Long Beach Poly Beats St.John Bosco 13-10 To Advance to the Finals.

Story by L.T.Willis

St.John Bosco's #3 John Rosen being pressure by Long Beach Poly
defense. Photo by William Johnson/T.G.Sports.

The game between Long Beach Poly (9-3) and St John Bosco (8-4) was a game that will be remember as a physical game and big plays on defense. St.John Bosco trying to make it to it's first ever sectional championship title in school history, had the Jackrabbits standing in their way. About 11,000 fans made it to Veteran Stadium to see Long Beach Poly beat St.John Bosco 13-10 in a thriller.

The Jackrabbits scored first on a six yard touchdown run by Gerald Wicks with 3:33 left in the first quarter to give them a 6-0 lead. Both teams defense didn't really allow each other defense to get going and establish any kind of rhythm. The second half the fog roll in and onto the field and now both teams really had to stay focus.

Long Beach Poly #23 Gerald Wicks had a big night against
St.John Bosco as he scored on a 6 yard touchdown run.
Photo by William Johnson.

St John got on the board early  in the third quarter after the a great play by the Braves' Aaron Aragon stripped Wicks and return the ball to the Jackrabbits 26 yard line, but two costly penalties force the Braves to settle for a 43 yard field goal by Reid Budrovich to trail Poly 6-3. St John Bosco took the lead with 3:33 left in the third quarter after Naijiel Hale intercepted the ball a ran it back 64 yards to give the Braves a 10-6 lead.

St.John Bosco's #7 Naijiel Hale was making plays for the Braves, and none
bigger than a 64 yard touchdown interception to give them a 10-6 lead.
Photo by William Johnson/T.G.Sports.

The Jackrabbits answer the score when they drove down the field for 76 yards as Tai Tiedemann scored on a quarterback sneak from one yard out to regain the lead 13-10 after a 14-plays and 76 yards drive, and the Poly fans went crazy.St John Bosco still had one more chance to even tie or win the game, drove to the Jackrabits' 35 yard line, but was intercepted on fourth down by John Smith with 1:13 left in the game that crush any hopes for St John Bosco to reach the finals.

Long Beach Poly's quarterback #3 Tai Tiedemann scores on a one yard
touchdown run to give the Jackrabbits a 13-10 victory over the Braves.
Photo by William Johnson/T.G.Sports.

After the game coach Laura said," we were fortunate to win this game which could have gone either way for both teams,"  but i was glad that John came up big for us with his interception." Our running game was huge for us also."Gerald Wicks had a big night for Poly carried the ball 27 times for 129 yards and one touchdown. 

Poly who hasn't played in the finals since 2008 will play Mater Dei for the title at Angel Stadium on next Saturday. For more photos of this great game go to our website at www.tgsportstv.com , click on the Prep/JC  Gallery and scroll down to the St.John Bosco @ Long Beach Poly. All photo are by William Johnson/T.G.Sports.