L.B. Poly Holds Off Banning

Wilmington Banning High trailed by 14 points at halftime Friday night against Long Beach Poly.

And the Pilots nearly overcame the deficit against the defending Southern Section Division I champions.

But the comeback fell short when Long Beach Poly safety Darrell Rideaux stopped running back Chris Howard on a two-point conversion attempt with 3:15 left to seal a 35-34 intersectional victory for the Jackrabbits at Veterans Stadium.

Howard gained 181 yards in 17 carries and also had a 44-yard touchdown catch to bring the Pilots to within the final margin.

Banning (1-2), of the City Section, ultimately could not overcome its first-half mistakes against one of the nation’s top teams. Banning Coach Chris Gutierrez could only think of missed opportunities.

“If we played cleanly without the mistakes, I would be satisfied,” said Gutierrez, whose team trailed, 28-14, at halftime. “Without the mistakes, we just beat the No. 2 team in the nation.”

Banning fumbled inside the Long Beach Poly five-yard line on the opening drives of each half.

Long Beach Poly (2-0) took advantage of the turnovers and used a quick-striking air attack to overcome the Pilots’ ground attack.

Long Beach Poly quarterback Chris Lewis and the Jackrabbit offense had the ball for only 17 minutes, 44 seconds, but had 268 passing yards.

Lewis, who is considered one of the top high school quarterbacks in the nation, also passed for four touchdowns as Long Beach Poly extended its winning streak to 16 games.

“We are a big-play team with big-play players,” said Lewis, who had two touchdown passes of more than 70 yards. “We are athletic. That’s just the kind of team we are.”

Samie Parker caught only two passes, but they were good for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Parker has 293 receiving yards and four touchdowns in two games.

But Long Beach Poly wide receiver Kareem Kelly made the game’s most spectacular play. With 11:08 left, Kelly turned a short curl route into a 79-yard touchdown to give the Jackrabbits a 35-20 lead.

“That play by Kareem was amazing,” Lewis said.

The Jackrabbits’ ground game suffered a loss when Larry Croom left the game in the first half because of a groin injury. David Word, however, gained 94 yards in 14 carries.