They aren’t there yet—far from it. But in their quest to return to championship form, the Poly Jackrabbits definitely made progress, from last week’s loss to Servite to Friday’s defeat at the hands of the St. Bonaventure Seraphs, 27-7. Poly’s record now stands at a rare 0-2.
It was a weird game from the outset, as Poly won the coin toss but deferred—Bonny running back Devon Blackledge made them regret that decision immediately, busting off an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. Once he got through the Poly front line, he broke to the right sideline and was gone, utilizing 4.3 40-speed to pull away from any would-be tacklers. “We rolled the dice and went after them on the first play,” said Poly defensive coordinator Jeff Turley. “They made the blocks, and nobody’s going to tackle [Blackledge] from behind.”
Poly answered with a huge play of their own, when Randall Goforth returned the ensuing kickoff 70-plus yards for a touchdown; the ‘Rabbits had 195 return yards from Goforth and senior Kaelin Clay. Just 25 seconds had ticked off in the game, but the score was already up there with the two teams’ meeting last season, a 12-7 Poly win.
But that was all the scoring Poly would do, though they drove the ball into the red zone four times. In truth, the Seraphs didn’t get anyone else going besides Blackledge—but he was all they needed. A 66-yard run on his second carry put Bonny in position to kick a field goal; after the Seraphs blocked a Poly field goal attempt and returned it to the ‘Rabbit 36, he carried five consecutive times to punch it in; in the second half, he broke off a 57-yard score. The burner finished with 292 yards and 3 touchdowns on 21 carries.
Bonny quarterback Logan Meyer was 8-for-18 for 55 yards, and no Seraph running back or receiver besides Blackledge gained more than fifteen yards until the final minute of the game.
Despite the tale of the tape (214 total yards of offense, 417 allowed) Poly did show a lot of improvement in this loss. The blocking was more consistent, they got pressure on their opponents’ quarterback (notching two sacks and applying pressure that caused some of Meyer’s incompletions); on defense, they found their footing a little in the second half, despite the roster being even younger than anticipated after a starting senior safety went down early. Of Bonny’s 417 total yards, just 130 came in the second half.
Offensively, they played two quarterbacks, as they planned to, and both Dylan Lagarde and Chaiyse Hales showed promise, as they went a combined 8-for-18 for 80 yards. Both moved well in the pocket and showed a good sense of when to escape; it helped that their role players stepped up as well, as Clay rebounded from last week’s performance to grab five passes for 39 yards. Lagarde also showed impressive grit for a 15-year old in picking himself up from a blindside hit late in the third quarter that cut his bottom lip. “A lot of people wouldn’t have taken that hit and gotten back in the huddle,” said Lara. “He’s really tough.” Poly picked up 133 yards rushing, 47 of them coming from Cory Westbrook, who averaged just under six yards-per-carry.
“We’re getting better,” said Lara after the game. “The problem is we’re just playing very good teams—and very experienced teams. We moved the ball up and down the field tonight, we’re just not executing in the red zone yet. But the effort level was much better this week, and we know we have the ingredients.”
Turley added his voice to Lara’s in helping the team put the game in perspective afterward. “This week we were a little better—a little better tackling, a little better getting off blocks and to the ball-carrier.”
Poly has two more tough nonleague games coming up, against Narbonne and Oceanside, before they open league against Jordan and Lakewood. If they continue to improve at a steady rate, they could end up 0-4, and ready to kick off an exciting, competitive league season. “We just have to be patient,” said Lara. For another two weeks at least, they have time to.