Cypress coach remains proud despite team’s semifinal loss to Poly

Cypress receiver Muhammad Hassoneh slips away from Poly’s Timmy Taiagamoa to gain 28 yards on a pass play. (Photos courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone).

Cypress Coach Rick Feldman thoroughly enjoyed the first 22 minutes of the Centurions’ CIF Division 4 semifinal football game with Long Beach Poly Friday night at Veterans Stdium in Long Beach.

“That first 22 minutes were fun,” he said. “We hung in there, and we battled them.”

The last 26 minutes, not so much.

“The last 26 minutes seemed like four hours,” he admitted after Poly overpowered Feldman’s club 35-0 to advance to a Division 4 title match at St. Francis Friday. The Jackrabbits (10-3) will be seeking the 20^th CIF title in the school’s illustrious football history.

Cypress finished the season 10-3 after advancing to a CIF semifinal game for the second time in four seasons.

“We haven’t gotten over the hump yet,” Feldman lamented.

To see the slide show, click on the first photo:

Friday’s hump was a big one. Using this year’s new pairing format, Poly likely played in a lower division than it should have, Cypress possibly in a higher division than it belonged.

The pairings are based on this year’s results, an excellent idea, and Poly, historically one of the CIF’s elite teams, drew a lower ranking after losses to Serra (28-27), Mission Viejo (41-14) and Corona Centennial (52-7).

Cypress was 2-3 after five games and has just lost senior quarterback Dylan Eldredge to a knee injury requiring surgery. At the time of his injury Eldredge had completed 85 of 126 passes for 1,322 yards and 18 touchdowns. He had a quarterback rating of 131.7.

The Centurions response was remarkable. With wide receiver Matthew Morrell moved to quarterback, Cypress relied more on running back Tomas Ramirez, who rushed for 1,383 yards and 19 touchdowns as the Centurions responded with seven consecutive wins, including two in the playoffs.

It was the five-game win streak to end the regular season that elevated the team’s stature in the playoffs.

Even with Friday’s loss, Feldman wouldn’t change a thing.

“Our goal was to play as hard as we can for as long as we could,” Feldman said. “And this year that was for 13 games. I couldn’t be prouder of how hard our guys have played this season.”

The Centurions had that same effort Friday night but ultimately Poly’s defense proved too much. Cypress had little success moving the ball against the Rabbits and ran only 38 plays in the contest (Poly had 56) and netted 38 yards total offense.

The consequences of little offense meant the defense was on the field much of the night and eventually ran out of gas after a handful of big efforts in that first 22 minutes.

Poly ultimately broke the scoreless deadlock when Nicholas Kelly bolted 17 yards for a TD. Kelly fumbled when hit at the one by JD Haas, but landed on the ball in the end zone for the score.

The Cypress offense couldn’t advance the ball on its next possession and Poly used its three timeouts to force a Cypress punt. A poor snap led to Poly getting the ball on the 13 and Devin Samples scored on the next play and the familiar Poly explosiveness and produced 14 points in two plays and 1:07 of game time.

Things immediately deteriorated when Poly’s Miles Weber returned the second half kickoff 79 yards for a score. The Jackrabbits added two more third-quarter scores on 2-yard runs by Ikenasio Mikaele and Samples.

To see earlier story, click here

—Courtesy Jim McCormack, For OC Sports Zone