De La Salle vs Long Beach Poly Highlights from 10-6-2001 - 25 year anniversary

Video courtesy of Fox Sports Net 25 years ago, the biggest high school football game ever played was held at Long Beach’s Veteran Stadium as De La Salle defeated Long Beach Poly 29-15 in the first ever matchup involving the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the country. Many know this as the Maurice Jones-Drew game as the junior scored all four Spartans touchdowns in front of the 17,321 in attendance, including Snoop Dogg and Warren G. What many might not know is that MJD also made big impacts in the other two phases of the game. MJD’s opening kickoff helped set up his first score. He also made two key tackles in the Poly opening possession, leading to a three-and-out. In the second possession, he delivered one of the four Spartans sacks. When it was all over, the offensive numbers included 77 yards rushing and 79 yards rushing for Jones-Drew, who had two rushing and two receiving touchdowns. MJD wasn’t the only De La Salle assistant coach to make an impact as current defensive coordinator Willie Glasper tied for the team lead with 6 solo tackles. Other Spartans individual standouts included Derek Landri (Notre Dame and Jacksonville Jaguars), who was impactful on both sides of the line all night, and Brenden Ottoboni came through with 6 solo tackles and 4 assists. Long Beach Poly’s best performers were Hershel Dennis, who ran for 157 yards, and Mercedes Lewis, who caught a touchdown pass. This Jackrabbits team was the first team in the nation to have 5 Parade All-Americans. It was such a big game that Don Wallace wrote a book about it titled “One Great Game: Two Teams, Two Dreams, in the First Ever National Championship High School Football Game”. The Spartans win was its 117th consecutive victory in its national record 151-game streak. Information provided by Damin Esper and CalHiSports.