Football Factories

Southern California has long been regarded as a hotbed for high school football players, a gold mine of talent with veins running from San Diego to Santa Barbara.

And when the NFL released a survey based on 1,590 players on 1998 opening-day rosters, the mother lode was narrowed to two locations--Long Beach Poly and Dorsey high schools.

Poly produced six current NFL players, more than any other school in the nation. Detroit Lion safety Mark Carrier, San Francisco 49er cornerback Marquez Pope, New England Patriot defensive end Willie McGinest, Carolina Panther defensive tackle Don Sasa, Dallas Cowboy safety Omar Stoutmire and Philadelphia Eagle defensive tackle Brandon Whiting are all former Jackrabbits.

Dorsey was one of four schools with five alumni in the league--Miami Dolphin running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar, New York Jet receiver Keyshawn Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneer safety Charles Mincy, San Diego Charger defensive end Chris Mims and Indianapolis Colt running back Lamont Warren.

No other California school had as many as four.

The football programs at Poly, which opened in 1895 and currently has 4,300 students, and Dorsey, which opened in 1937 and has 2,000 students, are similar in several ways. Both schools, for example, have academic magnet programs on campus that allow them to draw students from throughout their districts. Neither, however, has a campus facility for home football games. Both feature large, stable coaching staffs and also have exceptional track and field programs that help football players gain speed and strength while maintaining or increasing their competitive edge in the off-season.

And tonight, both schools will try to advance to section championship games.

Poly (12-0), the defending Southern Section Division I champion, meets La Puente Bishop Amat (11-0-1) in a semifinal at Veterans Stadium. The winner plays in the Dec. 12 final at Edison Field against the winner of Saturday’s game between Los Alamitos (12-0) and Mater Dei (11-1).

Dorsey (9-2-1), which won its last City Section title in 1995, plays Woodland Hills Taft (10-2). The winner advances to the Dec. 11 City Championship final at the Coliseum against the winner of tonight’s game between Wilmington Banning (9-3) and Granada Hills (12-0).

“We have a recent tradition and Poly has a long tradition,” Dorsey Coach Paul Knox said. “I think the thing both schools have in common is great athletes who want to succeed and make something of themselves and coaches that want to help them get there.”

The current crop of Poly alumni in the NFL is only some of the 50 former Jackrabbits that have played and sometimes starred in the league. Willie Brown, Gene Washington, Earl McCulloch, Tony Hill and others preceded Carrier and his contemporaries.

That kind of tradition keeps potential future stars in check.

“You can’t really get a big ego about anything at Poly,” said senior quarterback Chris Lewis, a three-year starter who will attend Stanford next year. “I could never think I’m the best that this school has ever had because I’m not. There’s a lot of great players and history coming through Poly.”

Poly was originally named Long Beach High. The school’s name was changed to Polytechnic in 1911 when it settled in at its current location at 16th Street and Atlantic Avenue. The school was destroyed in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and was rebuilt in increments during the 1930s.

Poly Coach Jerry Jaso played at the school in the late 1960s and has been on the coaching staff for 20 years.

“We have great athletes who want to work hard and a coaching staff that has been in place 15 years or so,” said Jaso, whose team plays home games at Veterans Stadium near Long Beach City College. “We also have kids that play in the pros that come back here, and bring their friends, to work out.

“When Omar Stoutmire comes back and plays defense against our receivers, our guys watch what he does. They copy him and they get better.”

This year’s team features several outstanding players who have honed their skills occasionally against the pros and daily against each other. Lewis is the state record-holder for touchdown passes in a career and arguably the best quarterback to play for the Jackrabbits. Defensive back Darrell Rideaux and wide receiver Kareem Kelly, both of whom are bound for USC, are the defending state champions in the 100 and 200 meters, respectively.

Poly, with its ability to draw from all over the talent-rich Long Beach area, is not without critics. Several talented players have left neighboring schools throughout the years to play for the Jackrabbits.

“I don’t know how you can blame them,” Bishop Amat Coach Tom Salter said. “Once you get a tradition like they have, kids just want to go there and follow in the footsteps of the people they see playing on Sundays.”

Chris Mims’ memories of playing for Dorsey have not faded--though the Dons’ uniforms in the late 1980s were.

“We had about 20 shades of green pants, some that were new and others were real old,” Mims said. “No one really cared because we felt we were Dorsey High and we were better than anyone else.”

Former Dons in the pros still see each other, though more often than not it’s on Sunday in an NFL stadium.

Warren, Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson were teammates at Dorsey in the early 1990s. Now, they all play in the AFC East.

“We get to see each other twice a year,” Warren said. “I probably see them more now than if I was back home.”

If they were in Los Angeles today, Dorsey’s esteemed alumni would see a Don team that lacks the blue-chip recruits of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s but plays with the desire those players left as their legacy.

It’s a spirit fostered by Coach Paul Knox, a Hamilton High graduate who has been running the Dorsey program since 1985. Knox guided the Dons to City 4-A titles in 1989, 1991 and 1995.

“The kids that have gone on to play in the NFL still have the Dorsey pride and spirit,” Knox said. “We talk with our players about it all the time--playing hard and doing all the things it takes to be successful out of respect for all the people who played here and sweated on the same field.

“We tell them, ‘You’re just a part of that legacy and story and you need to keep doing the things that will keep it alive.’ And they have responded to that.”