Narboe comes alive in time to put away Long Beach Poly

LONG BEACH >> Kameron Denmark ran for two touchdowns and Narboe’s defense posted a second-half shutout en route to a 25-13 nonleague victory over Long Beach Poly at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach on Friday.

“It says that we’re hungry,” Narboe defensive lineman Dominic Peterson said regarding the second-half shutout. “We’re nothing like last year’s team and we need to prove everything.”

After being held to a pair of field goals in the first half and trailing 13-6 at halftime, Narboe (2-0) came out of locker room with a renewed focus.

“In all honesty, at halftime I said we were going to win this game,” Narboe coach Manuel Douglas said. “I knew we couldn’t play worse, we just needed to settle down.”

On the second drive of the third quarter, Denmark capped an 80-yard, 9 play drive with a 19-yard touchdown.

“We knew they were a tough opponent,” Denmark said. “It was a test and we wanted it. We had to prepare the right way and we knew we’d get it done.”

Narboe wasn’t finished there. After Raymond Scott recovered a fumble on the ensuing possession, the Gauchos took the lead following Denmark’s 2-yard score to make it a 19-13 game. Denmark finished with 80 yards on 20 carries while Scott also forced a fourth-quarter fumble.

“That (fumble) was the key because we had just scored,” said Narboe receiver Tre Walker, who finished with 136 yards on 8 catches. “Those were some very big points.”

While Narboe’s defense continued to stymie the Long Beach Poly offense, its own offense went back to work.

Jalen Chatman coected with Juwan Tucker on a 7-yard touchdown that capped a 60-yard, 6-play drive to put Narboe up for good.

The night didn’t start off well for Narboe. Chatman threw the first of two interceptions on the eighth play from scrimmage. Chatman finished with 291 yards on 19 of 31 passing with a touchdown and 2 interceptions.

“We were trying too hard and we had to settle down,” Douglas said. “That’s the second week in a row that happened.”

Narboe bounced back, as Edgar Ramos’ 29-yard field goal gave Narboe a 3-0 lead with 4:06 to play in the first quarter. Ramos added a 28-yard field goal with 1:16 to play before halftime to make it a 13-6 game.

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