Talk about strange beginnings at Friday’s City Section Division I football playoff opener between Sun Valley Poly and host Marshall.
After the opening kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback, Poly coach Boo Williams immediately called a timeout when he saw his double-wing offense lining up with 12 players. After a discussion, the next play was an illegal procedure penalty on the Parrots.
Looking confused, the Parrots deserved an Academy Award for their acting skills, because on their third play, quarterback King Exusdus took the snap from shotgun formation and sprinted 82 yards for a touchdown.
Marshall, seeded No. 5 after its first 10-0 regular season in school history, never figured out how to slow down the Parrots’ run-oriented attack and couldn’t overcome a sore shoulder that limited quarterback Nathaniel Cadet’s ability to pass in a 20-0 loss to 12th-seeded Poly (10-1).
“Who says Poly can’t win a Division I playoff game?” Williams said.
With each short pass in pregame warmups, Cadet grabbed his right shoulder as if he were in pain — and he was. On Saturday, he couldn’t move his arm because of a contusion and sprain to his AC shoulder joint suffered in the regular-season finale last week against Eagle Rock.
All week, Cadet alternated between applying ice and heat to his shoulder. He looked at Instagram and found a shoulder sleeve designed to provide support. He took four Advil tablets. The Barristers badly needed him. He came in with 1,570 yards passing and 24 touchdowns, but on his second pass of the game, he came to the sideline in severe pain revealing the challenge he was facing. He ended up passing for just 55 yards and was intercepted twice.
For Poly — the East Valley League champions under Williams in his first year as coach — the turnaround from a football program with little history of success to competing in City Division I has been meteoric. After problems at the start of the game and a few illegal procedure penalties, the Parrots ran the double wing to perfection, with 290-pound lineman Diego Rodriguez clearing a path like he was knocking down pins with a bowling ball.
Exusdus, usually a receiver, finished with 174 yards rushing in 13 carries. Justice Brown rushed for 86 yards and caught Poly’s only pass, a 26-yard touchdown on fourth down from quarterback Alijah Ochoa.
“One pass, one touchdown, baby,” former Sylmar All-City quarterback Clarence Williams said. He’s the quarterback coach at Poly.
On defense, linebacker Stephon Boyd was all over the field making tackles. Exusdus and Boyd used to attend Birmingham before arriving at Poly this season.
Exusdus is grateful just to be out on the field. He missed all last season attending a continuation school as he tried to improve a grade-point average that he said was once below 1.0. Playing football in his senior year made him start showing up on time to practices and making progress in the classroom.
King Exusdus of Sun Valley Poly takes off on an 82-yard touchdown run.
(Craig Weston / For The Times)
“I had to get everything right,” he said. “It motivated me. Seeing friends go Division I fueled me.”
It was a difficult ending for a Marshall team that won the Northern League title and had not won a Division I playoff game since 2000. Poly moves on to the quarterfinals and will face either Chatsworth or Banning.
