Sour Season for Long Beach Poly

Nearly an hour had passed since Santa Ana Mater Dei upset top-seeded Long Beach Poly, 21-20, Saturday in a Southern Section Division I semifinal at Edison Field, yet Poly Coach Raul Lara lingered in the Jackrabbit locker room.

Seated amid the handful of grim players who remained, his faced fixed in a glazed expression, Lara talked about how Poly completed “a heck of a season” despite the devastating conclusion.

“We got to go to Hawaii, beat Kahuku and won the Moore League title,” Lara said.

Though he was sincere, Lara’s words had a hollow ring to them. Despite an eighth consecutive league championship, Poly, with an 11-2 record, completed its worst season since 1996, when it finished 9-4 after losing to Mater Dei in a semifinal.

Poly’s 2002 highlight reel includes a bushel of victories over overmatched teams but few high-quality wins.

The Jackrabbits, whose strength of schedule was rated 15th out of the 24 Division I teams by calpreps.com, thought they had notched a big victory over two-time defending Hawaii state champion Kahuku in Week 2. But Kahuku went on to lose in the quarterfinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Assn. playoffs and finished 6-3.

Poly had a chance to make a statement three weeks later against Concord De La Salle, the nation’s top-ranked team, but fell flat and lost, 28-7.

The Jackrabbits went undefeated in Moore League play, but the merit of that accomplishment is debatable. Moore League teams, with the exception of Poly, compiled a 13-13-1 record against nonleague opponents, including the playoffs.

In the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Jackrabbits rang up convincing victories over Huntington Beach Edison and Rialto Eisenhower -- teams having relatively down seasons.

Then came the game against unseeded Mater Dei, with a conclusion that left Poly feeling empty.

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Even though Woodland Hills Taft’s high-flying offense has scored 524 points -- an average of 40 a game -- it is an improved defense that has carried the Toreadors to their second consecutive City Section championship game.

Never was that more apparent than in their 31-13 semifinal victory over Venice.

The Toreadors intercepted five passes, forced six turnovers and held the Gondoliers to a season-low point total.

Taft’s defining performance was fueled by its secondary, which dominated Venice quarterback Eddie Miller and his group of big-play receivers. Miller, who came into the game with 3,665 yards passing, completed 10 of 23 passes for 185 yards and gave up all five interceptions.

“We just had to execute,” said Taft defensive back Paul Pratt, who had two interceptions. “We mostly played zone and I thought we could have had a couple more [interceptions]. We wanted to force the quarterback to make the throws.”

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Using a no-huddle, no-nonsense offense, Ventura St. Bonaventure overcame its stiffest challenge since a Week 2 loss to Newhall Hart by rallying for a 46-40 victory over Moorpark.

The top-seeded Seraphs (12-1) bounced back from three 10-point deficits and survived a wild final 18 1/2 minutes in which 42 points were scored to advance to the Division IV championship, where they will face third-seeded Westlake Village Westlake (11-2).

Quarterback Brian Stevens found Nick Pierson with two consecutive touchdown passes in the second half, the second of which gave St. Bonaventure the lead for good early in the fourth quarter.

Receiver Whitney Lewis also increased his production in the second half, rushing for 60 yards, two touchdowns and two two-point conversions after touching the ball only four times in the first half.

Lewis finished with four touchdowns -- three rushing and one receiving -- as the Seraphs won their 15th consecutive postseason game.

St. Bonaventure, which won Division XI titles the last three seasons, last lost a playoff game in 1998, when it was beaten by Santa Monica St. Monica, 30-24, in a Division XI quarterfinal.

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Almost 24 hours after his decision to go for a late two-point conversion backfired during a 29-28 loss to top-seeded Hacienda Heights Los Altos in a Division VI semifinal, Tustin Coach Myron Miller said he stood by his choice.

“We don’t have the kicking game to go into overtime,” Miller said. “The best chance we were going to have was to go in from the three-yard line.

“The play was open, we just didn’t execute it.”

Indeed, tight end Chris Barrett stood alone in the end zone, but Marquis Malcolm couldn’t get him the ball after defender Brigham Harwell stepped in front of him, delaying the pass. When Malcolm finally released the ball, Caleb Flores stepped in front of Barrett to make the game-saving interception.

“Los Altos had a great field-goal kicker [Peter Suarez] and in overtime, the kicking game becomes even more important,” Miller said.

“I felt our best chance to win the game was on the three-yard line right then and there. The kids would have mutinied if I had said to go for one.”

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Lancaster Paraclete found the move from Division XII to Division XI a little unsettling after its six-year, 22-game postseason winning streak was ended during a 41-17 loss to top-seeded Carpinteria.

The Spirits, who had won five consecutive section titles entering this season, lost to a senior-laden Carpinteria team that had the benefit of playing powerhouse St. Bonaventure every year before the Seraphs moved to Division IV this season.

“They definitely had the competitive edge,” Paraclete Coach Jeff Cortez said of Carpinteria. “After the game, it felt kind of empty. I was at a loss for words with our team.”

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Times staff writers Martin Henderson, Lauren Peterson and Eric Stephens contributed to this report.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Football Finals

City Section

Championship

Woodland Hills Taft (13-0) vs. Lake Balboa Birmingham (10-3), Friday at Coliseum, 8 p.m.

Invitational

Granada Hills (9-4) vs. Harbor City Narbonne (5-8), Friday at Coliseum, 5 p.m.

Southern Section

DIVISION I

Mater Dei (10-3) vs. Los Alamitos (12-0-1), Saturday at Edison Field, 7:30 p.m.

DIVISION II

Mission Viejo (13-0) vs. Newhall Hart (12-0-1), Saturday at Edison Field, 2 p.m.

DIVISION III

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame (13-0) vs. *Manhattan Beach Mira Costa (13-0), Friday.

DIVISION IV

Westlake Village Westlake (11-2) vs. *Ventura St. Bonaventure (12-1), Friday.

DIVISION V

Corona Centennial (11-2) vs. *Riverside North (10-3), Friday.

DIVISION VI

Hacienda Heights Los Altos (11-2) vs. Santa Ana Foothill (11-2), Friday at Edison Field, 7:30 p.m.

DIVISION VII

Walnut (12-1) vs. *West Covina South Hills (10-3), Saturday.

DIVISION VIII

Phelan Serrano (13-0) vs. *Fontana Kaiser (12-0-1), Saturday.

DIVISION IX

Garden Grove Pacifica (11-2) vs. *La Habra (12-1), Friday.

DIVISION X

Lompoc (10-3) vs. *Gardena Serra (13-0), Friday.

DIVISION XI

Cerritos Valley Christian (12-1) vs. *Carpinteria (13-0), Saturday.

DIVISION XII

Edwards AFB Desert (13-0) vs. *Ontario Christian (12-1), Saturday.

DIVISION XIII

Pasadena Poly (10-2) vs. *Simi Valley Grace Brethren (10-3), Friday.

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NOTES: The Southern Section will release official sites and times for all divisions except Divisions I, II and VI today.

* indicates host school.