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High School Sports

THIS WEEK’S TOP GAMES

By Ben Bolch

No. 1 Long Beach Poly (3-0) vs. Concord De La Salle (3-0) at Long Beach Veterans Stadium, Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

This is one of the biggest prep events in Southern California in years--and it’s sold out. Poly and De La Salle are ranked No. 1 and No. 2--in varying order--in several national polls, and the Spartans are riding a national-record 116-game winning streak over 10 years. The Jackrabbits have gone 57-1-1 since the start of the 1997 season.

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Poly will rely on its monstrous offensive line and tailback Hershel Dennis, who gained 100 yards and scored four touchdowns in only six carries during the Jackrabbits’ 70-0 dismantling of Fontana last week.

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De La Salle features a balanced attack led by speedy tailback Alijah Bradley, who rushed for 205 yards two weeks ago against Mater Dei, and quarterback Matt Gutierrez, who rarely throws a bad pass.

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High School Sports
Ben Bolch

Ben Bolch has been a Los Angeles Times staff writer since 1999. He is serving his second stint as the UCLA beat writer, which seems fitting since he has covered almost every sports beat except hockey and horse racing. Bolch is also the author of the recently released book “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.” He previously covered UCLA basketball from 2010-11 before going on to cover the NBA and the Clippers for five years. He happily traded in gobs of hotel points and airline miles to return to cover UCLA basketball and football in the summer of 2016. Bolch was once selected by NBA TV’s “The Starters” as the “Worst of the Week” after questioning their celebrity journalism-style questions at an NBA All-Star game and considers it one of his finer moments.

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