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The Long Beach Poly football team knew it was going to take its lumps with a young roster and a brutal nonleague schedule–but boy, are those lumps lumpy. The Jackrabbits took their second lopsided loss of the season in their home opener against San Diego power Lincoln, 42-14.
Poly trailed 28-0 at halftime and had fallen behind 35-0 midway through the third quarter before getting on the scoreboard.
“We had some blown opportunities,” said Poly coach Stephen Barbee. “It’s about finishing–we get to the three yard line twice and come away with zero points. We have to finish those drives, avoid personal fouls and penalties. We have to be accountable for our emotions and keep that in check.”
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The Jackrabbits hung tough and did have some bright spots, as they battled to a 14-14 performance in the second half. They looked better than they did last week in a big loss to Folsom, but in neither game did the young Jackrabbits look like they belonged going up against top ten teams in the state.
“This is a young team, there are going to be growing pains, but we have to keep getting better,” said Barbee. “That’s the goal right now. I like the spirit of this team, I like the way they kept fighting and played till the very end. It says a lot about the type of players this team is made up of. This wasn’t the outcome we wanted–but we’re going to keep getting better.”
The road doesn’t get easier as Poly prepares to face Serra next Saturday in San Diego in the Honor Bowl.
Friday’s game started off inauspiciously, as a three-and-out for Poly’s offense yielded to an easy touchdown drive for the Hornets, capped off by the first of four touchdowns for Lincoln running back Aden Jackson. Poly’s offense stayed stuck in neutral as they struggled to get any push with their offensive line, or to protect quarterback Deuce Jefferson.
Poly had less than 50 yards of total offense in the first quarter, and fell behind 28-0 at halftime after two touchdowns by Lincoln QB Akili Smith Jr. and another score from Jackson.
In Polys’ season opener, the game was close in the first half and then got away from the Jackrabbits; as Barbee noted, Poly got better in the second half of the loss to Lincoln. The second half started on a good note with an interception by Poly junior Deon Jackson, but the Jackrabbits’ drive stalled out at midfield, followed by another touchdown by Jackson that made it 35-0 Hornets.
At that point, Poly junior Kamarie Smith decided he’d seen enough. He ripped off an 80 yard kickoff return down to the Lincoln 10, then hauled in a touchdown pass to get the Jackrabbits on the board. Poly’s defense posted three straight three-and-outs, but their offense couldn’t do anything with it, stalling twice inside the Lincoln 10 yard line. Poly would end up scoring again on a 54 yard touchdown run by Jefferson; he had 1984 yards passing and two total touchdowns. Smith had 21 yards receiving with a score as well as the long kickoff return; Ezekiel Orozco had 82 yards receiving and Dylin Bruce had 72 yards receiving.
