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The Long Beach Poly football team honored six early Signing Day players on Wednesday, all of whom will be moving on to college on scholarship next year. Poly coach Stephen Barbee said the team is anticipating another half dozen or so players continuing to receive scholarship interest as the transfer portal process plays out at the NCAA level.
“We’re proud of these young men, this is a great day and it’s a testament to their hard work and to the support of their families,” said Barbee. “I know they’re going to go and succeed at the next level.”
Poly’s six signees were Dylan Williams (Oregon), Darius Curry (Colorado State), Quimari Shemwell (Utah), Jordan Malau’ulu (Fresno State), Charles Clinton (Utah Tech) and Mikey Beresford (Northern Arizona).
Curry has been Poly’s starting quarterback the last two seasons and had a 20-3 record as a starter in those years. He’ll be leaving the biggest pair of cleats to fill for the 2024 team as he leaves Long Beach for Colorado.
“I’ve seen the last years the players up here signing, so it’s a great opportunity for me to be able to be a part of this,” said Curry. “I’m just happy that I’m one of the ones that gets to sign and go to college.”
Curry’s brother played at Poly and his family has been deeply involved with the program for years, making it even more special for him to get to sign in front of them.
“They came to every game, they showed up every day, having them here means the world to me, because without them nothing would be possible,” said Curry. “I’m thankful.”
Williams was buzzing about a fellow elite Long Beach football player joining him up in Eugene, since Millikan All-American Ryan Pellum had announced he was flipping from USC to the Ducks just a few hours prior.
“I didn’t know it was coming, but man, it’s crazy,” he said. “I started hearing buzz about it last night. Man we’ve got a squad going up there, we’ve got the best of the best in Long Beach. Ryan, Daylen (Austin), me–we’’re going to go crazy.”
Williams, a linebacker, transferred into Poly after his freshman season and has been one of the faces of the team’s defense ever since. He said the way he was embraced at Poly was a big part of his success.
“When I transferred in the coaches said down with me and said they don’t promise anything here, but that if I kept my head down and worked I’ll be a national recruit. That’s exactly what happened, I trusted them and it worked out. Everything they told me is coming true.”
Shemwell is headed to Utah, and one of the few college programs that has really hung their identity on having a tough hard-nosed defense; that appealed to Shemwell, a speedy defensive back.
“There’s a lot of pride and passion when it comes to defense there,” he said.
Shemwell transferred into Poly for his senior year, feeling like he was worthy of playing on a bigger stage, and he proved himself correct. He arrived at Poly with no offers and left having chosen Utah over Arizona.
“The hard work paid off, and it really made me feel like I made the right move,” he said. Shemwell will be running for the Poly track team this Spring to work on refining his speed.
Malau’ulu, a receiver, is in American Samoa for the holidays with his family, but he Zoomed into the signing ceremony so that he could still take part with his teammates.
“When I thought about signing I never thought I’d do it over Zoom,” he said. “But honestly it’s the best place I could be, because there’s nothing like my family and being here with them. A lot of people who really pushed me as a kid are here with me. It’s amazing, I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
For Clinton, the signing with Utah Tech was a happy ending to a scary story–he was taken off the field in an ambulance at his last game having suffered a head injury. Now fully recovered, Clinton said that the support he felt from the city meant a lot to him.
“The whole city was checking on me, I really felt the love from everyone,” he said. “Not just Poly but from other schools and other coaches. It really meant a lot to me.”
Clinton, a receiver, said he was excited to sign with so many of his teammates.
“These are my guys I started with since freshman year, since middle school ball or Pop Warner, I’ve been playing with or against them my whole life,” he said. “This means everything to me.”
Beresford, a tough defensive back with a knack for making big plays, signed with Northern Arizona and was glad to have a landing spot in the increasingly stressful world of football recruiting, where the transfer portal has squeezed high school seniors into less and less opportunities.
“This is a big big weight off my shoulders,” he said. “Now I can just look forward and focus on my future and college. It was countless calls with coaches, countless talks with my family. It’s really stressful. Now I can just look ahead and focus and get ready to go and contribute.”
