At the 6:15 mark of the fourth quarter, Makai Polk got sandwiched between the hugging arms of Cal teammates Trevon Clark and Mike Saffell – signifying the completion of his first career touchdown in a Golden Bear uniform.
But his 52-yarder on a tunnel screen did more than just get Cal to further distance itself from falling in the fourth quarter, after weeks of getting outscored in either the final period or final half. The El Cerrito High grad’s first career collegiate touchdown against Washington State brought out an excited euphoria from his hometown … which was plastered all over and made visible on Twitter.
In the next 24 hours, the true freshman with the Twitter handle @showtimemakai became the recipient of social media praise from those who coached him, played with him or coached against him – each of whom share this connection with the Cal wideout: The Richmond connection.
“Proud of you youngin,” was what San Jose State linebacker and Richmond native Rico Tolefree sent to Polk through a 280-character tweet.
“My boyyyyyyyy” was what senior running back Trey Baker from Kennedy High in Richmond sent to his former high school teammate at EC through the Twitter keyboard.
“Make them remember you! Showtime Makai!” his father, Mark Polk, a former San Jose State football player, proudly wrote out through his keyboard that became shown via the social networking site.
And lastly, “Helluva TD!” was what his former high school coach Jacob Rincon sent to Polk.
Richmond representatives and those close to the city were abuzz…watching Polk cross the end zone after eight straight games of waiting for his scoring moment in the Cal jersey.
Was there a sigh of relief from the tall 185-pounder? Was there excitement in his veins to the point Polk boasted about his accomplishment?
There were none of those emotions. His real emotion after that touchdown was humility.
“It felt good…it felt very good. But I wasn’t trying to be too happy. Trying to stay composed, but it felt good,” Polk said after the 13-point win over the Cougars.
Polk took advantage of the opening created by a Cougar defense operating in Cover Zero (man coverage). With lead blockers Saffell and Matthew Cindric in defensive lineman bounty mode, Polk followed their lead after catching Devon Modster’s throw and galloped all the way to the end zone – even cutting across from safety Marcus Strong to touch the navy and gold-colored end zone. He additionally had help from his tight ends who were extra linemen on that tunnel screen.
“It was just nice blocking by the line and the tight ends, so I just saw a crease and went with it,” Polk said.
In previous Cal games, Polk had been targeted but passes either were overthrown, too short, or in the case of one play against Arizona State, knocked away after sustaining a hit.
And entering the fourth quarter against Wazzu, Polk had this stat line: One catch, six yards.
But the freshman known as “Showtime Makai” on social media stole the show on that simple screen pass that became the first dagger to pierce the Cougars; long before Modster put Wazzu out of its misery with his 26-yard scoring scramble.
His long touchdown certainly was one of the major surprises on that Nov. 9 evening. But in the case of Rincon, he knew eventually the receiver would have his breakout moment.
“Seeing Makai break out was great,” Rincon said. “I knew Polk has the talent and the intelligence to help Cal this season. However, Polk’s resilience is very impressive this year. Being a team player this season and when his number was called, he made a big time play to help Cal get a victory.”
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