Fifty-one years ago almost to the week, San Diego football players sweltered.
It was hotter in 1963 than in 2014.
Let’s try that again.
It was hotter in 1963 than in 2014.
Incongruous as its sounds given the recent scorchers, the weather this week was not as warm it was in that long-ago September.
Back then Hoover and Helix, the presumed best teams in the San Diego Section, geared up for an early-season, Friday night battle that figured to set the tone for the playoffs weeks later.
The temperature in San Diego on Thursday, Sept. 27, 1963, was a record-setting 111 degrees, with 6 per cent humidity.
On game day the high was 104. I worked the sideline at Hoover that night and remember it must have been at least 95 at kickoff.
Hoover’s Rick Shaw drove the Cardinals 77 yards to the winning touchdown with 3:02 to play in a 14-13 game.
Shaw completed only 9 of 23 passes but they went for 228 yards and a touchdown as Shaw outdueled Helix’ Joe Lavage, who hit on 16 of 20 for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
FAST FORWARD HALF CENTURY
Helix is No. 1 again in this week’s UT-San Diego poll, although Oceanside gained a little ground on the Highlanders, idle last week.
Helix’ first place votes dropped from 16 to 14 and Oceanside’s went from 3 to 5.
Hoover, years removed from Roy Engle’s fine teams of the early ‘sixties, has prospered lately under the solid command of coach Jerry Ralph.
Looking back, Hoover (7-2-1) was upset by El Capitan, 27-12, in the 1963 playoffs.
Helix, losing, 20-0, to Mount Miguel in the regular-season finale, finished 6-2 and lost the league title to El Cap.
Kearny, shutout by Hoover, 25-0, in the season opener, defeated El Capitan, 20-6, for the championship.
3 LOCALS GAIN IN STATE
Helix (10), Oceanside (11) and Mission Hills (20) each moved up one spot in the weekly Cal-Hi Sports State Top 25.
The Scots should get tested this week by recovering Cathedral. The Dons, after a 55-10 blowout loss to Cal-Hi No. 5 Folsom in their opener, have won two in a row.
Oceanside, building a resume for the San Diego Section and beyond postseason, topped a solid Temecula Chaparral squad, 33-0, and visits San Pasqual.
Mission Hills is home to Poway.
ELIJAH’S SONG
The musiical piece of the same name was written in 1994, popularized by Neil Diamond, and essentially was one of hope.
Elijah Preston gives St. Augustine plenty of the latter, but his 295 yards rushing and five touchdowns weren’t quite enough as the Saints dropped a historic intersectional game to Los Angeles Loyola, 42-35.
The Cubs’ first home game since 1949 was a trial run for the school’s anniversary of 150 years in 2015.
St. Augustine was one of the teams to play at Loyola 65 years ago, but school officials, seeking to determine if the Saints were the last team to play a game on the Los Angeles school’s field, could only determine that all home games were played on campus that year.
Still, it made for a gala night as a packed house of more than 4,000 in temporary bleachers gave Loyola priests an opportunity to guage the feasibility of constructing permanent seats for next season.
RUBBING IT IN?
Writer Kirk Kenney was alert to stadium sounds.
When Mission Hills kicked short after taking a 30-0 lead over host Bonita Vista with one minute left in the half, the home public address announcer peevishly took note:
“There’s that “Pursuing Victory With Honor” onside kick.”
The Grizzlies actually lightened up in the second half and cruised, 37-0.
NORTH COUNTY HOPEFULS
San Marcos, 3-0 for the first time since 1984 and a resident of the top 10, takes on Fallbrook, 3-0 for the first time since 1999.
If the Knights top the Warriors, San Marcos will be in position to make a run at its 7-0 start in ’84. Coach Ken Broach’s team finished with an 8-3 record.
QUICK KICKS
San Diego Section teams were 10-14 in major intersectional games after losses by St. Augustine, Valley Center (40-30 to Redwood City Sequoia) and Eastlake (17-16 to Los Alamitos) and Mar Vista’s 42-6 win at Santa Cruz Harbor…senior George Caragiannides never had played a down until two weeks ago, but was pressed into service and completed 18 of 31 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns in Grossmont’s 45-27 loss to Ramona…Cathedral scored on two field goals and a safety to defeat Torrey Pines, 8-7….
| # | Team (1st place votes) | W-L | Points* | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helix (14) | 2-0 | 185 | 1 |
| 2 | Oceanside (5) | 2-0 | 176 | 2 |
| 3 | Mission Hills | 2-1 | 139 | 3 |
| 4 | El Capitan | 3-0 | 105 | 6 |
| 5 | Cathedral | 2-1 | 101 | 5 |
| 6 | Ramona | 3-0 | 100 | 7 |
| 7 | St. Augustine | 1-2 | 73 | 4 |
| 8 | Rancho Bernardo | 3-0 | 56 | 8 |
| 9 | Carlsbad | 1-2 | 22 | NR |
| 10 | San Marcos | 3-0 | 21 | NR |
*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
NR: not ranked.
Others receiving votes: Otay Ranch, 14; Sweetwater, 9; Granite Hills, Eastlake, 8 each; Steele Canyon, 7; La Costa Canyon, 6; Christian, 2; Mount Miguel, Fallbrook, 1 each.
Nineteen sportswriters, sportscasters, and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Kirk Kenney, UT-San Diego;
Terry Monahan, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff (UT-San Diego correspondents);
Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com);
Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions);
John Kentera, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, (The Mighty 1090);
Jerry Schniepp (CIF San Diego Section);
Rick Willis, Brandon Stone, (KUSI-TV);
Bruce Ward (San Diego City Schools);
Rick Smith (partletonsports.com);
Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (Mountain Country 107.9 FM);
Bodie DeSilva (Sandiegopreps.com);
Drew Smith (sdcoastalsports.com).
…..and San Marcos is 3-0 for the first time since 1984. Knights will host Fallbrook on Friday Knight.
Good stat, Mike. We all should keep an eye on the Knights.
Thank you. I’ll make change today.
The error was in checking only the CalPreps.com schedule, which listed Mission Hills vs. Oceanside as being this week. I could have gotten the right info had I checked Oceanside’s schedule on Cal Preps or by going to Max Preps. My bad.