Article by Julio Nievas

The Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits had two turnovers in the first quarter, but rebounded after as they crush visiting Compton High School Tarbabes, 47-6 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

The Jackrabbits were the overwhelming favorites to win the game, but didn’t look like a team playing for a blowout as junior quarterback Chaiyse Hales threw an interception on the opening drive. Hales would rebound after as he threw for 162 yards with 10 out of 22 completions and a touchdown.

“This game was sloppy from the beginning,” Long Beach Poly head coach Raul Lara said. “To be honest, we (coaching staff) thought this may happen after the Lakewood game because we have played very well after. This was perfect in a sense that our kids need to understand they can’t roll teams over every week.”

Poly’s air game couldn’t find a rhythm all night, but the running game performed up to par. Sophomore running back Manusamoa Luuga was the star of the first half as he pounded his way for 85 yards and a touchdown; Luuga only had four yards in the second half, but the Tarbabes had suffered the worst in the first half.

Luuga could have ran a 54-yard touchdown had it not been brought back with a holding penalty by Poly.

Though the Tarbabes caught a an interception and recovered a fumble in the first quarter to find themselves in the red zone, they couldn’t find themselves in the end zone. Poly’s defense stifled Compton’s offense, allowing a 20-yard or more play twice when the starters were on the field.

Poly’s defense also forced five fumbles, but only recovered twice, and intercepting the ball three times.

The game was put away when Poly caught an interception by senior defensive back Dabness Atkins in the opening drive of the third quarter. Compton’s turnover resulted in a quick scoring drive by Poly, a strike thrown from Hales to senior wide receiver Donald Byrd for a 20-yard touchdown.

With the win, the Jackrabbits go undefeated in the Moore League and will prepare for the playoffs and coach Lara knows his team will have to prepare in a different way than preparing for a regular season game.

“It’s win or go home now,”Lara said. “There’s no more playing around.”

As for the regular season, staying perfect in the Moore League isn’t enough to satisfy Lara. Lara repeatedly mentioned to his team after the game that winning their 19th championship is their ultimate goal.

“I was a little disappointed how the season started (with losses from St. Bonaventure and Mission Viejo),” Lara said. “But I liked how we regrouped after. We’re now going to face [harder] competition and then we’ll see how we have improved.”