<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
In a word: yes. <\/span>But they’ll need help. <\/span>Putting aside all the drama over the Jackrabbits playing the Grant High Pacers instead of the De La Salle Spartans in this Saturday’s Open Division State Championship at the Home Depot Center, consider this: Poly is one loss and one win away from winning a “mythical” national champion.<\/span><\/p>\n We use the caveat “mythical” in the sports media world to acknowledge the fact that it’s a championship that’s awarded a top-ranked team by a national news site—in other words, it’s not an actual meeting of a number one and a number two in a national title game. <\/span>That never happens—well, except Poly\/De La Salle in 2001. <\/span>But we’re not dwelling on that.<\/span><\/p>\n One loss and one win away means the following—according to ESPN, MaxPreps, and pretty much everyone, the number one team in the nation is St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. <\/span>They’re playing in a state championship game on Friday against Lakeland. <\/span>If they win, Aquinas will likely be the unanimous national champion. <\/span>But if they lose (and at 14-0 Lakeland is no slouch), it will open the door for Poly. <\/span>ESPN says if Aquinas loses, the Jackrabbits could be “the next team in line” for national champ status..<\/span><\/p>\n “Obviously it’s something we have no control over with that other team,” says Poly head coach Raul Lara. <\/span>“But when we lost to Servite in 2005 [in the second round of CIF playoffs], we changed our goals. <\/span>We told the players, we want to win a national title here. <\/span>And yes, it’s ‘mythical,’ but I told our guys, ‘You are very, very, very close to making this happen. <\/span>But we must<\/i><\/span> take care of business against Grant, and that’s a great football team.”<\/span><\/p>\n The ‘Rabbits have to take care of business on Saturday in a game that’s monumentally important either way—since it’s the inaugural Open Division Championship game, nobody’s ever won one before—but they’ll also need Lakeland to handle Aquinas if they want a shot at making the jump to top team not just in the state, but the country. <\/span>The Lakeland vs. Aquinas matchup is on Friday, so we’ll know before the Saturday clash between Poly and Grant just what’s on the line. <\/span>A state championship is what they’re working for—but they could end up with more.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After crunching some numbers and looking at way too many high school football polls, we answer the question on the minds of many 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