We bided our time for several weeks before tuning in to the Union-Tribune writer’s 2025-26 season weekly poll, which he began weeks earlier. That explains our Week 1 designation for winter Maffei Madness.
So far, other than a few intersectional victories along the way, it’s been a relatively quiet season in the San Diego Section.
Two small private schools, Santa Fe Christian in Solana Beach and Victory Christian in Chula Vista, are holding sway; traditional big shots Mission Bay and Cathedral have represented, but Torrey Pines and St. Augustine are treading water.
Things should change in the next several weeks. The season is at about the halfway juncture. League play now is paramount, along with the occasional weekend “classics”.
Cal-Hi Sports, which publishes a top 50 in football, so far has scaled basketball down to 30, without a single San Diego Section team in the mix. Santa Fe, Mission Bay, and Francis Parker are on Cal-Hi’s bubble.
First-place votes in parenthesis. Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis. Cal-Hi Sports rankings are by Mark Tennis, the newsletter’s publisher, with contribution from his statewide correspondents. Max Preps essentially relies on various school representatives.
VOTING PANEL (18) John Maffei (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Aaron Burgin (Full-Time Hoops),
Steve Brand, Bodie DeSilva (Union-Tribune freelance contributors).
Todd Cassen, Ron Marquez (San Diego Section honchos).
Rick Smith (partletonsports.com).
Tom Helmantoler (Southern Conference). Joe Evangelist, Rex Johnson (San Diego Section Advisory Committee).
Christian Pedersen (San Diego Sports Association).
Braden Surprenant (97.3-FM The Fan).
Dennis Ackerman, Steve (Biff) Dolan, John (Coach) Kentera, Adam Paul, Tom Ronco, Eric Williams (freelance contributors).
1935-36 Basketball, Looking Back: Great Season for Cavers; Strange End for Cardinals B’s.
Originally posted Dec. 18, 2017.
Unlikely season, unlikely conclusion.
—A rare playoff run by San Diego teams in the Southern California playoffs.
—San Diego High marched through four rounds to win its only CIF Southern Section championship, along the way setting a school single-game scoring record…maybe.
—Hoover’s Class B team blitzed opponents in an attempted sequel to championships in 1931-32, 1933-34, and 1934-35, but there was no championship hardware and no satisfaction.
FAST START
San Diego entered the season with four lettermen starters, Ernie Mallory, Melvin Hendry, Vance Randolph, and Lowell Lee, and picked up a fifth, Bill Patterson, who transferred in from Frankford, Indiana.
Alhambra and Long Beach Poly were favored to fight it out for Coast League laurels. The Hilltoppers were 6-8 overall the previous year, 3-7 in league play, and 0-4 against the Moors and Jackrabbits.
San Diego showed early that it was vastly improved, sweeping Class A (a more preferred nomenclature than “varsity”) competition on the Hilltoppers’ home floor in the 13th annual San Diego County Interscholastic Tournament that opened the season in December.
With Mallory leading, Coach Mike Morrow’s squad whipped through Grossmont, 48-13, Point Loma, 36-14, and Ramona, 54-15.
Alhambra was the visitor in the league opener and went home a stunned, 31-28 loser after trailing, 15-9, at halftime. Mallory led the winners with 13 points.
The San Diego-Alhambra contest was played on a Friday afternoon at 3:30 instead of at the usual 7:30 p.m. because the Moors didn’t want to be headed home at night with the threat of fog on the Coast Highway .
Travel and its various inconveniences always were a nemesis for the far-flung Coast League squads.
The 1935-36 Southern California champions pose in front of the City Stadium peristyle, front row (from left): Ernie Mallory, Paul Shea, Roy Cleator, Vance Randolph, Billy Cesena. Middle row, from left: Coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow, Roy Rollins, Judson Starr, Melvin Hendry, Lowell Lee. Top row, from left: Bill Patterson, Bob Barth, Homer Peabody, manager Erickson. Missing, Eddie Preisler, Herman Gatewood.
COAST IS CLEAR
The visiting Hilltoppers led Long Beach Poly, 18-17, at the end of three quarters in their next game but couldn’t hold on and dropped a 21-19 decision. It was the Jackrabbits’ 17th victory in the 19 games between the teams since they first met in the 1920-21 season but also San Diego’s last loss in the 15-1 season.
