Poly Owns the Fourth Quarter, and Esperanza

It’s not that much of a trick to overcome a couple of big mistakes when you have Hershel Dennis on your side.

The Long Beach Poly running back ran for two of his five touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Jackrabbits recovered from two third-quarter gaffes for a 49-28 victory over Esperanza Saturday in a Southern Section Division I semifinal game before 10,000 at Long Beach Veterans Stadium.

Dennis scored on runs of two and three yards as top-seeded Poly outscored Esperanza, 28-7, in the fourth quarter, after the fourth-seeded Aztecs converted Jackrabbit turnovers into two third-quarter touchdowns to tie the score at 21 heading into the fourth.

“I got what I worked for,” said Dennis, who finished with 239 yards on 41 carries. “And the offensive line did a great job. Without them, I would have had none of this.”

Poly (13-0) will play second-seeded Los Angeles Loyola (12-1) in the championship game Saturday at Edison Field. It will be the fourth consecutive trip to the title game for the Jackrabbits, who are the defending co-champions.

“It feels real great,” said Dennis, a junior. “We’re going to go out there [against Loyola] and do what we did this week, but we’re going to have to pick it up a notch.”

Dennis scored on the first play of the fourth quarter when he squirted into the end zone from two yards to give the Jackrabbits a 28-21 lead.

Esperanza quarterback Ryan Sausedo, who finished with 300 yards passing and four touchdowns, had a pass intercepted by Poly cornerback Kim Taylor on the Aztecs’ next drive. Taylor returned the ball 40 yards for a touchdown and a 35-21 Poly advantage.

Dennis later tacked on his three-yard score to make it 42-21, and Jackrabbit free safety Darnell Bing intercepted another Sausedo pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown for Poly’s final points.

“We handed the ball over, and you can’t do that against Poly,” Esperanza Coach Gary Meek said. “They ran two interceptions back for touchdowns, and that’s not good. We made it easy for them.”

Esperanza running back Temitope Sonuyi, Orange County’s leading rusher, was held to 46 yards in 15 carries, 158 below his average. He gained only 18 yards in the second half as Poly’s defense clogged up the rushing lanes.

“Their defensive front--most colleges in the country don’t play with the front seven they have,” Meek said. “They’re big, physical and fast.”

Anthony Vicencia, who caught seven passes for 100 yards, scored both of the Aztecs’ third-quarter touchdowns on catches of five and 36 yards. The scores were set up by a Mike Willis fumble and an interception thrown by Markee White. Esperanza finished the season 11-2.