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By Bob Keisser. Staff Writer

Posted: 1 1l25l20OB 11:05:31 Pt\4 PST

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A cenfury ago, fans of the first-year footballteam at Long Beach High School were havingtrouble creating interest in the squad becauseanoher team on campus was much more popularand successful.

Cheerleaders would gather to root that otherteam on, and students openly campaigned forthe squad to compete more often. A writer in the

school yearbook implored these students to

spread the love and not give all of its aftentionto...

The school's debate team.

It's safe to say football caught on at the schoolnow known as Long Beach Poly.

For a full century, Poly has been the mostsuccessful and most identifiable high schoolfootballpower in Southern California, a programthat has won 17 CIF tttles in the sport, 15 ofthem playing on the highest levelof the SouthernSection.

The span between their firsttitle (1919)andtheir most recent (2007\ is 88 years. No otherprogram has more than 10.

Mater Dei has nine, and a few of those came in

lower divisions before the Monarchs became a

local power at the highest level.

The school has sent, by this newspaper's count,50 players to the National Fooiball League,presumably more than any high school in thenation, and probably '10 times that to majorDivision I colleges.

The alumnus includes a player known as "TheGreatest Trojan of All-Time," Morley Drury;several players who joined the infant NFL in the'20 s; one who went on to become one of collecefootball's greatest coaches, Bob Blackman; a

world record holder in track, Earl McOullouch; a

Long Beach City Councilman, Dee Andrews; and

the No.2 man in the NFL ftont office, GeneWashington.

\Mren the Press-Telegram conducted a poll topick the best high school football team ever inLong Beach, no less than six Poly squads receivedstrong support. The 1997 team that went 14-0and launched the current streak of success wonthe ballot.

Continuity, tradifion pay off

A good debate can be had breaking down thereasons why Poly has been so successful for solong in sports in general and football specifically.

It was the first high school in Long Beach andhad a considerable head start locally on Wilson,Millikan and Jordan. lt was a school designed toaccommodate a large number of students, andthe deeper the pool, the greater the talent.

The school dishict's open enrollment policy hastunneled a lot of young men with footballaspirations to Poly's doorstep wtro otherwisemight have gone elsewhere.

But Poly's success can also be athibuted to thetradition that has perpefuated the school'ssuccess, and a philosophy to put as much thoughtinto the hiring of good coaches who were alsogood educators.

Ed Keinholz and Orian Landreth, the school's tr,vo

early coaching legends, were well-roundedsportsmen who coached multiple sportssuccessfully and created two different policies

that exist today.

Keinholz was ambitious in spreading the word.In 1919, his team accepted a game againstPhoenix High for what was billed as theSouthwest Championship, after Poly won CIF andState titles. The Jackrabbits squeaked out a 102-0 win. A year later, he accepted an intersectionalwith a team from Bellevue, Wash., rather thanenter the CIF playoffs.

Fast forward to 1999, when Jerry Jaso chose toexpand Poly's reach by adding a quality out-of-town, nonleague game to each schedule. In thelast decade, the Jackrabbits have playedNorthern California powerhouse Concord De La

Salle (twice), three games against powers fromSan Diego, two storied programs in Fresno, andtaken road trips to Hawaii, Washingiton, Ohio andFlorida to play perennial national powers.

Landreth gave the program balance. lt wasunder Landreth that the first Aftican-Americanjoined the team with litde notice or fascinationthat the team passed on the 1935 playoffsdespite being unbeaten, and that the team wouldoccasionally play reserves in entire games simplybecause he wanted them to share in the team'ssuccess.

'All he wanted out of everybody was their bestallthe time," the late Jim Lineberger, who playedfor Landreft and had a long career in local andcollege football himself, said when Landrethpassed away.

"He used to say, 'Champions sometimes lose, but

champions never stop trying.'As a person andcoach, he was as fair as you would ever want tomeet. He had a saying he passed down toeveryone: 'Success is not an accident. Success is

the result of hard work."'

The other components would be continuity,tradition and community.

Kienholz, Landreth and Red Montgomerycoached the Jackrabbits for 29 of 35 seasonsbetween 1916 and 1951. Since 1957, three ofPoly's most successful coaches were all formerJackrabbit players - Dave Levy, Jaso and RaulLara - extending the sense of history with eachpassing year.

Jaso coached and Lara played for Jim Barnett,and while Barnett wasn't a Poly product, he knewof the school's reputation while playing atLakewood High. He won a CIF tifle at Poly in1 980.

"Even when the team wasn't doing well, therewas always this feeling that sports wasimportant," Levy said. "Neil Phillips was Poly'sprincipalwhen I was a player and coach, and hewas aggressive and thought having a good sportsprogram was integral for the school. The

administation at Poly has always made itpossible for the coaches to have success."

And so has the city of Long Beach, which hascelebrated its sports history as much as anyother attribute of the community.

"Long Beach is a main reason," Poly coaching

institution Don Norford said. "lfs a great

community, and Poly is a community school.Generations of families have gone here.

'We teach family here. Once people graduatefrom Poly they stay close to the program. Polypeople coach Poly kids. And this emphasis on

family gives us a real advantage."

Consistent success

History may be a lost cause for most high schoolkids, but it was Jaso who made a point oflittering fte locker room with pictures of Polygreats of the past who went on to footballsuccess in college and the pros as well asprofessionally.

'\A/hen a kid comes to Poly, he is reminded fromthe beginning about allof the great kids whoplayed here and went on to college and thepros," Jason said. 'You don't win (14) games ayear just on talent. Tradition is a big part of oursuccess. The kids know what it is to be Polv.

"l wanted the kids to know who came beforethem. lt's a great motivator for current players toknow former Poly players earned collegescholarships and went on to play at USC andUCLA and Stanford, and made a good life forthemselves after college, even if it wasn't infootball."

'We use tradition as motivation," Lara said.'Teams never want to be acknowledged as theteam that didn't make the playoffs or didn't playfor a tide."

As good as the Kienholz, Landreth and Levy eraswere, the program has never had as much

sustained success as it currenfly enjoys.

In the long run, the success really began in 1980.

Since 1 980, Poly has had just four coaches -Barnett, Jaso, Thomas Whiting and Lara (Jaso and

lMriting were co-coaches for nine seasons). Theprogram has suffered just one losing season in

that span and has gone to the CIF playoffs everyyear, winning eight titles, reaching the title gamefour other times and the semifinals five times

Poly has played 151 Moore League games since1980, going 143-7-1.lthas played 81 playoffgames since 1980, and is 59-20-2 in thosegames.

ln the short-term, the era beginning in 1997 has

been the best in school history.

ln the 11 seasons between 1997 and 2007, Polyhas won six CIF titles, reached the finals twoother times and the semifinals twice.

The Jackrabbits are 134-14-1 in that span, and

there isn't a cheap loss in the bunch. Two were to

ftan De La Salle (2001,2002), two to Mater Dei,

which won the 1998 tide and played for the 2002tifle, and two to Mission Viejo, which won a titlein 2004 and played for one in 2003. They alsodropped games to Loyola in the 2003 CIF final,CIF Division lll champ Dominguez in 2005, CIFchamp Orange Lutheran in 2006 and L.A. CitySection champ Birmingham in 2007 .

Jaso and players on the 1997 team actually date

the surge to the previous year, when a talented

team thought it was equal to Mater Dei and then

was blasted in a semifinal contest. The next

season, the program's attifude changed.

"We became very unselfish," former cornerbackDarrell Rideaux said. 'We took ownership of the

team. We knew we would face Mater Dei again,but things wouldn't change if we weren'tprepared and committed to change the way we

did things.

'We kept hammering them with beingcommitted to this."

"(The 1997 team) was one of the best we've everhad. character-wise." Norford said. "These kids

really liked each other.

"lt was one for all, all for one, and that is whatmade them champions."

"That season was the standard for everythingthat has come to us since," Lara said. "lt was a

tremendous team, and as a Poly grad, I know all

of the school's history and allof the titles it'swon and the things it has accomplished. Whatstands out is that the program hasn't suffered a

dip since. What they did then is still succeedingtoday."

Feeding the NFL

The success doesn't stop when players leave the

campus on Atlantic or even their college

campuses.

The number of NFL players produced in this spanunderscores the stength of the era. Since 1997,12 Poly players have been drafted by the NFL,including three players in the 2006 draft - tightend Marcedes Lewis, tackle \A/inston Justice anddefensive back Darnell Bing.

There are six active Poly alums in the NFL -Lewis (Jacksonville), Justice (Philadelphia), Bing(Detroit), linebacker Pago Togafau (Arizona).wide receiver DeSean Jackson (Philadelphia) andlinebacker Willie McGinest (Cleveland), who is inhis 15 th NFL season.

Two other players were active in 2007 -

defensive back Omar Stoutmire and widereceiver Samie Parker. Dating to 1990, therehave been 18 Poly products drafted, and only oneof them didn't play in the league.

Of course, this standard was first set 80 yearsago. Between 1927 and 1931, Poly sentfiveplayers to the nascent NFL - Roy "Bullet" Bakerand Jim Lawson in 1927, Jack Evans and Don Hillin 1929, and Corrie Artman in 1931.

Lawson and Baker were teammates on the 1927New York Yankees, a team that featured RedGrange and played all of its games on the road.The Yankees were 7-2-1 before Grange got hurt.Baker was the only West Coast player onGrange's 1926 All-Star team that barnstormedthe country.

Baker was a member of the 1928 Green BayPackers, coached by Curley Lambeau, as inLambeau Field, and Evans and Hilljoined him on

the 1929 Packers team that went 12-0-1. Bakerand Hill left the Packers during that season andjoined the Chicago Cardinals and becameteammates of Ernie Nevers.

'A specialthing'

Before Friday's game against Bishop Amat, thePoly tearn gathered around its own 35-yard lineand went through a series of chants and whoops.Long Beach. Poly. Team. Four quarters. Theyhooked arms and moved as one in sweepingleans to each side.

It was an embrace for the moment thatconceivably could wake the echoes of 100 yearsof football.

'When you go to Poly, it's a special thing," WillieBrown, star of the 1958 and 1959 teams, saidwhen he was inducted into the Poly football Hallof Fame this summer. "You don't go to play atPoly, you go to win, but you learn how to be agood human being as well."

"Poly pride is unique to Poly High because it'smore than a school - it's one big family," saidLeonard Russell, a standout on the 1985 tifleteam.

With one century-old family tree.

bob.keisser@presstelegram.com

Fo$y's all-deaade teanns

By Bob Keisser, Staff Writer

Posted: 1 1/2512008 1O:41:17 PM PST

After a century of football, ifs daunting to puttogether a list of the 1O0-plus best players in

Poly history.

But we were given a good head start. lt wascommon for the Long Beach Press-Telegram andthe Independent to create all-era lists in the firsthalf of the 20 th Century, usually assisted byformer and current head coaches.

Thus, we present 10 all-decade teams. ln mostcases, we named 11 players to each team, withthe exception ofthe 1908-1919 era, because ofthe exta years (a 12-man team), and tre 1990 sand 2000 s, since they've been eras ofunparalleled success (15 per).

The first four groups were culled from listscreated by Long Beach newspaper reporters andthe late Long Beach sports historian JimHeartwell.

The first three decades note each player'splaying career: The 1940-49 unit notes a player'ssenior class, and the 1950-59 the years a playerwas named to the All-City team. The 1960-69squad is split between All-City honorees andCIF/Moore League honorees, and all other listsreflect years when they were All-ClF or MooreLeague first team players.

'!908-1919

FB Roy Baker (1916-18), G Guy Barton (1909-12),QB Chet Dolley (1916-19), E Jim Lawson (1916-20), HB Henry Lefebvre (1918-20), QB Pete Lenz(1909-12), HB George Marshall (1911-14), E RossMiddough (1908-10), T Dutch Miller (1917-201,CArt Riddick (1910-12), HB PhilTiernan (1916-19),HB Art \A/ilcox (1911-13).

