From Staff Reports: To say last week’s setback at Temple City was anything less than a swift kick in the (gut) would be dishonest. Their coach Chris Schmoke, their star players, and others all felt Poly took Temple City for granted and they paid in the end for that. But this coaching staff and their […]
From Staff Reports:
To say last week’s setback at Temple City was anything less than a swift kick in the (gut) would be dishonest.
Their coach Chris Schmoke, their star players, and others all felt Poly took Temple City for granted and they paid in the end for that.
But this coaching staff and their athletes are far too smart, disciplined and focused to let that happen again.
And in their first shot at redemption, the Panthers bounced back in a big way.
Poly defeated Mission of Canada (British Columbia), 55-0, and dominated on both sides of the ball.
Jackson Hayes, the baddest 130-or-so-pounder walking the streets of the San Gabriel Valley, got Poly off to a quick and explosive start.
Hayes had TD runs of 80 and 70 yards, and finished with 170 yards rushing, despite carrying the ball just four times.
He also did the kicking duties on Saturday.
“I thought we played pretty well. We got the bad taste out of our mouth. We came in way too cocky last week,” Hayes said. “This was kind of a bounce back week, to determine what kind of a team we were going to be. We focused on being a ‘we-team’ at practice and we came together and played well.”
When asked his favorite moment of the game, it was nothing he did.
Hayes was so proud of Jonathan Thein, who had not played football before, but intercepted a Mission pass on Saturday.
Cameron McFarlane had a sack, recovered the ball and brought it back for a score.
Thomas McConnell, the younger brother of last year’s standout Will McConnell, also scooped up a ball on defense and took it in for a touchdown.
Christian Henderson had a rushing and receiving TD for Poly.
Graham Olson also scored on the ground for the Panthers.
Jackson Treister also had a big game for Poly.
Poly will travel next week to Brentwood (2-0), with kickoff set at 3 p.m.
“This week’s practice was much more focused and we played the way we knew we should be playing,” Poly coach Chris Schmoke said. “I was happy with the effort, and we got production from a lot of our players. We’ll have to get back to work, because Brentwood will be a big test for us.”
