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 Santa Ana 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.”

Powerful Poly

When NFL players sit in meetings to study film of upcoming opponents, talk sometimes turns to where members of that week’s enemy went to college.

Or, if it is a Detroit Lion meeting, high school.

“I’m always quick to point out where guys originally came from, especially if they went to Poly,” Carrier said. “That always gets everybody going. But I have to say, ‘Hey, don’t get mad at me because there’s a lot of us in the league. That’s just the reality of the situation.’ ”

The current crop of Poly alumni in the NFL is only some of the more than 40 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 graduated from the school in 1968 and has been on the coaching staff for 19 years, the last 14 as head coach.

“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.”

Dawn of the Dons

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.

“We didn’t have it easy. We didn’t have the equipment that Banning or Carson had. All we had was the guys in the neighborhood trying to pull together.”

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.”

Knox and the Dorsey program have been tested over the years.

In 1985, the Dons moved from the 3-A to the 4-A division and were put into the Southern Pacific Conference with superpowers Carson and Banning.

In 1989, wide receiver Kevin Copeland died of congenital heart failure during a game against San Pedro.

In 1991, Banning refused to play a game at Dorsey’s home field, Jackie Robinson Stadium, because of fear of violence in the aftermath of two apparently gang-related shootings near the stadium. The situation spurred nationwide publicity that cast Dorsey in a negative light.

Dorsey players, however, have endured and thrived.

“You have to have a strong character and a strong mind,” Dorsey nose tackle DeAndre Prince said. “You can do anything you set your mind to. That’s what our coaches teach us.”

The Dons have also learned from each other.

Ten years ago, a group of players formed the Dorsey Don Posse, or DDP. The players met on Fridays in the off-season, occasionally with parents but never with coaches in attendance. The players talked about what it meant to play for Dorsey, what their teammates meant to them and what they dreamed their future could be.

“It was an incredibly positive experience,” Warren recalled. “I had never opened up to that many people before. It could get real emotional.”

The DDP tradition still exists. So does a mural of Copeland painted on a wall at school. Players regularly stop in front of it to say a prayer before taking the field for practice.

“The things that have happened at Dorsey, the good and the bad, have created a bond in all the kids that have come through here,” Knox said. “Our players see those things and go on.

“That’s what it means to be a part of Dorsey football, and maybe that’s what holds us apart from every other program in our area.”

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Long Beach Poly Alumni

Mark Carrier

Detroit

Willie McGinest

New England

Marquez Pope

San Francisco

Don Sasa

Carolina

Omar Stoutmire

Dallas

Brandon Whitling

Philadelphia

Tonight

Southern Section Division semifinals

Poly (12-0) vs. Bishop Amat (11-0-1).

Veteran’s Stadium, 7 p.m.

Dorsey Alumni

Karim Abdul-Jabbar

Miami

Keyshawn Johnson

New York Jets

Charles Mincy

Tampa Bay

Chris Mims

San Diego

Lamont Warren

Indianapolis

Tonight

City Section Championship Division Semifinals

Dorsey (9-2-1) vs., Taft (10-2)

Fremont High, 7 p.m.