1920-1929

T Corwin Artman (1923-24), G Charlie Boren(1922-23), RB Morley Drury (1920-23), HB Al Fry(1923-25), HB Don Hill(1921-23), E Sax Elliott(1929), HB Norman Franklin (1928-30), QB BillMittelstedt (1925-271, QB Russell Sweet (1929-30), T Ray Tandy (1921-231, E BillVoorhees(1527-28).

1930-1939

T Martin Akeyson (1936-37), T Lloyd Baird(1934-35), HB Bob Berryman (1934-36), FB DickBerryman (1933-34), HB Bob Blackman (1935-36),FB Bill Elmore (1935-36), HB Bill Gafftrey (1932-34), G Ev Howard (1934-35), G Dick Juratsch(1932-33), T Quentin Klink (1934-36), G JimLineberger (1 935-36).

1940-1949

HB NeilBuchanan (1943), HB Johnny Callard(1946), HB Sam Caftcart, T Gerald Charlton(1949), C Ed Chittick (1944), FB Sam Dimas (1940),E BillJessup (1946), HB Fred Mirchoff (1946), EKnox Tiernan (1949), T Jim Wallace (1946), HB

George Van Zant (1949).

'!950-'t959

RB Dee Andrews (1956-58), HB BillBalcom(1953), T Tom Blackstock (1954), RB Willie Brown(1958-59), T Mike Giers (1959), RB Lorenzo lrvin(1958-59), G Todd Jagerson (1958), QB GerryMcDougall (1952), RB Charles Miller (1956), G JimSmith (1956-57), RB Henry Wallace (1954).

'{960-'!969

T Doug Bagby (1962), E Rick Bryson (1960), T RickDeCourdes (1964), B Ed Giles (1966-67), WR Earl

McCullouch (1963), E lssac McGraw (1963), B MarvMotley (1963), RB Al Nichols (1964), LB JoePearson (1960-61), T Jeff Smith (1961), WR GeneWashington (1963-64).

1970-79

DL Joe Butler (1974), DB Dan Costales (1972), RBTony Hill (19721, LB David Howard (1978), LB LarryLove (1970-71), LB Mike Maloney (1974-75), DLPiliki Tautu (1978), DB Charles Ussery (1977), tBPaul Ussery (1979-80), WR Alphonso Williams(1978), LB Glenn Windom (1976).

't980-'t989

DB Eugene Burkhalter (1986), DB Mark Carrier(1984-85), RB Michael Carter (1986-88), RB

Stefan Derrick (1980), RB Kirk Jones (1981-82), LB

Willie McGinest (1989), DB Chuckie Miller (1981-

82), DB Dennis Price (1981-82), RB LeonardRussell(1985-86), DL Saute Sapolu (1983), LB

Brian Tuliau (1985).

r990-1999

DB Marques Anderson (1996), LB Reggie Butler(1998-99), RB Larry Croom (1997-98), RB HermanHo-Ching (1996-97), DE Fia lli(1991-92), WRKareem Kelly (1997), QB Chris Lewis (1996-98),

DE Danjaun Magee (1993), DB Kelly Malveaux(1992-93), WR Samie Parker (1998), WR Ken-YonRambo (1994-96), DB Darrell Rideaux (1996-97),OL Seth Tago (1999), OL Luis Trujillo, DL BrandonWhiting (1992-93).

2000-2007

WR Terrance Austin (2005), DB Darnell Bing(2001), OL Jurrell Casey (2006), RB Hershel Dennis(1999-2001), WR DeSean Jackson (2003-04), OT\Mnston Justice (2001), DE Junior Lemau'u (2002),TE Marcedes Lewis (2000-01), RB MelvinRichardson (2007\, LB Alfred Rowe (2005), LBMarvin Simmons (2000), DL Ray Tago (1999-2000), DB Vaughn Telemague (20A7), LB PagoTogatuu (2001), DL ManuelWright (2000-01).