LONG BEACH — The Long Beach Poly football team is reloading after 38 seniors from last year’s Moore League championship team will be graduating this spring. This allowed ample room for the program’s underclassmen to shine at the school’s annual spring showcase in front of 30 college coaches Tuesday night.
“Poly is always going to be Poly,” Long Beach Poly defensive coordinator Daniel Singh said. “It’s a young team. A lot of guys have to prove a name but at the end of the day, I truly believe in this team, this staff, these players that we’re going to get this right and we’re going to do our hard work and see where it takes us.”
The Jackrabbits went 10-2 overall and 6-0 in the Moore League last season. Poly made it to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs before a 27-20 loss to Servite in overtime.
The team in the fall will rely on several speedy players like freshman running back/receiver Benjamin Harris, freshman receiver/defensive back Julius Johnson, freshman defensive back Donte Wright Jr. and sophomore defensive back Jaylen McNeil, who are all a part of Poly’s 4×100 relay that ran a time of 40.93 seconds to finish first in Division 1 at the CIF-SS Track and Field Championships on Saturday.
Poly’s offense will be led by returning starters like sophomore center Savion Day, sophomore receiver Kamarie Smith, and junior receivers Caden Butler and Ezekiel Orozco, who all seemed to impress recruiters during the team’s spring showcase.
“I just wanted to show my skill set,” said Orozco, a three-star recruit according to 247 Sports. “I know I’m a dog. I know I can come out here and play. I wanted to prove a point and put my name out there and get blessed with opportunities.”
“He’s so special,” Singh said. “He’s one of the guys that I can’t wait for him to become a national name because he’s already known around here. He makes practice better. He’s truly a special player who I can’t wait to see the opportunity that he gets as the season goes.”
The 6-foot-1 receiver, who finished with 40 receptions for 625 yards and a team-high 12 receiving touchdowns last season, is ready to help lead his team to a championship-caliber season.
“We just all really want to go state my senior year,” Orozco continued. “My freshman year we won (the CIF-SS Division 4 championship) and now it’s state. We have to go and get the (CIF State) championship.”
The Poly defense will be led by a host of underclassmen, including sophomore defensive back Deon Jackson, junior defensive back Jonathan Weston and sophomore defensive lineman Toa Tamasoa.
“I’m looking forward to uplifting everybody on the defense, all the young kids, the freshmen, so they can look up to me and do what I do,” Tamasoa said.
“I’m putting a lot of pressure on a lot of those young guys that are coming up, Toa in particular,” Singh said. “We had a very candid conversation where I told him, leadership comes, doesn’t matter what the age is. It’s starting to resonate with him.”
The 6-foot-3 sophomore defensive lineman finished with 28 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks last season. He says he is ready to become one of his team’s leaders via his words and actions.
“I feel excited,” Tamosoa continued. “I want to work with this team, build this team up so we can be All-Moore League and go undefeated this season.”
Meanwhile, Singh is excited to see how the positive momentum from the spring showcase propels the team forward with a nonleague schedule against Folsom, Lincoln, Serra and Mission Viejo and a quality Moore League schedule against Millikan, Lakewood, Jordan, Wilson, Compton and Cabrillo.
“It’s a good motivator, especially early in the season with this team as it is,” Singh continued. “It was exciting. The effort was there. The energy was fantastic and it was really good to see the kids compete at a high level.”
Long Beach Poly 2024 schedule
Poly at Folsom, Aug. 23
San Diego Lincoln at Poly, Aug. 30
Poly vs. Serra at Honor Bowl in San Diego, Sept. 7
Jordan* at Poly, Sept. 20
Lakewood* at Poly, Sept. 27
Poly vs. Mission Viejo at SoFi Stadium, Oct. 4
Poly at Millikan*, Oct. 11
Poly at Wilson*, Oct. 18
Cabrillo* at Poly, Oct. 25
Poly at Compton*, Nov. 1
*Moore League game
