High school football: Journee Tonga leads Leuzinger past Palos Verdes

With back-to-back wins over Palos Verdes and Inglewood, the Leuzinger High football team has vaulted to the top of the Bay League hierarchy.

Thursday night, despite losing quarterback Russell Ciccona to a broken hand in the second quarter, Leuzinger (5-0, 2-0) relied on its defense and the play of linebacker-turned-quarterback Jurnee Tonga to come away with a 40-14 win over Palos Verdes at SOF Stadium.

Tonga contributed touchdown runs of 14 and 21 yards on the pick-and-roll play. Then Leuzinger’s speedster, Kelton Strickland, ran it 84 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter. Tonga added a 61-yard touchdown pass. It all came with Palos Verdes (4-3, 1-1) believing the 5-foot-8 Tonga wouldn’t pose much of a passing threat. With the help of his offensive line, Tonga found holes in the Sea Kings’ defence.

The Olympians’ defense frustrated Palos Verdes midfielder Ryan Rakowski, who was ejected just before 11:41 after getting into an altercation with Leusinger midfielder Samu Moala. The game was delayed as officials spoke with coaches in an attempt to determine ejections. Mwala was sent off along with two of his teammates.

“High emotion,” Moala said. “Lesson learned.”

Those who are ejected can be sidelined for one to three games depending on the officials’ report.

Rakowski had 12 yards passing in the first half and finished with 87 yards.

Palos Verdes took a brief lead in the fourth quarter, recovering an onside kick, recovering another fumble and closing to 27-14 on two touchdown passes by senior quarterback Giorgio DiMasio. But Pakipole Moala clinched the victory for Leuzinger with an interception 100 yards for a touchdown. Tonga then added its third rushing touchdown of the night.