Corona Centennial takes down No. 22 Long Beach Poly

Matt Logan didn't just schedule a murderer's row early on get his team experience against the best in the nation. He did it to beat those teams.

The Centennial (Corona, Calif.) coach had to be happy Friday when his squad toppled Long Beach Poly (Calif.) by a 42-34 score on homecoming night. If you go by the rankings, it was an upset, as Poly (3-1) was 22nd in the Xcellent 25. But Logan's teams have proven year after year that nobody should expect an easy game against the Huskies.

Centennial is now 2-2, which isn't stellar. But the losses are to Mater Dei and to Bishop Gorman, a game that the Huskies led in the fourth quarter by two touchdowns.



This team that is loaded with juniors has not only survived the brutal stretch that included a three-point win over Orange Lutheran. It has struck fear in everyone in Southern California.

Junior running back JJ Taylor dazzled with 193 yards on 21 carries and a pair of touchdowns, and fellow junior Javon Mckinley caught three balls for 119 yards and two scores. Centennial led from start to finish using a two-quarterback system.

The Huskies jumped ahead 21-0 behind touchdown runs from Taylor of 2 and 81 yards, and a 19-yard scoring catch by McKinley from Anthony Catalano. Poly finally got on the board with 4:33 left in the first half when Josh Love found Justin Calhoun on a pretty streak route for a 31-yard score. But McKinley battled right back with an 85-yard score on a bubble screen. Poly closed the half with a pretty 8-yard catch by Johnnie Rucker with 13 seconds left to make it 28-13 at the half.

Catalano found Greyson Bankhead for a 9-yard score, Poly's Jeremy Calhoun tallied a touchdown from 11 yards out on an inside handoff then Centennial retorted with an 11-yard scoring pass from Nate Ketteringham to Cameron Jackson. Ketteringham displayed a nifty spin move to evade a rusher on the fourth-down play before firing a pass to the wide-open Jackson and it was 42-20.

But the Jackrabbits showed some spark behind Love, who racked up roughly 400 passing yards for a Poly program that isn't accustomed to quarterbacks posting massive numbers.

James Brooks, jr. got a touchdown on a 15-yard inside handoff with 6:51 left and Love found Dae'john jeffrey Logan in double coverage for a nice score with 3:01 remaining. An onside kick failed and Centennial ran out the clock to avenge last season's loss to Poly.



For more on the local and national implications of the game, check out the Xcellent 25 National Scoreboard and the Southern California Top 25 Scoreboard.