The hype was huge: Poly was undefeated in league, as they had been for over a decade, but Compton hadn’t lost that year either, and a powerful running game featuring a star senior and a flashy junior had some Jackrabbits fans worried. Then, in an emotional and fiery game, Compton’s running backs were shut down and struggled to hold on to the ball, and it was Poly’s QB Morgan Fennell who had the big game. The game felt close, but Compton lost by nearly 30. It was 2007. Now it’s one year later, but it’s the same story as the Jackrabbits rolled over the Tarbabes for a carbon-copy 40-13 victory (last year it was 42-14, by the way).
Coming into the game, there were two big question marks: how would Compton’s James McConico, who was averaging nearly thirty yards a carry on the season, face up when rushing against the Poly Wall? And how would Poly’s Fennell perform against a defense that might be good enough to slow down the Jackrabbits’ vaunted rushing attack? The answers to both questions came down in Poly’s favor, as McConico was held to just sixty yards, and Fennell came up big when his team needed him, going 5/10 for 198 yards and three touchdowns, and effectively squashing rumors that Poly’s offense would be too one-dimensional for a playoff run. “I just want to keep clicking,” Fennell said. “Teams have to respect the run game, and it opens things up for me.”
“Opened things up” tonight meant completing four passes of forty yards or longer—three of them were deep balls, but one was a short dump to back Daveon Barner, who made maybe the league’s best move this year, crawling over a Compton player and landing back on his feet to scamper thirty yards downfield for a touchdown, while everyone but the refs thought he was down. If you haven’t watched the highlight video above, stop right now and check the run out, it’s unbelievable.
The other deep balls went to Poly receiver—yes, they do have receivers—Kaelin Clay, who had four catches for 156 yards and two touchdowns on the night, certainly not the kinds of numbers we’re used to seeing from the ‘Rabbits outside players. “Our guys didn’t do a great job of covering downfield,” said Tarbabes head coach Calvin Bryant. “But give the credit to Poly—they’re as good as advertised.”
Compton found that out early in the game, when Poly jarred the ball loose on the opening kickoff, scooping and scoring to go up 8-0 (after Melvin Richardson ran in the 2PC) just nine seconds in. Then, the first time Poly’s offense got the ball, Barner scored on the long reception, and another Richardson 2PC made it 16-0. A McConico fumble gave Poly the ball with a short field, but when Compton stopped the Jackrabbits at the two-inch line on fourth-and-goal, it seemed that momentum might be swinging. But then Tarbabes back Gerald Dill was hit in the end zone on first down, by Poly’s Eli Edwards, giving Poly another two points, making it 18-0 on their fourth safety of the season.
Compton pushed, and recorded scores on TD runs by QB Jerry Maluia (in the first half) and Byron Walker (in the second). But they only rushed for 51 yards in the first half, and 170 total. Poly, who’s also used to moving the ball on the ground, fared a little worse, gaining less than 130 yards rushing. The difference? When Poly’s offense was challenged, it evolved into something new, as they gained more yards through the air (199) than on the ground for the first time this season. For Compton, Maluia was 3/7 for 43 yards. People will likely begin asking the same question of Compton that they had been of Poly—if somebody stops their running attack in CIF (say, an O. Lu for instance), will they be able to come up with a different way to score?
Poly coach Raul Lara was happy with his quarterback after the game. “If they’re going to load up the box and then play bump and run, we’re going to take advantage of that. That’s like saying ‘Our guy is better than your guy.'” Lara seemed pleased knowing that teams scouting them for the postseason will have plenty of evidence that Poly has a viable passing attack, but maybe not as pleased as his new semi-star receiver Clay. “I think we got a good look at how the passing game is going to look for the playoffs,” he said.