The Poly Jackrabbits kicked off their football season on August 27 with a road trip to Peoria, Arizona to face the Centennial Coyotes.
The Jackrabbits managed to pull through a rough start with a 13-12 win, despite a plethora of penalties and a slow offense. “We’re a young team and a lot of our current starters are starting for the first time,” said senior linebacker Sergio Villaseñor.
The Poly offense struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, coming up scoreless. With many new starters, the Poly offense had a rough start, racking up 16 penalties by the end of the game. Fortunately, the relentless Poly defense kept a manageable score for Poly to make a comeback. Junior linebacker Joshua Brown intercepted the Centennial quarterback early in the game and helped set the tone for the stout defense. At halftime, Centennial led 6-0.
The second half for Poly featured a more explosive and organized offense, including a 60-yard touchdown pass from senior receiver Jack Jones, earning Poly a close 7-6 lead. Soon after, another Coyote touchdown put the Coyotes ahead 12-7.
When the passing attack for Poly struggled, junior quarterback Nolan McDonald ran effectively to get first downs and keep the Jackrabbit offense on the field. Running back Michael Mauai had a strong varsity debut with a fourth quarter touchdown, putting Poly ahead 13-12 for the Jackrabbits’ eventual win.
“Our offense started off slow and we obviously hurt ourselves with penalties, but our defense played strong the entire game,” said Villaseñor.
The rest of the Jackrabbits’ schedule includes other difficult games, with road games to Las Vegas and Northern California to face nationally ranked Bishop Gorman and De La Salle. Today, the Jackrabbits will face Narbonne, an opponent sure to trouble the Jackrabbits.
Luckily, the Jackrabbits know what needs improvement and plan to work even harder in practice. “We have one game under our belts so we’ve made our adjustments so that we’re ready for Narbonne,” said Villaseñor.
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