Pasadena Poly Manhandles South Bay Lutheran

South Bay Lutheran scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but lost to Pasadena Poly, 51-34, in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Eight-Man Large Division football playoffs Saturday at Pasadena.

Lutheran (6-2-1) led, 14-3, early in the second quarter, but didn’t score again until midway through the fourth quarter. In between, Lutheran punted once, was intercepted once and turned the ball over on downs three times. Poly took advantage by scoring 27 points on four touchdowns.

“They won it on the line,” Lutheran Coach Greg Rathke said. “They moved the ball on the ground and that was the difference. We didn’t expect them to be so physical.”

Poly (6-4) rushed for a season-high 277 yards to 181 for Lutheran. A 51-yard run by Marshean Cox in the fourth quarter set up Lutheran’s last touchdown. Cox led the Waves with 159 yards rushing in 22 carries.

With Poly leading, 30-14, in the fourth, Lutheran quarterback Ukeje Agu completed a 57-yard touchdown pass to Austin Onwadachi to make the score 30-20. Agu completed four of 16 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown, but had three passes intercepted.

After Cox’s touchdown run, Poly came back with two touchdowns in a span of 1 minute 14 seconds, one on a 17-yard interception return by Christian Heger, whose touchdown came one play after a 65-yard scoring pass from Agu to Cox was nullified by a holding penalty.

Poly’s 44-20 lead proved insurmountable for Lutheran, which scored two more touchdowns.

“That effort was typical of our team, especially our seniors,” Rathke said. “They never gave up.”