Two teams, one winning style

The football coaches from Long Beach Poly and Sacramento Grant look and sound nothing alike.

Poly’s Raul Lara is a 42-year-old Latino who sports a mustache and a graying goatee. Grant’s Mike Alberghini is 61, has Italian and Irish roots and is clean shaven.

Yet when the coaches discuss their teams, they might as well be clones.

Said Alberghini: “We believe in the run and we believe in speed on defense and being a team that flies to the ball.”

Said Lara: “We’re going to run the ball and rely on our great defense and speed.”

Their similar philosophies have led to a common destination: Poly (14-0) will play Grant (13-0) tonight at the Home Depot Center in the CIF open division state championship bowl game.

The Jackrabbits had initially expected to play Concord De La Salle before the bowl selection committee picked the Pacers in part because they defeated two teams -- Pocatello (Idaho) Highland and Sandy (Utah) Alta -- that won state championships.

“I’m not really disappointed because the word was that De La Salle wasn’t the best team and all we want to do is play the best team to prove we’re the No. 1 team in the state,” Poly quarterback Morgan Fennell said.

Grant showed that it possessed one of the state’s most prolific offenses en route to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II title. The Pacers piled up 4,121 yards rushing and defeated Sacramento McClatchy, 89-0, in November during a three-week stretch in which they outscored their opponents, 205-0.

Grant’s Devontae Butler has rushed for 1,850 yards and 36 touchdowns, but the junior running back’s most impressive statistic might be his 10.6 yards-per-carry average. Kipeli Koniseti is a dual-threat quarterback who has passed for 1,366 yards and rushed for 777.

The Pacers also possess a stingy defense that notched three shutouts and yielded an average of 10.5 points a game.

“They run a defense we’ve never seen before -- a 3-5 -- but I don’t think that will give us any problems,” Fennell said. “They’re pretty athletic, but we always believe we’re the better team no matter how athletic the other team is.”

Poly’s defense has been a shade better statistically, giving up only 8.9 points a game. The Jackrabbits have not allowed more than 17 points in any game during a 26-game winning streak that dates to September 2007.

That has come in handy during a playoff run in which Poly has scored only one first-half touchdown in four games, leading to these second-half predicaments: The Jackrabbits trailed La Puente Bishop Amat, 10-0, during a 21-17 victory; they were tied with Anaheim Esperanza, 10-10, before pulling out a 17-10 triumph; they were in a 10-3 hole against Lakewood before coming back for a 20-10 victory; and they were down, 17-7, against Rancho Santa Margarita Tesoro before rebounding for a 20-17 victory.

“I can’t explain it,” Fennell said. “It’s not like we did it on purpose.”

Lara offered a dual explanation: the inability to match or surpass an opponent’s intensity early in games and some coaching curveballs that have forced the Jackrabbits to adjust.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate to make the adjustments and win these games,” Lara said.

Alberghini attributed Poly’s comebacks to “great resolve, great athletes and the ability to keep bringing it to you. . . . They make plays when they have to.”

Just like the Pacers, it might be said.

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ben.bolch@latimes.com