players, there’s not much you can do.”

Poly’s offensive line, which includes Seth Tago (6-foot-2, 290 pounds), Mitchell Mason (6-2, 270) and Paueli Tamasoa (6-1, 250), moved the Los Alamitos defense around like a bulldozer moving dirt.

Their dominance helped spring Dennis for the 71-yard touchdown and was instrumental in a 16-play, 68-yard touchdown drive later in the first quarter.

“A lot of people were looking at us like we couldn’t do anything because we lost a lot of seniors from last year,” said Poly defensive lineman William Kofe, who hounded Los Alamitos quarterback Mike Sanford. “We proved everybody wrong.”