Long Beach Poly beats Los Alamitos

Long Beach Poly’s special-teams play and its running from senior tailback Kaelin Clay ensured the Jackrabbits a 24-7 victory over No. 19 Los Alamitos on Friday in the first round of the Pac-5 playoffs.

Clay had 19 carries for 163 yards with two touchdowns. Poly also recorded a safety and a touchdown off two blocked punts.

And the Jackrabbits had another safety after defensive lineman Corey Waller sacked Los Alamitos’ Dylan Lagarde in the end zone, giving Long Beach Poly a 24-7 lead with 7:58 remaining.

The full team effort secured Long Beach Poly (6-5) a quarterfinal matchup next Friday against Servite, a 38-10 winner over San Clemente.

After Clay’s nine-yard touchdown run and Hayden Hunt’s extra point tied the score at 7-7 with 1:12 remaining in the first quarter, the teams remained tied for most of the first half.

That was until Jackrabbits senior defensive back Ryan Goforth blocked Dan Boyer’s punt on fourth and 14 at Los Alamitos’ 21-yard line.

The ball rolled deep into the Griffins’ backfield, but Goforth had trouble picking up the ball. Instead of the Jackrabbits picking it up for a touchdown, they settled for a safety -- and a 9-7 lead with 1:23 remaining in the first half -- after the ball rolled into the end zone.

-- Mark Medina

Notre Dame wins

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame piled up 304 yards rushing and forced three turnovers to pull out a 41-24 victory over visiting Fountain Valley in a Pac-5 Division first-round playoff game.

Tailback Kenny Boggs had 211 yards and two touchdowns in 23 carries for the Knights (9-2), who will play second-seeded Mission Viejo (11-0) -- a 41-14 winner over Long Beach Wilson -- in a quarterfinal next Friday. Jacob Smith had 101 yards and a touchdown in nine carries for Notre Dame.

Fountain Valley (8-3) recovered two onside kicks and got 271 yards rushing and three touchdowns from Kyle Middlebrooks, who scored on runs of 50, 57 and six yards.

But the Barons squandered an opportunity late in the third quarter when they partially blocked a punt only to have the ball bounce off one of their players and be recovered by Notre Dame.

A subsequent drive inside the Knights’ 15-yard line ended when Middlebrooks fumbled.

Linebacker Andrew Kimble had an interception and recovered a fumble for Notre Dame, which bounced back from a 17-point defeat last week against La Puente Bishop Amat in the regular-season finale.

“We played a little more physically this week, and I knew we’d have to in order to win this game,” Notre Dame Coach Kevin Rooney said. “I’m really happy with the way we came back.”

-- Ben Bolch

Valencia hangs on

Zack Tartabull’s interception in the end zone foiled a two-point conversion attempt with 28 seconds remaining, allowing top-seeded Valencia to escape with a 28-27 victory over gutty Thousand Oaks in a first-round Northern Division playoff game at Valencia High.

Thousand Oaks (5-6), aided by a pair of Vikings penalties, drove nearly 80 yards to score on a five-yard pass from Jackson Lucht to Rickey Minyard. But rather than go for the tie and a possible overtime, Coach Mike Leibin kept his offense on the field. Lucht’s pass in the corner of the end zone drew a crowd, with Tartabull coming down with the fifth interception for Valencia (11-0).

-- Kevin Baxter

Two-minute drill

Fontana Summit (6-5) ended Perris Citrus Hill’s 38-game win streak, the longest in the state, in a 48-36 victory in the opening round of the Eastern Division playoffs (10-1).