Poly tops Wilson as rivalry continues to grow
LONG BEACH » Another chapter has been written in the storied Poly vs. Wilson rivalry, this time on the girls flag football field.
In a defensive battle Tuesday, the Jackrabbits beat the Bruins 6-0 at Wilson High.
Poly scored on a touchdown pass in the second half when senior quarterback Tiare Ho-Ching, an Arizona State softball commit, connected with her younger sister, junior receiver Ki'ele, with 15 minutes left in the contest.
“Them being sisters and having a connection, I told them to just work that connection,” said Poly coach Rob Shock. “We needed to go to it more. Some of the things we need to work on offensively is making those connections in that sense, but them stepping up, Ki'ele stepping up being big, scoring that touchdown for us it made a big difference.”
Wilson had a chance to tie the score and possibly win the game as it faced first-and-goal at the Poly 4-yard line with less than a minute left.
However, on fourth-and-goal Poly defensive back Dylan Shock made a stop with 20 seconds to go, which sealed the victory.
“These girls, they go all out,” coach Shock said. “The one thing I love is they play with passion, they play with heart on both sides of the ball.”
Poly improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the Moore League with its third consecutive shutout.
Wilson is 5-9 overall and 1-3 in league.
“We played tough. I've only got nine players, seven of them are freshmen,” said Wilson coach Duane Haldeman. “We don't want to feel good about a moral victory. We felt like we could have won this game, but hats off to Poly. They've got a good team and we hope that next time we play them, the outcome will be different.”
Both teams played steady defense for nearly 40 minutes.
“We had to grit it out,” coach Shock said. “They played us tough. All due respect to Wilson, they played a (great) game offensively, slowed the game. One of our biggest things is creating (opportunities) to get interceptions. They ran the ball well. I give them all the credit.”
Wilson's defense forced a turnover on downs on Poly's first possession on offense.
Wilson's first possession on offense ended with an interception by Poly senior Cheyanne Clark with 13 minutes left in the first half.
The Bruins' defense held strong, forcing their second turnover on downs, this time on fourth-and-goal at the 5 with 8:30 left in the first.
Wilson's offense stalled out again, punting with 6:30 remaining in the first.
Poly and Wilson continued to trade offensive possessions and the game was a scoreless tie at halftime.
The Bruins received the ball first in the second half and tried to use their rushing attack to move down the field. However, they punted with 18:30 left in the second half.
On Poly's first possession of the second half, the Jackrabbits' offense came alive. A 30plus yard run by junior Sydney Santos moved Poly to the Wilson 27. A deep pass from Tiare Ho-Ching to Ki'ele Ho-Ching put Poly in prime scoring position.
On the next play, Tiare threw a touchdown pass to Ki'ele, which put the Jackrabbits up 6-0 with 15 minutes to go.
With two minutes to go, Poly sophomore Nefi Williams nearly intercepted freshman quarterback Jayme Zamora's pass.
Zamora found freshman receiver Jordyn Jefferson for a highlight reel-worthy onehanded catch with 34 seconds to go. At that point, Poly's defense staunchly guarded the end zone and did not allow Wilson another completion.
Despite limited numbers on the roster, Haldeman is enjoying the challenge of building something new at Wilson.
“It's tough in our case,” he said. “A lot of my players haven't played sports before, so this is their first time, not just playing flag football but their first time actually playing a competitive sport. My hat is off to them. They've given me their heart and soul and they would do anything for me as I would for them.”
Haldeman believes the sky is the limit in terms of the growth and popularity of flag football at Wilson and as a CIF Southern Section sport.
“The future is very bright,” Haldeman continued. “It's going to be amazing in the future. There's so much hype and all these clinics the Rams and the Chargers are putting on. We're so grateful to them and how they've assisted all of us with equipment.”
On Saturday, Wilson will play three games in the L.A. Rams' inaugural girls flag football jamboree at Loyola Marymount.
Wilson will host Cabrillo on Tuesday.
Poly will host Millikan on Tuesday.
ALSO IN THE MOORE LEAGUE » Jordan's flag football team beat Millikan 13-12 at home Tuesday in a Moore League game.
Cabrillo won the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader at Lakewood 13-12. Lakewood won the second game against Cabrillo 130.