The562’s coverage of football in 2024-25 is sponsored by The Terry Donahue Memorial California Showcase.
The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.
It’s now or never for a young, talented Long Beach Poly football team. The Jackrabbits enter the Division 4 playoffs with a 5-5 overall record and a lot to prove after going 0-4 in their nonleague schedule, and dropping their first Moore League football game in 15 years. Poly doesn’t open with an easy opponent, hosting an undefeated Northview team whose exact strength–running the ball–has been Poly’s exact weakness.
The Jackrabbits host the Vikings at 7pm at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“They’re a very polished team, they’ve got a very physical line and a couple of running backs that really chew up yardage,” said Poly coach Stephen Barbee. “They want to dictate the game with that and they’ve been able to for 10 games, so we definitely have our work cut out for us.”
Northview’s offense is led by running back Keanu Tauvao, who averages 161 yards a game on the ground, and receiver Isaiah Lucero, who has 92 yards receiving per game. The Jackrabbits will need to shut down the Vikings’ run game if they hope to take control of the game. Defensive linemen Jaden Hernandez and Toa Tamasoa will be critical, as will the Jackrabbits’ linebackers stepping up.
The secondary for Poly is great with the ball in the air, but did not tackle well against Millikan or Mission Viejo, the last power-running teams the Jackrabbits faced. Even in a shutout loss last week, Compton’s starting running back put up nearly 100 yards on the Jackrabbits. Given that some longer runs are likely inevitable Friday, they’ll need to be much better against Northview if they hope to keep those longer runs to eight yards instead of eighty.
If Poly can stop the run, the next challenge will be solving a stingy Vikings defense that’s allowed just 71 points all season in 10 games, with four shutouts and two other games allowing just one score.
“We’re going to need to play our best game,” said Barbee.
The biggest key for the Jackrabbits is limiting turnovers, something they’ve struggled to do in their five losses. Quarterback Deuce Jefferson has to take care of the ball while looking downfield to receivers like Kamarie Smith, Ezekiel Orozco and the rest of the talented Poly platoon. Defensive end Isaiah Limas has nine sacks this year and will try to get after Jefferson on Friday; Poly linemen including Savion Day will have to do a better job protecting Jefferson and paving holes for Poly running back Tristan Ventura than they did at the beginning of the year.
Rudy Velazquez, Bryon Tovar, and Gabriel Velasco lead the Vikings in tackles with six tackles per game each.
The winner of Friday’s game will face the winner of Pacifica and Laguna Beach in the quarterfinals next week; if Poly wins they would be on the road for either opponent.
