Serra football’s Maalik Murphy delivers clutch TD throw, defense does the rest in win over Long Beach Poly in regional final

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GARDENA >> Serra shot manager Scott Altenberg has said that the team’s defence was a large crushed the Cavaliers won a CIF Southern Section title.

The defence turned successful different beardown effort Saturday against Long Beach Poly successful the CIF Southern California Regional Division 1-A title game.

It besides didn’t wounded to person backmost Maalik Murphy nether center.

After Poly had taken the pb with 3:25 near successful the game, Murphy didn’t discarded immoderate clip delivering the winning touchdown.

On a second-and-10 from the Serra 25-yard line, Murphy deed Troy Tw Crozier for a 75-yard touchdown walk that gave the Cavaliers a 21-17 triumph successful beforehand of a packed assemblage astatine Serra High.

The triumph was the 200th for Altenberg.

  • Serra squad celebrates 21-17 win. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra QB Maalik Murphy tosses shot to unfastened receiver. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra receiver Matthew Coleman catches TD walk arsenic Poly’s Donovan Turner defends. . Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra’s Troy Crozier makes a twisting drawback successful reddish zone. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Poly receiver Jadyn Robinson is stopped by Serra DB Rodrick Pleasant. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra manager Scott Altenberg holds up title plaque arsenic helium gets hug from QB Maalik Murphy. Serra defeated LB Poly 21-17 to beforehand to State final. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra DB Tre Harrison (21) gets the crippled sealing interception with an assistance from Lamont Shamburger. Serra won 21-17. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Long Poly’s Daylen Austin returns a kickoff. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Poly QB Shea Kuykendall runs from unit of Serra’s D’angelo Davis. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra RB Sincere Rhaney with large gain. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra’s Jaggar Tavai stops Poly’s Devin Samples abbreviated of archetypal down to springiness his squad possession and the crippled 21-17. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra QB Maalik Murphy celebrates 21-17 triumph arsenic seconds tick disconnected the clock. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Poly receiver Tyson Bordeaux is stopped adjacent extremity enactment arsenic archetypal fractional ends. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra RB Troy Crozier is swarmed by Poly defenders. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra RB Troy Crozier cuts to opening for bully gain. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Poly RB Devin Samples finds a spread successful Serra defense. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra RB Kai Honda gets pulled to turf by Poly’s Donovan Turner. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Poly QB Shea Kuykendall launches a heavy ball. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Serra RB Sincere Rhaney blasts thru enactment for large summation successful archetypal half. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

  • Poly RB Joshua Casongets caught aft large gain. Long Beach Poly astatine Serra CIF SoCal Regional shot playoff crippled Saturday December 4, 2021. (Photo by Robert Casillas, Contributing Photographer)

Serra (10-4) volition look Liberty of Bakersfield successful the CIF State title game on Saturday, Dec. 11, astatine Saddleback College astatine 4 p.m.

“He had an retired and I knew the country was going to effort to instrumentality distant short,” Murphy said of his winning TD pass. “I audibled … wanted him to spell retired and up, that’s what helium did. I looked disconnected the information and got the shot to my playmaker.”

That was Murphy’s 3rd touchdown walk of the game.

“In my head, I was thinking, they gave maine excessively overmuch time,” Murphy said.

From there, the defence took implicit to enactment the finishing touches connected the game.

First, sophomore Jason Mitchell and freshman Tre Harrison broke up a imaginable a large pass. That was followed by a sack by sophomore Tanu Sosa connected 2nd down. After an incomplete pass, Harrison came up with an interception successful the extremity zone.

It was the 2nd interception for Serra. Sophomore Dakoda Fields intercepted a Shea Kuykendall walk connected the 2-yard enactment earlier successful the 4th quarter.

Junior D’Angelo Davis created havoc each nighttime against the Poly offense.

“We’re going hard each play,” Davis said. “We conscionable enactment unneurotic arsenic a team, to beryllium honest. When we spell retired connected the field, we told each different this is what we enactment for, each down, we marque definite we bash our best.”

The crippled was tied 7-7 astatine halftime.

Serra took the lead, 14-7, aboriginal successful the 3rd 4th connected Murphy’s 37-yard touchdown walk to Cincere Rhaney.

Poly chopped the shortage to 14-10 connected a tract extremity precocious successful the 3rd quarter. That’s wherever the people remained until Poly went up connected Kuykendall’s 12-yard touchdown walk to Titus Bordeaux with 3:25 left, mounting the signifier for Murphy’s heroics.

The triumph is Serra’s sixth successful 7 games against Poly. The combined full of the 7 meetings is present 30 points

“We played OK connected offense, but we gave distant a lot,” Altenberg said. “Defensively, they kept america successful it. The happening astir our guys is that they won’t stop, they play with specified a high-motor, Tanu (Sosa) made a play wherever helium was taken retired of the play, helium dove backmost and made a tackle and that ended up redeeming it for us.

“It’s that unselfishness connected that defense. They don’t person a Five-star, they conscionable person a batch of guys who get aft it and it’s truly exciting.”

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