The562’s coverage of football and Long Beach Poly Athletics for the 2026-27 school year is sponsored by Former Jackrabbits Wendell “WoWo” Moe, Jr. & Tyson Ruffins.
Photos by Rasheed Riveroll Castillo
There aren’t a lot of accomplishments left on the check-list for Long Beach Poly’s star seniors, Donte Wright Jr. and JuJu Johnson.
The pair of five-star recruits are both highly ranked five-star college prospects, with Wright No. 6 in the nation in the 247 Rankings and Johnson No. 31. Wright is the top-ranked recruit in California and Johnson No. 3, a rare accomplishment for any high school much less a public school program. The duo could easily have spent their entire junior and senior years on recruiting trips, criss-crossing the nation and listening to college coaches talk about their plans.
Both were big NIL targets and both have chosen programs among the nation’s best for their next steps, although both have dreams of playing in the NFL on Sundays. Wright is committed to Miami (No. 5 in the nation in this week’s rankings) while Johnson was an early believer in Bob Chesney and is committed to UCLA (No. 4 in the nation).
But while both have achieved all that, both will likely be named All-Americans, and both have futures as bright as the Long Beach sun, there’s one major item left unchecked on their list: unlike previous All-American tandems, Wright and Johnson have yet to put a CIF-SS championship ring on their fingers.
“That’s really it, that’s what we’re trying to do is bring the championship home to Poly and the city,” said Wright.
“We’ve been blessed to accomplish a lot of things, but we’re trying to really cement the legacy of Poly being back,” said Johnson.
Both have lined up all over the field for Poly this year on defense as well as offense, although injuries sidelined each for a few games. Wright is in a rare category of having filled in at QB, meaning he’s thrown for a touchdown and caught a touchdown, while Johnson has a kickoff return for a score.
Neither has been targeted much on defense, meaning they’ve had scant highlights, mostly of them coming up and making plays in the running game. Both have several tackles for a loss on either wide receiver screens or shooting the edges to get a running back behind the line of scrimmage.
“It is what it is, if they’re not throwing at us we’re going to find a way to make a play,” said Wright.
Both said before the season that while their high school careers have been a little tumultuous–with three coaches over the last three years–they were happy to have finished their careers as four-year starters at Poly, and with head coach Travon Patterson leading the way in his first year.
“He’s just someone you can turn to or count on for advice because he’s seen a lot of the things we’ve been through,” said Johnson.
Patterson said he’s enjoyed watching the two navigate the modern recruiting world and getting to coach them.
“I try to be a voice or a resource for them to talk about making that transition to the college level,” said Patterson, who played at Poly and then USC. “They’re both going to go on to do great things after Poly.”
The Jackrabbits host Edison tonight as they try to return to the semifinals for the first time in five years.
