Fast Times for Long Beach Poly’s Jones

Bruce Rollinson might have figured out the only way to shut down Long Beach Poly receiver Derrick Jones, who has blistered secondaries for more than 200 yards in each of the first two rounds of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

“We’re going to try to sprinkle holy water on about five defensive backs,” joked Rollinson, coach of a Santa Ana Mater Dei team that must contend with Jones and the top-seeded Jackrabbits at 4 p.m. Saturday in a semifinal game at Edison Field.

Whatever defensive formula the Monarchs concoct, it certainly won’t be similar to the one Rialto Eisenhower used against Jones last week during Poly’s 43-3 victory. The Eagles put single coverage on Jones, who responded with four catches for 229 yards and three touchdowns.

Two of his scores came on post patterns in which he outran the cornerback.

“If people are not going to put a free safety behind him and are going to run bump-and-run [coverage], how can you not go to him?” said Poly Coach Raul Lara. “It was like, ‘Go Derrick, run your post pattern. Give the guy a juke and go.’ ”

Jones had similar success against Huntington Beach Edison in the first round, catching eight passes for 215 yards and three touchdowns. For the season, the speedy junior has 36 receptions for 1,378 yards.

“We know he’s going to hurt us,” Rollinson said. “He’s going to get his catches. What we can’t have is the 80-yarder or the 70-yarder.”

Rollinson said he is not going to challenge any of his defensive backs to take Jones out of the game single-handedly, even though he has a talented secondary that includes Corey Boudreaux, who has a team-high five interceptions. The Monarchs will try to contain the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Jones by committee.

Jones said he doesn’t mind if Mater Dei focuses on him because it will open up the game for receivers Alex Watson and Raymond Hayes.

“It doesn’t matter how much I get the ball as long as we win,” he said.

Jones combines excellent route-running abilities with great speed. He is the reigning Division I champion in the 200 meters, which he has run in 21.2 seconds. USC has already offered a scholarship.

*

Fontana Kaiser Coach Dick Bruich passed Bloomington Coach Don Markham and moved into 12th place on the state’s all-time victory list last week with the Cats’ 27-10 win over Palm Desert.

Bruich, who has 236 career victories, is seventh among active coaches. Markham has more total victories with 279, but 44 were achieved in Oregon. Kaiser defeated Bloomington, 51-0, in the teams’ regular-season finale.

Bruich has won this season with a defense that has registered five shutouts and is holding opponents to 6.8 points a game. The first-string defense hasn’t surrendered a touchdown since a 24-21 victory over Riverside North in Week 2.

The group is led by linebackers Omar Alvarez and defensive backs Marcus McCliman, Antoine Cayton and Sharrod Laing, who “take people out of their passing game,” Bruich said. Defensive ends Kyle Musselman and Dan Holbrook are key when it comes to bottling up opponents’ running games.

The Cats will face a Victorville Victor Valley offense averaging 26 points a game in a Division VIII semifinal on Saturday at Victor Valley.

*

Running back Aaron Brown is a big reason Oxnard will make its first semifinal appearance since 1982 when it plays host to Westlake Village Westlake on Friday in Division IV.

Brown, the career rushing leader for the Yellowjackets with 3,930 yards, gained 225 yards and scored four touchdowns in a school-record 49 carries last week as Oxnard defeated Ventura Buena, 28-14. It was the seventh 200-yard game of the season for the senior, who has 2,048 yards in 302 carries.

“He doesn’t look like a guy who’s going to run for 225 yards,” Oxnard Coach Mark Beckham said of the 5-10, 180-pound back. “He runs up inside and he runs hard. He gets a lot of the yards because of what his linemen do up front and our other backs do.”

Brown needs 136 yards to pass Buena’s Alex Garfio as the leading rusher in Ventura County this season. Oxnard (11-1), which suffered its loss to Valencia, is seeking its second section title and first since 1928.

*

Teams that failed to heed the section’s edict requiring use of Spalding footballs apparently got the message last week. After 12 teams were cited for failing to use section-approved balls in the first round, no teams were reported out of compliance in the quarterfinals, section spokesman Thom Simmons said.

But Palmdale Coach Jeff Williams said only one of six balls used during his team’s home victory over Compton Dominguez bore the Spalding label.

“We’ll use it as much as we can, but it won’t be our main game ball,” said Williams, whose team plays at Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in a Division III semifinal on Friday. “We’ve been using Wilson all year. We’re not too keen on the Spalding. It’s not our ball of choice.”

The section warned last month that teams could face a financial penalty or loss of future home playoff dates for failure to use the balls. Simmons said Commissioner Jim Staunton will decide which punishment to implement after the season. Spalding is paying the section $75,000 a year in sponsorship money for five years.

*

Ryan Graves of Pasadena Muir finished tied for fourth in section history with 106 receptions this season. Graves, whose catches netted 1,499 yards and 16 touchdowns, is tied with J.K. McKay of La Puente Bishop Amat, who had 106 receptions in 1969. Pepe Villasenor of Ventura St. Bonaventure set the record in 1996 with 111 receptions.... Huntington Beach Brethren Christian junior quarterback Denny Warden is closing in on a 2,000-yard passing and 1,000-yard rushing season. The junior has passed for 1,980 yards with 19 touchdowns and has rushed for 957 yards with 13 touchdowns. He also has 64 yards receiving and has made 70 tackles.... Tickets for the Division I semifinals at Edison Field on Saturday, good for admittance to both games, are $12 for club level, $10 for general admission, $4 for students and $4 for children 13-under. Tickets are available at the participating high schools through Friday and at Edison Field on Saturday. Student tickets will not be sold Saturday. Parking is $7 and the gates will open at 2:30 p.m.... Bellflower St. John Bosco Coach Kiki Mendoza will break down the Division I matchups at 6:30 p.m. today on Fox Sports Net’s Los Angeles Times High School Spotlight Show.

*

Staff writer Martin Henderson contributed to this report.