Long Beach Poly football hoping for retu to championship form

LONG BEACH >> The future is now for Long Beach Poly.

With numbers dwindling, increased competition for talent from St. John Bosco and other private schools, there’s no telling what will happen next year or after that.

Head coach Antonio Pierce’s recent announcement that the school will drop its junior varsity team was a reminder that there will be consequences for having the two smallest freshman football classes since 1980.

But despite the wolves of uncertainty at the door, the world still looks green and gold in 2017. The Jackrabbits are ranked No. 10 in the nation by MaxPreps, and added a trio of All-Americans to a talent-packed roster that already included 13 Division 1 prospects.

“I’m really excited,” said Pierce. “We’ve been working hard and obviously expectations are at a premium. We’ll keep up with a workmanlike mentality and let the chips fall where they may.”

The blue chips have fallen Poly’s way this offseason. Quarterback Matt Corral transferred in last winter, bringing with him one of the best arms in the nation. Corral, a Florida commit, was later joined by defensive back Aashari Crosswell and receiver Jalen Hall, another pair of top-shelf talents.

Although the players who’ve transferred in have been high profile, Pierce actually doesn’t have much experience integrating transfers onto his roster — the Jackrabbits didn’t have any transfers last year, and the highest-profile transfer of years past (Malik Henry) was on and off the team and quarreled with teammates.

It’s obvious from practices that the integration of Corral, Crosswell and Hall has gone much more smoothly.

“The leaders on our team who were here have done a great job of keeping us together as a family and helping them understand the Poly tradition,” said Pierce.

There’s considerable firepower in the retuing ranks as well, highlighted by Camren McDonald, a USC commit and one of the top tight end prospects in the nation. The Jackrabbits also retu a top running back in Mike Mauai and have a loaded receiving corps with Hall, McDonald, Keon Markham, and Darius Kryger.

Defensively, Wiley Purry anchors a front seven that includes lineman Aaron Frost, who has added 40 pounds this offseason and has been a terror all summer. The defensive backfield is as loaded as the receiving corps with several scholarship-offered players, including Crosswell, Kejuan Markham, Ryan Nixon, Tyric Lebeauf and Desmond Talley.

“Depth will always be a conce, but our first group is pretty good,” said Pierce. “Knock on wood, we’ve got to stay healthy.”

Poly has its usual challenging nonleague schedule with Los Alamitos, Narbonne, Mission Viejo and Serra, but the Jackrabbits’ hopes hang on the postseason. Poly hasn’t been back to the CIF-SS semifinals since Pierce’s first year in 2014, when they fell to Bosco.

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There’s no doubt they have the ability to make it this year. The Jackrabbits would likely prefer not to think further ahead than that.

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