Most schools save their big onfield bonanzas for Homecoming, but at Vet’s Friday against St. Bonaventure, a week before the Homecoming celebrations, Poly opted for a different route.  It makes sense: since both Poly and Bonny are in the Top 15 nationally, it made their meeting (which Poly won 12-7) the biggest-stakes game Vet’s has hosted since Poly and De La Salle clashed there in the fall of 2001.  The game also marked the 100^th anniversary of Poly Football (the school has been around since 1895, but it took them 13 years to field their first squad). 

The biggest part of the celebration was the halftime honoring of its first class of Hall of Fame inductees, who were inducted in a ceremony in August.  At halftime, eight (of the twelve inductees) lined up on the track to greet the 7,000+ fans gathered for the game.  Each member of the first HOF class was greeted with a big round of applause from the crowd, which was well-versed in ‘Rabbits history.  Among the honorees was Gene Washington, current number two man in the NFL under Roger Goodell, who took a day off from deciding Pacman Jones’ future to visit his alma mater.  Among those unable to make it was Mark Carrier, who had his hands full on Sunday: he’s the secondary coach for the Ravens, who played the Colts two days later.

We got a chance to talk to inductee Marquez Pope for a while after the ceremony.  Pope is the only NFL player in history to play for every California team (Raiders, Rams, Chargers, and 49ers).  He marveled at the success the school has had, a public school in a state full of wealthy private programs, talked about the great things the school has meant for the community, and recalled the first time Deion Sanders realized both Pope and teammate Omar Stoudemire both came from Poly. 

When we brought up what it was like to be back on a Poly sideline, he smiled.  “I got chills, man.”

For more on each of the inductees, as well as a video clip show of the induction ceremony, see our story on it here.