The562’s football coverage for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Long Beach Poly alums Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
Photo by Rasheed Riveroll Castillo
A much-anticipated Long Beach Poly football season kicks off tomorrow night on the road as the Jackrabbits travel to face Downey High at 7pm on Friday. The Jackrabbits are beyond excited for the season, according to first-year Poly coach Travon Patterson.
“I honestly can’t wait to get this season started,” he said.
There’s a tall task ahead of them, especially on the road. Downey went 9-2 last season and were league champs, while Poly had a disappointing 5-5 campaign that ended with no playoffs for just the second time in the last half-century.
The Vikings, led by experienced head coach Jack Wiliams, feature a number of Division 1-caliber players including New Mexico commit receiver Damani Porras, safety Jordan Robinson (UCLA, Arizona offers), and DB Kingston Fasavalu (Arizona, SDSU offers).
The Jackrabbits have plenty of skill players as well, of course, with five-star recruits Donte Wright (Miami commit), Julius JuJu Johnson (UCLA), Jayden Coley, Zion Anderson and others.
The biggest question mark for the Jackrabbits coming in is at the quarterback position. Trevor Scott looked strong throughout the Summer and Fall practices so far, but the Mater Dei transfer is not cleared yet, leaving Poly with two other transfer options: Ace Fa’agata and Kingston Stokely, both of whom are cleared and available for the Jackrabbits in their first week.
HSRatings.com (whose rankings are used to make the CIF-SS playoff brackets) likes the Jackrabbits’ chances, listing them as narrow favorites in the matchup between the two teams.
It will be a big game either way for Johnson, who has missed most of the last two years with injuries, and will be playing in his first football game since his sophomore year. Johnson said he can’t wait to get on the field and that he’s excited for people to see a new-look Poly team.
“It’s a new year, a new day, and we really just want to ball and play,” said Johnson. “We don’t have to worry about any of those setbacks and teams the last two years.”
We’ll have live updates and full coverage of the game Friday night.
