Two-Sport Star Keeps Ego in Check at Long Beach Poly

Chris Lewis quietly made his way through the storied tunnel at the Coliseum last December and emerged onto the field in darkness.

The stadium lights were not yet on and Lewis and his Long Beach Poly High teammates were not yet in uniform for their Southern Section Division I football championship game that night against Santa Ana Mater Dei. But they walked, ran and some even rolled on the historic turf.

“The coaches wanted us to get a feel for the place, to relax,” Lewis said. “They wanted us to be ready when the lights came on.”

That has rarely been a problem for Lewis, a 6-foot-4, 200-pound quarterback who has gained a national reputation for performing at his best in the biggest games--on the football field and the volleyball court.

He proved it against Mater Dei, making several spectacular plays and passing for three touchdowns as Poly won its first Division I title since 1985.

And he proved it this summer, starring as an outside hitter for an Orange County-based club volleyball team that won the national championship at the Junior Olympics at Dallas in July.

It was a rare double by a rare athlete from a school that might have produced more standout college and professional athletes than any high school in the country.

Lewis, 17, was hardly impressed.

“You can’t really get a big ego about anything at Poly,” Lewis said. “I could never think I’m the best thing this school has ever had, because I’m not. There’s been a lot of great players and a lot of history coming through Poly.”

Perennial National League batting champion Tony Gwynn graduated from Poly. So did tennis legend Billie Jean King.

Willie Brown, Gene Washington, Earl McCullouch, Tony Hill, Leonard Russell, Willie McGinest, Marquez Pope and Mark Carrier are among the more than 50 former Jackrabbits who have played in the NFL.

Kenyon Rambo, a high school All-American at the school two years ago, is a wide receiver this season for top-ranked Ohio State.

Now comes Lewis. After passing for 5,402 yards and 64 touchdowns the last two seasons, he is listed on several preseason All-American teams and is bracing for the recruiting blitz that begins in earnest again in September. He and Venice quarterback J.P. Losman, who has committed to UCLA, are regarded as the top passers in Southern California.

“Chris is blessed with an NFL-type arm and has the perfect temperament for the position,” said Poly Coach Jerry Jaso, who has been coaching at his alma mater since 1980. “He’s cool under pressure and he has a great sense of where people are on the field. He doesn’t look at the rush, he looks down the field to his receivers.

“During the off-season, he devoted himself to the technical aspects of the position--the footwork and things like shortening his throwing motion. Whatever [college] gets him is going to be very lucky.”

Many observers, and college coaches, believe Lewis will ultimately wind up at Stanford. The school’s reputation for academics, for producing NFL quarterbacks and for a winning volleyball program is a tough trifecta to beat. Lewis’ sister Robyn will be a sophomore this season for the Cardinal women’s volleyball team.

“I like Stanford, but I also really like Cal and Notre Dame and Washington and some other schools,” Lewis said. “People have told me some horror stories about recruiting, but we’ll see how it goes. I’m hoping to see some of the guys who don’t get much of the spotlight get some opportunities.”

Lewis seized the chance to play quarterback for the Jackrabbits despite his initial intentions not to play football at Poly. Basketball and especially volleyball, a sport he began playing at age 5, were going to be his games.

“I wanted to focus on my grades and not slack off at the beginning in high school,” said Lewis, who had played quarterback for his Pop Warner teams. “But one of the [football] coaches called me and told me to come out and meet the guys. I threw a couple passes for them and the next thing I knew, I was playing football.”

Lewis played freshman football and junior varsity basketball in 1995-96 and was All-Southern Section in volleyball, helping Poly reach the Division I semifinals.

He moved up to varsity the next year, threw 32 touchdown passes--including a school-record seven in one game against Long Beach Wilson--and led the Jackrabbits to the Division I semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion Mater Dei.

Last year, Lewis again passed for 32 touchdowns as Poly became the first public school to win the section’s largest division since 1993, and only the second since 1989. He stopped playing for the school’s volleyball team so he could prepare for his senior football season, but kept his hand in the sport by competing for Balboa Bay Redsand, an 18-and-under club team.

Lewis is intent on leading Poly to consecutive football titles before moving on to college. And the Jackrabbits have more than enough big-play talent to repeat.

“The final year is the most important,” Lewis said. “I want to win it again for the younger guys, so they can carry on the tradition.

“For me personally, I just want to keep improving. I’m looking forward to college and that challenge, but first I want to help my teammates give Poly something special to remember.”