Long Beach Poly Blown Out By Bishop Gorman

August 26th, 2023 | Mike Guardabacio

The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.

The Long Beach Poly team had a busy week in Oregon at the Nike World Headquarters, where they were hosted as part of the NFL Kickoff Classic. The Jackrabbits had a welcome ceremony where a new black jersey for Poly made by Nike was unveiled, and participated in shoe design sessions and got free shoes courtesy of EA Sports, which visited campus with a bus full of consoles for the kids to play Madden on. Poly was fed and feted throughout the week.

And then there was a football game. The game itself, against national No. 2 Bishop Gorman, was a lot less fun for the Jackrabbits than the rest of the week, as they lost a lopsided contest, 60-15. The loss was a harsh reality check for a Poly team that was fresh off a big win over the defending Hawaii Division 1 state champions.

“I think we need to be more consistent throughout the game,” said Poly coach Stephen Barbee. “We had flashes, we had stretches where we were doing really well. Then there’d be a mistake or we’d come up short. Offense, defense, special teams, we’ve got to be more consistent.”

The Jackrabbits found themselves behind almost immediately as Bishop Gorman QB Micah Alejado led a 73-yard touchdown drive to open the game, ultimately handing off to Elija Lofton for the game’s first score. Poly went three-and-out with QB Darius Curry taking two sacks, an early display of the gap in talent and experience between the two teams--which is saying something given that Poly has a host of Division 1-bound talent themselves.

“Some of their wide receivers we had great coverage on them and they still made great catches,” said Barbee. “They’re a very well-coached, disciplined team.”

The Gaels scored on their first two drives, and Poly would eventually get a deep drive into the red zone but had their first two trips there come up short with no points. Finally after falling behind 22-0 the Jackrabbits got on the board, with a 60-yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. Curry hit Jordan Malau’ulu, Kamarie Smith, Caden Butler, and finally Ezekiel Orozco for the score. Butler is a sophomore transfer from Kansas, and probably had Poly’s play of the game with a leaping catch down the right sideline, grabbing the ball out of the air over the defender’s head.

That score cut the lead to 22-7, but Bishop Gorman would score another two touchdowns and a field goal by halftime, making it 39-7 at the break.

The Jackrabbits had their best drive of the game coming out of halftime, as Curry once again hit several different receivers, including a 20-yard completion to Luke Buggs on fourth and short. He took the Jackrabbits 80 yards downfield before taking it 31 yards himself on a TD run to cut the lead to 39-15. The Gaels immediately answered with a 71-yard touchdown run by Myles Norman, and never looked back. The Jackrabbits had a few other chances to score but penalties and dropped passes cut their chances short. Curry finished with over 300 yards of total offense and two touchdowns. Butler had 40 yards receiving, while Malau’ulu had 36 yards, Smith had 38, Buggs had 35, and Orozco had the touchdown catch.

Josh “Noodles” Cason did a great job of pushing for yards behind Poly’s inexperienced offensive line, which responded to early dominant effort from Bishop Gorman by showing some fight. Cason finished with 53 yards on 12 carries.

“I was proud of how we came out of halftime, coming in and marching down the field,” said Barbee. “Our line was moving the ball against their ones, able to establish a run. Noodles getting five, seven yards a pop was encouraging to see. They got some great pressure schemes that put Darius in a rush but I like how he responded.”

The Jackrabbits (1-1) won’t have much time to lick their wounds. They’re hosting a youth football camp at the Nike Campus on Saturday and then flying home to begin preparing for their home opener at Veterans Memorial Stadium next Friday, hosting Mission Viejo.

Football: Long Beach Poly Blown Out by Bishop Gorman

The562’s coverage of Long Beach Poly is sponsored by Bryson Financial.

The Long Beach Poly team had a busy week in Oregon at the Nike World Headquarters, where they were hosted as part of the NFL Kickoff Classic. The Jackrabbits had a welcome ceremony where a new black jersey for Poly made by Nike was unveiled, and participated in shoe design sessions and got free shoes courtesy of EA Sports, which visited campus with a bus full of consoles for the kids to play Madden on. Poly was fed and feted throughout the week.

And then there was a football game. The game itself, against national No. 2 Bishop Gorman, was a lot less fun for the Jackrabbits than the rest of the week, as they lost a lopsided contest, 60-15. The loss was a harsh reality check for a Poly team that was fresh off a big win over the defending Hawaii Division 1 state champions.

“I think we need to be more consistent throughout the game,” said Poly coach Stephen Barbee. “We had flashes, we had stretches where we were doing really well. Then there’d be a mistake or we’d come up short. Offense, defense, special teams, we’ve got to be more consistent.”

The Jackrabbits found themselves behind almost immediately as Bishop Gorman QB Micah Alejado led a 73-yard touchdown drive to open the game, ultimately handing off to Elija Lofton for the game’s first score. Poly went three-and-out with QB Darius Curry taking two sacks, an early display of the gap in talent and experience between the two teams--which is saying something given that Poly has a host of Division 1-bound talent themselves.

“Some of their wide receivers we had great coverage on them and they still made great catches,” said Barbee. “They’re a very well-coached, disciplined team.”

The Gaels scored on their first two drives, and Poly would eventually get a deep drive into the red zone but had their first two trips there come up short with no points. Finally after falling behind 22-0 the Jackrabbits got on the board, with a 60-yard touchdown drive midway through the second quarter. Curry hit Jordan Malau’ulu, Kamarie Smith, Caden Butler, and finally Ezekiel Orozco for the score. Butler is a sophomore transfer from Kansas, and probably had Poly’s play of the game with a leaping catch down the right sideline, grabbing the ball out of the air over the defender’s head.

That score cut the lead to 22-7, but Bishop Gorman would score another two touchdowns and a field goal by halftime, making it 39-7 at the break.

The Jackrabbits had their best drive of the game coming out of halftime, as Curry once again hit several different receivers, including a 20-yard completion to Luke Buggs on fourth and short. He took the Jackrabbits 80 yards downfield before taking it 31 yards himself on a TD run to cut the lead to 39-15. The Gaels immediately answered with a 71-yard touchdown run by Myles Norman, and never looked back. The Jackrabbits had a few other chances to score but penalties and dropped passes cut their chances short. Curry finished with over 300 yards of total offense and two touchdowns. Butler had 40 yards receiving, while Malau’ulu had 36 yards, Smith had 38, Buggs had 35, and Orozco had the touchdown catch.

Josh “Noodles” Cason did a great job of pushing for yards behind Poly’s inexperienced offensive line, which responded to early dominant effort from Bishop Gorman by showing some fight. Cason finished with 53 yards on 12 carries.

“I was proud of how we came out of halftime, coming in and marching down the field,” said Barbee. “Our line was moving the ball against their ones, able to establish a run. Noodles getting five, seven yards a pop was encouraging to see. They got some great pressure schemes that put Darius in a rush but I like how he responded.”

The Jackrabbits (1-1) won’t have much time to lick their wounds. They’re hosting a youth football camp at the Nike Campus on Saturday and then flying home to begin preparing for their home opener at Veterans Memorial Stadium next Friday, hosting Mission Viejo.