Long Beach Poly Defeats Loyola

For two quarters it looked liked two teams sloshing around in the mud.

In the second half, Loyola, known for its granite-like defense, and Long Beach Poly, just as well known for its potent offense, played as billed.

In the end, it was a case of a good offense defeating a good defense as the Jackrabbits erupted for two fourth-quarter touchdowns by running back Larry Croom and defeated Loyola, 24-17, in the Southern Section Division I semifinal before 7,500 at East Los Angeles College.

Long Beach Poly (13-0) will play defending champion Santa Ana Mater Dei (13-0) for the division championship next Saturday at the Coliseum.

Croom rushed for 96 yards in nine carries and scored two touchdowns, including the go-ahead 72-yard scoring play. He also hauled in four passes for 93 yards.

“We’ve exploded like that all year,” said Long Beach Poly Coach Jerry Jaso. “Their defense is great and it befuddled us. But Larry made those two great plays and we knew we could move the ball at the end.”

Loyola (12-1) looked like it hand the game under control at the beginning of the half, successfully stopping the Jackrabbits running game.

After trailing 3-0 at halftime, the Cubs drove 67 yards on their opening second-half drive, which was capped when Peter Grant caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chris Peterson, who finished 10 of 17 for 150 yards.

The Cubs’ Shaun Mutch then kicked a 19-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter to make the score 10-3.

But the Jackrabbits (13-0), who scored three times in seven plays in their 37-27 victory last week over Redlands, began opening huge holes and Croom and running back Herman Ho-Ching, who rushed for 112 yards in 15 carries, appeared to wear down Loyola.

Long Beach showed flashes of its potent offense early on, and began moving the ball on short passes. But third-seeded Loyola held the second-seeded Jackrabbits and on third down from their own 14 the Cubs sacked Poly quarterback Chris Lewis for a 15-yard loss.

Carlos Casillas came on fourth down and kicked a 46-yard field to put the Jackrabbits up 3-0.

Long Beach moved the ball again to the Loyola 20 with three seconds left in the half, but this timed Casillas’ kick was blocked.