The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
The562’s coverage of Millikan athletics in the 2023-24 school year is sponsored by Curtis Boyer.
The562’s coverage of football in 2023-24 is sponsored in part by the MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center Foundation and Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Foundation.
Year in and year out, Moore League football delivers entertaining games with exciting finishes. However, those games rarely have the league championship hanging in the balance.
Flashback to September 29, 2023 at Veterans Memorial Stadium, where the Millikan Rams went toe-to-toe with the perennial champions from Long Beach Poly, playing one of the most high-quality Moore League games in years, and delivering the best game of the 2023-24 school year.
Thanks to a pick-six by Loyall Mouzon, the Rams took a 7-6 lead in the opening quarter, and neither team led by more than seven points for the entire game. After the teams were knotted 14-14 at halftime, Poly went up 20-14 late in the third quarter, but Millikan kicker Jayden Icasiano drilled a pair of clutch field goals to tie the game at 20-20 at the end of regulation.
That sent the game into overtime, with Millikan getting the ball first at the Poly 25-yard-line. The Rams were unable to move the ball, but Icasiano delivered a massive 42-yard field goal to put Millikan back in front, 23-20.
With their backs against the wall, and without a field goal kicker available, the Jackrabbits were focused on getting in the end zone for the walk-off win. Facing a third-and-5, quarterback Darius Curry scrambled for a nine-yard gain, getting to the Millikan 11. That set the stage for Joshua “Noodles” Cason to take the handoff and punch in the game-winning score, giving Poly the 26-23 win and another Moore League title.
“Millikan gave us all we could handle, they’re an incredible team with some great athletes,” said Poly coach Stephen Barbee. “We put ourselves in some bad positions in this game and I’m really glad to see that we were able to get out with a win. But (Millikan coach Romeo Pellum) had a great game plan and we knew it was going to be a close game.”
While it wasn’t the craziest finish, an overtime game for a Moore League football championship is about as rare as it gets. Millikan put everyone on notice that they were coming after that top spot, and they weren’t far from grabbing it.
The rematch between these two teams will be at DeHaven Stadium on Oct. 11, and every Moore League football fan should be counting down the days ‘til kickoff.
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