Football: Long Beach Poly is relishing underdog role

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Long Beach Poly has won 18 CIF titles, Bellflower St. John Bosco has won zero.

And yet Poly will play the unfamiliar role of underdog when it hosts the Braves tonight in a Southern Section Pac-5 Division semifinal game at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Since suffering three straight nonleague losses, the Jackrabbits (9-3) have won eight in a row, including a 21-16 quarterfinal upset of second-seeded Mission Viejo last week.

Now Poly will try to knock off another undefeated opponent. The Braves’ record is 8-4 on paper, but they are perfect on the field. They had to forfeit their first four games for using an ineligible player, still that didn’t stop them from capturing their first Trinity League title and earning the No. 3 seed in the playoffs behind sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen.

The winner will meet either No. 4 Santa Ana Mater Dei or No. 1 Ventura St. Bonaventure in the finals next Saturday at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

Kickoff is an hour away, so stay logged on to Varsity Times Insider for scoring updates throughout tonight’s game.

-- Steve Galluzzo