Photo by John Fajardo
 
As the clock ticked down to zero, the Lakewood stands erupted and the Lancers flooded the field, the final score said it all: Lakewood 21, Poly 14.  For the first time since 1982, Lakewood defeated Poly, in a back-and-forth game that was worth every drop of ink (digitally or on paper) spilled in building up the hype.  It was Poly’s first league loss since 1994, an 80-game streak that currently stands as a state record—but which no longer reads “current” on its tail end.

Soaking wet from a cooler bath amid a raucous team celebration at midfield, Lakewood coach Thadd MacNeal said after the game, “Hey, no one beats Lakewood thirty years in a row!”  Just a few hours prior, at halftime, it appeared that Poly might be on their way to doing just that.

The scoring started quickly—Poly’s Michael Simmons fumbled on his first carry (one of two turnovers for Poly), but the Jackrabbit defense held Lakewood scoreless thanks to sound tackling and three Lakewood false start flags.  Then the ‘Rabbits went three-and-out, and punted to midfield.  On the first play of their second drive, Lakewood QB Jesse Scroggins handed the ball to Alley Long, who broke right through a huge whole and ran untouched for a fifty-yard touchdown, giving Lakewood a 7-0 lead just four minutes in.

Towards the end of the first, Cory Westbrook (who was outstanding for Poly, with 131 yards on 27 carries, most of that yardage through thick clots of Lancer defenders) broke a 32-yard run down the right sideline.  After a pitch to Kaelin Clay, who threw to Earnest Pettway, Poly was on the one—where QB Chris Leachman punched it in to tie it.

The defenses took over after that—a long Lancer drive (keyed by a Scroggins-to-Darius Powe 32-yard connection) resulted in a blocked field goal, and Westbrook fumbled for Poly.  The Jackrabbits took over on their own 40, with two minutes left, and for the second straight week, Leachman helped move his team downfield, with a third-down conversion to Josiah Blandin, and a huge fourth-down toss to Clay that moved the ‘Rabbits down to the one, with just six seconds left.  Leachman took the ball on another sneak, with no Poly TOs left.  Initially, the refs ruled he was short, but reversed the call to a TD with no time on the clock after discussion, giving Poly a 14-7 lead at halftime.

“There’s a lot of game left,” Poly coach Raul Lara told excited fans on his sideline as Poly came out of the locker room—and he couldn’t have been more right.

The two teams, both of whom rightly consider themselves second-half teams, did ferocious battle in the second half—but the experienced Lancers executed better, and outscored Poly 14-0.  The first points came on a 60-yard drive capped by a Scroggins TD throw to Kevin Anderson, that highlighted how Lakewood’s experience helped them.  Anderson had two bad drops in the first half—he and Scroggins have been playing varsity ball together for three seasons now.  If you’re a tandem that’s had five weeks together, it could be easy to break that connection—instead, Scroggins stayed with it, and trusted his receiver to make the tough catch on a quick slant…and he did.  Lakewood missed the extra point, so they were down 14-13, and worried that the extra point would bite them.

Poly really couldn’t do anything offensively—they gained barely under 100 yards in the second half.  They did get gutty performances from their main personnel, as Leachman and Westbrook both bounced up after big hits and kept coming back in.  But after a quarter of back-and-forth, it was Lakewood who broke through again, as Scroggins hit four receivers on their final TD drive, with Terrance Woods scoring on a three yard run—Long took the option toss on the 2PC to give Lakewood a full touchdown’s lead.

After Poly went three-and-out, it seemed the light might be fading—until Scroggins made his only big mistake on the night, throwing behind his receiver on a screen and allowing Ryan Goforth to scoop up the live ball.  This time there was spark in the Poly offense, as Leachman hit Blandin , and Westbrook pounded the ball to bring them to Lakewood’s 23—the closest they’d come to keeping the streak alive.  But a holding penalty, and a false start killed their momentum.

“Give it to Lakewood,” said Lara after the game.  “They did a great job—Scroggins really showed up in the second half.  But I told my team—there’s a lot of football left, and we might be able to see them again.  I think we got a whole lot better tonight, as a team.”  Asked by a reporter about breaking the streak, Lara replied, “I’m worried about my guys, not the streak—I’m proud of how hard we worked tonight.”  Emotion will be a big factor as Poly enters a bye week—they get a week off after a rigorous first six weeks, and will return on the road to visit Millikan on the 23rd.

For MacNeal and his Lancers, the win obviously meant a lot—it’s not often you see Gatorade coolers upended and mass mob celebrations in week six.  “It’s the history, and the rivalry that makes them that excited,” said MacNeal.  “After it’s all said and done, we’ll calm down.  Poly was just another team in our way to the league title.  We still have a lot of work to do.”  The Lancers will enjoy the weekend before traveling to the Westside to face Cabrillo next Friday.