On a cold, rainy night at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Ca the Granite Bay Grizzlies defeated the Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits 21-20 in a heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat battle. The final minutes of the game were championship caliber.
There was no score for most of the first quarter as both defenses took some time to feel each other out. Poly jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 28-yard touchdown catch by senior Gerard Wicks on a trick play.
Granite Bay moved the ball fairly well on the ground against Long Beach Poly in the first half but had to settle for field goal attempts. To his credit, Granite Bay's senior kicker Colin Brown made two field goals despite the weather conditions. The Grizzlies remained within striking distance for much of the contest.
2012 CIF Divsion I Football Championship Highlights: Granite Bay Wins 21-20 over LB Poly
Trailing 7-6, outside linebacker Dylan Keene stood tall at 6'5" 210 and returned an errant Tai Tiedemann pass 30 yards for a touchdown to give the Grizzlies their first lead of the game. Granite Bay went for two and converted on a short-run from senior Taft Partridge.
Behind 14-7 the Jackrabbits marched down the field after long pass completion to Washington State commit Gerard Wicks up the sideline. Poly cashed in the drive with a long touchdown smith to John "JuJu" Smith and tied the game 14-14.
Both teams turned the ball over early in the fourth quarter but neither team was able to capitalize. Long Beach Poly broke the stalemate with a 14 yard touchdown run by Manusamoa Luuga, that was setup by a huge pass play to JuJu Smith that got the Jackrabbits into the red zone. Poly missed a pivotal extra point attempt after Luuga's TD run.
With less than four minutes remaining the Grizzlies took the field for the potential game-winning drive. After a key pass-interference penalty gave the Grizzlies a first down, senior Taft Partridge broke a long-run into Long Beach Poly territory. With the game on the line and just over a minute left, senior John Cooley tied the game with a short touchdown run.
Granite Bay kicker Colin Brown gave the Grizzlies the lead 21-20 with just over a minute to play. After JuJu Smith returned the Granite Bay kickoff near midfield. On fourth and two Poly quarterback Eban Jackson was intercepted by Aaron Knapp to seal the victory for Granite Bay and clinch the 2012 CIF DIvision I Football Championship.
