Football: Poly shuts down Mater Dei in Pac-5 final

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Long Beach Poly has captured its 19th CIF title with an impressive 35-17 victory over Santa Ana Mater Dei in the Southern Section Pac-5 Division final at Angel Stadium.

It was Poly’s fifth section title under Coach Raul Lara and first since 2008. Poly limited Mater Dei’s potent ground attack to minus 14 yards and built an early 21-3 lead. Manusamoa Luuga had 132 yards and two touchdowns in 13 carries and Tai Tiedemann completed 6 of 14 passes for 100 yards and two scores for Poly.

Thomas Duarte caught eight passes for 108 yards for the Monarchs (11-3), who were seeking their 10th section title and first since sharing the Southern Section Division I crown with Poly in 1999.

Cal-Hi Sports editor Mark Tennis was at the game and predicted the Jackrabbits (11-3) will play Clovis North (12-1) in the CIF Division I regional bowl game next weekend.

-- Steve Galluzzo