Long Beach Poly football led by Calhoun twins
Scroll through the list of statistical leaders for the Long Beach Poly football team this year and one name keeps jumping out over and over again, in nearly every offensive category: J. Calhoun. It’s atop the line for rushing yards, receiving yards and total touchdowns.
In part, that’s because it’s not one name. It’s actually two, twin brothers Jeremy and Justin Calhoun, two of the most exciting players in Long Beach this season, who just so happen to be twin brothers.
“It’s something special,” said senior running back Jeremy Calhoun. “We have great chemistry on the field together and we motivate each other because when I see him make a big play, it makes me want to go do the same thing.”
Jeremy has been the best option for Poly on the ground, with 972 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing the ball. His brother Jeremy started the year playing only defensive back, but now leads Poly with nine receiving touchdowns and a team-high average of 26.2 yards per catch. Adding their total stat lines together, they’ve accounted for 20 touchdowns and 1,958 yards.
The twins track those stats meticulously.
“We have little side bets going for who can get to what mark first,” said Justin with a smile.
Competitiveness aside, there’s a connection between the two that’s obvious.
“They have a little magnet to each other,” said Poly coach Antonio Pierce. “There’s nobody closer to each other in the world than those two. When one is going to the end zone, it seems like the other one’s not far behind.”
The bond between the two includes some of the so-called twin telepathy that athletes who shared a womb often talk about. For example, when Jeremy is running the ball and Justin is blocking for him, Jeremy says the two always know which way he’s going to run. And Justin says when he’s on the sideline and he sees his brother take a big hit, he can physically feel it himself.
“I’ve seen that ever since they were playing in Snoop’s league as kids,” said their father, Jeremy Sr. “Every time one gets hurt, the other one would be limping the same way. And they do that telepathy stuff — I really believe it because they’ll tell each other an awful lot without even speaking.”
For Pierce’s part, he’s glad that while the twins may be similar in many ways, they’re not identical.
“I’m just glad I can tell them apart,” he laughed. “They’re actually polar opposites. One’s big, the other’s a little smaller. One’s quiet, the other one talks a lot.”
One difference between the two for much of their senior campaign was that Jeremy started being recruited by colleges a little earlier. He’s had offers from Colorado State, Nevada, and Navy for awhile. Since Justin made the switch to receiver, he’s seen interest pick up, and recently nabbed offers from Weber State and Nevada.
Their father said his greatest joy was when they both finally had schools pursuing them.
“Justin took it a lot better than I probably would have,” said Jeremy Sr., who played on LBCC’s 1995 national championship team and then went on to Colorado State. “It was kind of tough. When they both got that offer I was relieved, it was a big weight off our family’s shoulders.”
While they both have an offer from Nevada, they’re not necessarily looking to go to the same college as a package deal, although neither of them has ever been on a football team without the other.
“If it happens that’s great, but it’s not a determining factor,” said Justin.
Wherever they end up for college, they’re already part of a long line of Calhouns to attend Poly, with more relatives than they can count going back two generations having passed through the school’s gates. The twins knew from a very early age that’s where they’d play football, having grown up watching Poly games at Veterans Stadium with their dad and family.
“I used to play catch with (Iman “Biggie” Marshall) during halftime when we were kids, and we’d talk about what we were going to do when we got to high school,” remembered Justin.
“They’re living the dream,” says Pierce. “Not too many guys get to be superstars and earn scholarships on the field they grew up watching.”
“Myself and Biggie’s dad, we’ve had this conversation about these moments for our sons,” said Jeremy Sr., who played with Tony Marshall at LBCC. “We’ve all been talking about this since they were in Pop Warner, and they were running around Vets as whippersnappers, telling us what they were going to do when they grew up. To finally get there and see them playing on that same field, it really leaves you speechless.”
Scroll through the list of statistical leaders for the Long Beach Poly football team this year and one name keeps jumping out over and over again, in nearly every offensive category: J. Calhoun. It’s atop the line for rushing yards, receiving yards and total touchdowns.
In part, that’s because it’s not one name. It’s actually two, twin brothers Jeremy and Justin Calhoun, two of the most exciting players in Long Beach this season, who just so happen to be twin brothers.
“It’s something special,” said senior running back Jeremy Calhoun. “We have great chemistry on the field together and we motivate each other because when I see him make a big play, it makes me want to go do the same thing.”
Jeremy has been the best option for Poly on the ground, with 972 yards and 10 touchdowns rushing the ball. His brother Jeremy started the year playing only defensive back, but now leads Poly with nine receiving touchdowns and a team-high average of 26.2 yards per catch. Adding their total stat lines together, they’ve accounted for 20 touchdowns and 1,958 yards.
The twins track those stats meticulously.
“We have little side bets going for who can get to what mark first,” said Justin with a smile.
Competitiveness aside, there’s a connection between the two that’s obvious.
“They have a little magnet to each other,” said Poly coach Antonio Pierce. “There’s nobody closer to each other in the world than those two. When one is going to the end zone, it seems like the other one’s not far behind.”
The bond between the two includes some of the so-called twin telepathy that athletes who shared a womb often talk about. For example, when Jeremy is running the ball and Justin is blocking for him, Jeremy says the two always know which way he’s going to run. And Justin says when he’s on the sideline and he sees his brother take a big hit, he can physically feel it himself.
“I’ve seen that ever since they were playing in Snoop’s league as kids,” said their father, Jeremy Sr. “Every time one gets hurt, the other one would be limping the same way. And they do that telepathy stuff — I really believe it because they’ll tell each other an awful lot without even speaking.”
For Pierce’s part, he’s glad that while the twins may be similar in many ways, they’re not identical.
“I’m just glad I can tell them apart,” he laughed. “They’re actually polar opposites. One’s big, the other’s a little smaller. One’s quiet, the other one talks a lot.”
One difference between the two for much of their senior campaign was that Jeremy started being recruited by colleges a little earlier. He’s had offers from Colorado State, Nevada, and Navy for awhile. Since Justin made the switch to receiver, he’s seen interest pick up, and recently nabbed offers from Weber State and Nevada.
Their father said his greatest joy was when they both finally had schools pursuing them.
“Justin took it a lot better than I probably would have,” said Jeremy Sr., who played on LBCC’s 1995 national championship team and then went on to Colorado State. “It was kind of tough. When they both got that offer I was relieved, it was a big weight off our family’s shoulders.”
While they both have an offer from Nevada, they’re not necessarily looking to go to the same college as a package deal, although neither of them has ever been on a football team without the other.
“If it happens that’s great, but it’s not a determining factor,” said Justin.
Wherever they end up for college, they’re already part of a long line of Calhouns to attend Poly, with more relatives than they can count going back two generations having passed through the school’s gates. The twins knew from a very early age that’s where they’d play football, having grown up watching Poly games at Veterans Stadium with their dad and family.
“I used to play catch with (Iman “Biggie” Marshall) during halftime when we were kids, and we’d talk about what we were going to do when we got to high school,” remembered Justin.
“They’re living the dream,” says Pierce. “Not too many guys get to be superstars and earn scholarships on the field they grew up watching.”
“Myself and Biggie’s dad, we’ve had this conversation about these moments for our sons,” said Jeremy Sr., who played with Tony Marshall at LBCC. “We’ve all been talking about this since they were in Pop Warner, and they were running around Vets as whippersnappers, telling us what they were going to do when they grew up. To finally get there and see them playing on that same field, it really leaves you speechless.”
