Esperanza falls when Long Beach Poly strikes late

PLACENTIA - Pushed to the brink of elimination three weeks ago, Esperanza's season finally closed at the hands of top-seeded Long Beach Poly, 17-10, in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Pac-5 Division playoffs Saturday night at Valencia High.

"The guys played their butts off," Aztecs coach Bill Pendleton said. "We just made a few too many mistakes, and they made one more big play than we did."

Poly's "big play" set up the winning touchdown. Facing third-and-7 from their 35, the Jackrabbits' Morgan Fennell completed a 62-yard pass to tight end Julian Camper late in the fourth quarter.

Melvin Richardson scored ona 3-yard run on the next play, and Long Beach Poly reclaimed the lead, 17-10, with 4:48 remaining.

"It's something we have in our playbook and use when we need to," Jackrabbits coach Raul Lara said. "We needed it there. Everyone is talking about the bottom half (of the Pac-5 bracket) being tough. I looked at Esperanza's size, and it's remarkable."

Esperanza trailed 10-0 at halftime on a 32-yard scoring run by Richardson and a 42-yard field from David Skara.

The Aztecs forced Poly to go three and out on its first drive of the second half. Esperanza pulled to within 10-3 on Aria Nabipur's 36-yard field goal.

The Aztecs stopped the Jackrabbits on the next possession and used a 16-play drive that lasted 6:42 to even it at 10.

The Aztecs were backed up on the drive with a first-and-21 from their 48. However, a Poly roughing the passer penalty aided the drive. It was capped off by Jared Moore's 5-yard touchdown run with 8:11 to play in regulation.

After Sunset League losses to Newport Harbor and Los Alamitos, Esperanza's playoff hopes were dire. However, the Aztecs upset Edison, then beat then-No. 6 San Clemente, 24-16, to open the playoffs.

"We knew it was on us," Moore said. "We just came up short tonight."
 

Contact the writer: ctobolski@ocregister.com