New Honor: State Defensive POY

Long Beach Poly’s Iman Marshall is the first-ever Cal-Hi Sports State Defensive Player of the Year. Photos: D1Bound.com (via Twitter) & Tom Hauck (Student Sports).

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With a football history as rich and long as the one at Long Beach Poly, when you hear about a young player being compared to some of the best at a particular position there than ever before, it’s more than just eye-opening. Especially when that player is just a junior.

Iman “Biggie” Marshall of the Jackrabbits is that player and he backed up preseason acclaim as being perhaps the top cover corner in the nation with an outstanding senior season. Because of that, he’s been chosen today as the first-ever Cal-Hi Sports State Defensive Player of the Year.

Our Mr. Football State Player of the Year selection has been made every year consecutively since the 1978-79 school year, but there hasn’t been a separate selection for defense until now. To see our writeup of this year’s Mr. Football winner, CLICK HERE.

Photo: Ronnie Flores.

After compiling that list, Marshall would be the fourth State Defensive Player of the Year from Long Beach Poly since 1980. The other three would be Jurrell Casey for 2007, Willie McGinest for 1989 and Mark Carrier for 1985.

The only school with more State Defensive Players of the Year would be De La Salle of Concord. The Spartans are listed with winners for 1998, 1999, 2000, 2011 and 2012.

And despite Marshall’s accolades and season performance, he was not a slam-dunk pick to be this year’s top defender. We also were quite impressed with Serra of Gardena linebacker John Houston, who shined with 147 tackles in the very tough Mission League. And Marshall’s teammate, defensive end Joseph Wicker, who had 17 ½ sacks and already has been named as the L.A. Times’ Lineman of the Year, also got a serious look.

Marshall, however, has been the Long Beach Press-Telegram’s Dream Team Defensive Player of the Year two straight years. And last year as a junior he was the choice even though St. John Bosco (which also is covered by the Long Beach paper) had several strong candidates from its 16-0 CIF Open Division state title team. Marshall didn’t have many interceptions, but only had a handful of passes completed against him throughout his entire career. He also averaged more than eight tackles per game.

“If you’re talking about high school football players, he’s 100,” Marshall’s head coach, former NFL player Antonio Pierce, told the Press-Telegram. “You’d really have to nitpick to find something about him—he’s as complete a player as there is in the country.”

In addition to defense, Marshall also was a major contributor to Poly’s offense. He was second on the team in touchdown catches and also had a punt return score. Poly finished 11-2 and No. 5 in the final Cal-Hi Sports state rankings with its only losses to No. 3 Corona Centennial and No. 4 St. John Bosco.

Recruiting was only a portion of the criteria used to determine the state defensive honor, but Marshall is perhaps the biggest name in the nation still uncommitted. He already has officially visited Notre Dame and will be visiting Florida State, Michigan, LSU and Oregon. USC (where he’s unofficially visited) still remains a favorite due to the many previous Poly players like him who’ve gone there.

Michael Hutchings would be one of five State Defensive POYS from De La Salle of Concord. Photo: Scott Kurtz.

2014 – Iman Marshall (Long Beach Poly) DB
2013 – Adoree Jackson (Serra, Gardena) DB
2012 – Michael Hutchings (De La Salle, Concord) LB
2011 – Michael Barton (De La Salle, Concord) LB
2010 – Viliami Moala (Grant, Sacramento) NG
2009 – Jordan Zumwalt (Edison, Huntington Beach) LB
2008 – Vontaze Burfict (Centennial, Corona) LB
2007 – Jurrell Casey (Long Beach Poly) DL
2006 – Mason Foster (Seaside) LB
2005 – Darian Hagan Jr. (Crenshaw, Los Angeles) CB
2004 – Rey Maualuga (Eureka) LB
2003 – Brigham Harwell (Los Altos, Hacienda Heights) DT
2002 – Lawrence Jackson (Inglewood) DE
2001 – Derek Landri (De La Salle, Concord) DT
2000 – Kevin Simon (De La Salle, Concord) LB
1999 – D.J. Williams (De La Salle, Concord) LB
1998 – Lance Briggs (Elk Grove) LB
1997 – Robert Thomas (Imperial) LB
1996 – Andre Carter (Oak Grove, San Jose) DE
1995 – Chris Claiborne (J.W. North, Riverside) LB
1994 – David Gates (Morse, San Diego) DT
1993 – Darrell Russell (St. Augustine, San Diego) DT
1992 – Regan Upshaw (Pittsburg) DE
1991 – LeRoi Glover (Point Loma, San Diego) DT
1990 – Jamir Miller (El Cerrito) LB
1989 – Willie McGinest (Long Beach Poly) DE
1988 – Tamasi Amituani (Vista) DT
1987 – Arnold Ale (Carson) LB
1986 – Junior Seau (Oceanside) LB
1985 – Mark Carrier (Long Beach Poly) DB
1984 – Mark Green (Poly, Riverside) DB
1983 – Ken Norton Jr. (Westchester, Los Angeles) LB
1982 – Tim McDonald (Edison, Fresno) DB
1981 – Jim McCullough (Hemet) DT
1980 – Jack Del Rio (Hayward) LB

Additional Seasons:
1978 – Michael Richardson (Compton) DB
1976 – Ronnie Lott (Eisenhower, Rialto) DB
1974 – Jerry Robinson (Cardinal Newman, Santa Rosa) LB
1971 – Paul Kinne (Paso Robles) DB
1969 – Fred McNeill (Baldwin Park) LB
1968 – Willie Buchanon (Oceanside) DB
1967 – Jeff Siemon (Bakersfield) LB
1964 – George Buehler (Whittier) LB
1963 – Tim Rossovich (St. Francis, Mountain View) LB

Note: We’ll continue to fill in previous additional seasons in the coming years as this honor evolves

Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports