Football: Is Long Beach Poly a title contender?

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The CIF Southern Section playoffs kick off tonight and one of the more intriguing matchups in the Pac-5 Division has La Puente Bishop Amat traveling to Veterans Memorial Stadium to take on Long Beach Poly.

It has been a substandard season so far for Long Beach Poly, and even Coach Raul Lara doesn’t know if his team is really a legitimate title contender. The Jackrabbits lost their last three nonleague games decisively, including an embarrassing 56-0 defeat at the hands of Harbor City Narbonne.

Since then, Poly has looked better, outscoring its six Moore League opponents by a combined 268 to 37. However, that league was clearly the weakest in the Pac-5 division this season, so it remains to be seen if Poly has significantly improved or has simply benefited from playing lesser competition.

That question will be answered against Bishop Amat, one of the most battle-tested teams in the entire division. The Lancers (7-2-1) tied for third in the tough Serra League, but are coming off a 49-28 loss to co-champion Sherman Oaks Notre Dame. They began the season by routing Anaheim Servite and hold wins over La Mirada, Los Angeles Loyola and Encino Crespi.

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. so be sure to log back on for scoring updates throughout the game.

-- Steve Galluzzo