Olympians' second-half comeback falls short
TORRANCE » Long Beach Poly seniors Devin Samples and Daylen Austin scored in unconventional ways in the second quarter to lead the Jackrabbits to a gritty 3424 win on the road against Leuzinger at El Camino College in Torrance on Friday.
Poly scored 24 straight points in the second and third quarters.
The Jackrabbits improved to 4-0 in nonleague play.
Both teams battled the weather as it began raining early in the second quarter and did not let up until a few minutes before the final whistle.
Leuzinger led 3-0 early in the second quarter after a 34-yard field goal by senior kicker Geo Antuna.
The Olympians were able to extend that possession when they converted a fourth-and-16, even after Poly blocked Leuzinger senior quarterback Will Doherty's punt.
Leuzinger senior wide receiver Ethan Harris alertly recovered the ball, scurried up the field and picked up a big first down with two seconds left in the first quarter before being tackled by Poly junior safety Timmy Tuiagamoa.
However, Poly marched down the field on the next possession but found themselves facing fourth-and-9 at Leuzinger's 16-yard line. The Jackrabbits were down 3-0 and they decided to go for it.
That's when junior quarterback Darius Curry completed a 12-yard pass to senior wide receiver Raiden Brown. However, as Brown continued to fight for yards, he made a nifty spin move but fumbled the ball into the end zone, where Samples recovered the ball and scored a touchdown.
Poly led 7-3 with 7:18 left in the second quarter.
Poly senior kicker Dylan Michel later connected on a 27-yard field goal, which put the Jackrabbits up 10-3 with 2:19 before halftime.
Leuzinger fumbled Michel's ensuing kickoff.
Poly recovered the ball and had another scoring chance before halftime at Olympians' 27-yard line but Leuzinger's defense had back-to-back sacks and then forced an incompletion to make it fourth-and-25 with 1:24 left in the first half.
Poly went for it but Curry's deep pass intended for junior wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr. was incomplete and Poly turned the ball over on downs at Leuzinger's 42-yard line.
Robinson Jr., who is committed to USC, finished with a team-high 11 catches for a team-high 103 receiving yards, including a clutch catch late in the fourth quarter.
But two plays later, Poly senior cornerback Daylen Austin, who is committed to LSU, had a 42-yard interception return and streaked down the field for a touchdown, which put the Jackrabbits up 17-3 at halftime.
After a 12-play drive, Samples scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, which put Poly up 24-3 with 6:22 left in the third quarter.
Down 21 points, Leuzinger (0-3) began battling back.
On fourth-and-10, the Olympians connected 38yard pass from Doherty to Harris to move into the red zone with 5:40 left in the third quarter and later scored on a 9-yard touchdown catch by senior running back Jerin Stanton, to cut Poly's lead to 24-10 late in the third quarter.
Leuzinger cut Poly's lead to 24-16 with 16 seconds left in the third quarter on a 26-yard touchdown catch by junior wide receiver Damonte
Bias.
However, Curry responded by leading Poly on an 8-play scoring drive, which he capped off with a 2-yard touchdown run, which put Poly up 31-16 in the fourth quarter. Curry completed 27 of 35 attempts for 247 passing yards. He had one rushing touchdown.
Meanwhile, Tuiagamoa had a key interception to preserve Poly's two-score lead in the fourth quarter. Michel made a 23-yard field goal to extend Poly's lead to 34-16 with 6:05 to go in the game.
“It's always a good opportunity to play against top competition and be able to show yourself,” said Leuzinger coach Brandon Manumaleuna. “A lot of these kids have aspirations with football and you can only show where you are as a measure against great teams, so Poly is one of them.”
Doherty finished with more than 250 passing yards, three TDs and two interceptions.