Football: Millikan Shocks Poly In Double-OT

It’s safe to say you didn’t see this coming: Millikan defeated Poly 35-34 in double overtime tonight, in the league’s biggest upset in years.

There was a clot of traffic coming out of the Millikan parking lot at 10:45 Friday night, and in the background, the scoreboard still read: Millikan 35, Poly 34.  After a double-overtime shocker, the Millikan staff are unlikely to turn it off for a long, long time.

After the game, after the celebration, after Poly’s second-straight league loss and Millikan’s first victory over the ‘Rabbits since 1985, the stunned coach of the Rams stared wide-eyed at the score, and shook his head.  “Did you know that pigs fly?” he asked.  “Did you know that snowballs do have a chance in Hell?”  Well apparently they do, because the Millikan Rams are victorious against Poly, and are sitting at 3-1 in the Moore League, virtually guaranteed a playoff spot, while Poly falls to 1-2 in league, and is in jeopardy of not making the postseason for the first time in thirty years.

Flashback to over three hours prior, halfway through the first quarter, when Poly led 14-0, had gained 146 yards on two drives, and had held Millikan to a three-and-out on their only possession.  The mood in the stadium, and on the sideline, was that this game was headed for blowout-ville.  Poly was on pace, after all, to win 102-0, and the Rams were undermanned, banged up, and perhaps looking forward—a coach said before the game that they were planning on resting their borderline injured players, with the knowledge that a win over Compton in two weeks would put them into the playoffs.

And then, Alden Darby began to work his magic.  Filling in at quarterback for the injured Paul Slater, Darby did absolutely everything for the Rams—Millikan had 126 yards in the first half, 119 of them from Darby’s arm or his feet.  He had 176 total yards production by the end of the game, plus over 50 in the return game.  More of a runner than a passer, he still managed to throw 10-13 for 137 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, and he himself picked off a Poly pass.  In short, he really did it all, and he did it from the beginning.

On their second drive, down 14-0, Darby ran twice in a row (for 18 yards), then completed a 12-yard pass, then ran two more times (for a first down), then threw a 17-yard completion, then hit three more receivers consecutively, the last a 20-yard TD strike to Derek Mireles.  Every yard gained on the 80-yard, 4:30 minute TD drive had #2 in it, and while Darby (as usual) was quick to give much-deserved credit to his offensive line and his receivers, it was a stunning performance, the kind of solo performance one never sees against a Poly defense.

After that, the wheels came off for Poly.  They threw four INTs, lost a fumble over a quarterbacks head, had a running back fumble, a punt blocked, and committed 22 penalties for 207 yards—Millikan was flagged 11 times for 80.  Some of the calls were definitely questionable (and our video of one PI shows that it’s clearly a blown call), but the Jackrabbits definitely played undisciplined, against a Rams team that was dug in as deep as cleats can go.

The 28-0 run continued for the Rams, with a 26-yard pass from Darby to Silver Vaifanua, who came in off the bench (he’s been out with a knee), a one-yard Darby plunge (after the blocked punt short-porched the Poly D), and a 32-yard TD run from Vaifanua (42 yards for Millikan weren’t gained by Darby, with all but ten of them on that rush).  With eight minutes left in the game, Millikan led 28-14, and it seemed like the shocking upset was all but sewn up.

Credit Poly for picking themselves off the mat—they looked absolutely thumped at that point, and their offense finally came back to life when needed most.  Running back Cory Westbrook led the team on a gritty drive 55 yards down field, and Kameron White ran in the TD.  The defense held, and Poly got the ball back with 2:45 left in the game, only 55 yards away from the endzone after a shanked Millikan punt.  Westbrook got things started, and then Chris Leachman and Kaelin Clay hooked up again to bring the ball within the ten (Clay had a great night, with 8 catches for 165 yards), where Westbrook punched it in, tying the score at 28.

When the officials deemed that the Poly celebration was excessive, the extra point was moved back 15 yards, and the extra windup to try and kick it meant Millikan could break through and block the try, sending the game to overtime.

Poly had the first possession, from the 25—Westbrook moved them to the Millikan nine, but tweaked his knee on the next run.  White came in, and missed the exchange with Leachman; Millikan came up with the fumble, and needed only a field goal to win the game.  They moved just four yards, and this time it was Poly’s special teams that came through, blocking the Rams’ try and sending the game to double OT.

This time, Millikan started, and after Darby and Vaifanua were both stuffed on the ground, Darby went to Vaifanua through the air, for a 17-yard TD (Vaifanua, with the knee problem, had four catches for 67 yards and two TDs, both great grabs).  Penalties moved Poly back to the 40, but Westbrook got things going again, and then Leachman hit Clay for a 23-yard completion, setting up a 13-yard Westbrook score.  That made it Millikan 35, Poly 34—and the ‘Rabbits decided to roll the dice and go for two, and the win.

For the second time this season, Millikan made the play—they beat Gahr 35-34 in week one after stopping a Gladiator 2-point attempt.  Poly had the right play-call—a quick drop for Leachman, and a toss to tight end Earnest Pettway.  Pettway was open in the back, but Millikan’s Mireles leapt with both hands up, and deflected Leachman’s pass wide of the receiver.  And then, of course, chaos broke loose in East Long Beach as the Rams ran wild, celebrating their historic win.

Asked to describe how it felt, Darby said, “Oh my gosh.  It’s, it’s, it’s like I’m in a dream.  We had hope, and we believed.”  Darby was joined in amazing productivity by Poly’s Westbrook, who had a gutty 30 carries for 217 yards and 3 TDs in the loss.

Diego agreed with his star player, that it was all about belief.  “With all the injuries we had, with 14 guys [on a roster of 40] out on Monday with the flu…I’m speechless.  And I was speechless in front of the kids.  Football is a physical game—but you play it with your heart.”  Tearing up, he went on, “I’m overwhelmed with them.  Who would have thought a silly game could make you so emotional?  But it’s not the game—it’s these kids.”

Diego’s been saying since August that he has a special group this season—and after Friday’s win, you’d be a fool to disagree.  For anyone that does, well, Millikan’s going to leave that scoreboard lit up for a good long while if you need to double-check.