Long Beach Poly gets a big play to advance, 17-10
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
Tight end's long rumble sets up winning touchdown against Esperanza.
Top-seeded Long Beach Poly survived another scare Saturday night to advance in the Pac-5 Division playoffs, defeating Anaheim Esperanza, 17-10, and it was a lumbering giant, 6-foot-5, 270-pound tight end Julian Camper, who came through with the decisive contribution at Bradford Stadium in Placentia.
In a 10-10 tie with under five minutes left, Camper caught a short pass over the middle on a third-and-six situation from quarterback Morgan Fennell, and he didn't stop running and huffing and puffing until he reached the three-yard line. It was his second reception all season and ended up as 62-yard pass play.
Daveon Barner then scored on a three-yard touchdown run, and Poly (12-0) could breathe a sigh of relief.
"I was just trying to get the first down at first," Camper said. "I tried to turn it up and started stumbling."
The second half was a series of stumbles for a Poly team that had to rally to beat Bishop Amat, 21-17, last week.
Poly's victory sets up a Moore League rematch with Lakewood next Friday in the semifinals at Lakewood. The Lancers lost to Poly, 32-15, on Oct. 3, but that was the week Lakewood learned it had to forfeit four games for an ineligible player and didn't have running back Jerry Stone, who has returned to spark the Lancers to upset playoff victories over Servite and Mission Viejo.
"They are the hottest team right now," Poly Coach Raul Lara said.
Esperanza (8-4) rallied from a 10-0 deficit behind running back Jared Moore, who gained 159 yards in 25 carries and scored a touchdown.
Aria Nabipur kicked a 36-yard field goal with 5:58 left in the third quarter to pull the Aztecs to within 10-3. Then Esperanza put together an 80-yard, 15-play drive, with Moore scoring on a five-yard run to tie the score with 8:11 left.
Poly, focusing on its running game during the playoffs, was forced to rely on Fennell at a critical time, and he came through. Fennell completed a 12-yard pass to Damon Smith on third-and-nine from the 19 to keep the drive going. And then he found Camper wide open on another third-down situation.
"Fennell has been coming up with some great completions," Lara said.
Esperanza was able to move the ball in the second half after Poly defensive tackle Juwaun Brown went down because of an ankle injury late in the second quarter.
The first half took about 45 minutes to complete because both schools like to pass about as much as the late Woody Hayes. Poly came away with a 10-0 halftime lead on the strength of a 32-yard touchdown run by Melvin Richardson and a 42-yard field goal by David Skara.
Poly's defense gave up only three first downs, and Esperanza hurt itself with a lost fumble that came one play after a 47-yard run by quarterback Sean McDonald. The Aztecs also kept alive the drive that led to Skara's field goal by having 12 men on the field on a punt.
Poly came out with a power-I formation designed to pound the ball with Richardson and Barner. There was no hiding the fact the Jackrabbits chose to abandon their passing attack, because they were running the ball on third-and-long situations. Richardson finished with 106 yards rushing.
Sondheimer is a Times staff writer.
eric.sondheimer@latimes.com