A 40-18 victory at Santa Ana was followed by a 29-23 win at Alhambra, setting up another big game with Poly at San Diego. The Hillers prevailed, 29-25, as Vance Randolph, who would be lost to the team at midterm graduation, scored 11 points.
Randolph and acting captain Eddie Preisler were scheduled to participate in cap-and-gown ceremonies but opted to stay with the team and make their final appearances at Santa Ana. A 37-29 victory over the Saints clinched the Hilltoppers’ first outright league championship. They had tied for first with Poly in 1932-33.
With time before the beginning of the playoffs, the Hillers took on the touring Knapps Grocery Stores squad from Oakland. The 51-25 rout was part of a doubleheader in which Coach Ed Ruffa’s B team, playing an independent schedule, defeated the Markel-Johnson Poultry House, 31-28.
BEERKLE LOOKING FOR EDGE IN PLAYOFF?
Point Loma, 7-0 and Metropolitan League champion after a 24-16 victory over 6-1 Escondido, was the Hillers’ first playoff opponent.
The Pointers did not have a gymnasium (one newspaper reported the Pointers defeated their alumni, 38-28, “on an outdoor court made soggy by the rains”) and even used the Hillers’ gym in preparation for the game.
San Diego’s Roy Cleator unsuccessfully attempted to block shot of Point Loma’s Joaquin Qualin, while Hillers’ Lowell Lee (13) and Vance Randolph (16) looked on, with Pointers’ Moxon Mixon (40).
Pointers coach Joe Beerkle also bemoaned the fact that he had players who were “on call” to the tuna industry.
Beerkle said that if a fishing boat came in, starters Gil Gonsalves and Joaquin Qualin would have to forego the playoff encounter and help off-load a vessel.
There apparently were no arrivals at the Embarcadero, but the Pointers still were outmanned and lost, 32-18. San Diego the next night took on barnstorming Phoenix Union and beat the Coyotes, 45-35.
WHAT’S THE SCORE?
Morrow’s club met visiting Huntington Beach in the quarterfinals and scored a 73-45 victory. Or was it 82-45?
The San Diego Union noted the upcoming game early in the week but then ignored the usual day-of-game advance and did not report on the Saturday night contest.
The rival Evening Tribune printed a very short Monday afternoon story that San Diego had won, 73-45. That score also was corroborated by Don King’s Caver Conquest, with attribution to The Russ, San Diego High’s newspaper.
Ernie Mallory’s 18 points represented the only individual total in the Tribune.
The account seemed all well and good until the Los Angeles Times’ result showed a Huntington Beach dateline and a different score.
The unbeaten Hoover Cardinals Class B squad. Kneeling, from left: Don DeLauer, Gene McNeal, Milky Phelps. Tommy Johnson, Moore. Standing, from left: Coach Bruce Maxwell, Bob White, Yapp, Dick Mitchell, Monseca, Shepard, manager Kahan.
The Times’ story presented an editorial slant toward the losing team and essentially was a wrap on the Oilers’ Orange League championship season, but the text was accompanied by a comprehensive box score, which showed that San Diego exploded for 53 points in the second half and won, 82-45.
Mallory was credited with 18 points, followed by 15 each from Bill Patterson and Melvin Hendry, 2 by Lowell Lee, and 9 by the fifth starter Roy Cleator. Substitutes included Billy Cesena (2), Herman Gatewood (6), Mike Shea (4), and Bob Barth (2).
A player named “Peder” also was credited with 9 points. There was no record of such human, but there was a Homer “Peabody” on the squad.
CIF Southern Section playoff results for the season also honored the 82-45 score.
The Times’ box score still begged the question. Why no definitive story and complete box score in the San Diego publications?
We’ll have to go with the locals’ 73-45 count until hearing otherwise and with their subsequent 34-32 win over Santa Barbara and 47-35 championship game victory over Bonita. Semifinals and finals were played at La Verne College.
RARE OUTBURST
What makes the San Diego-Huntington Beach score enticing is that San Diego’s point total, 73 or 82, was 40 to 50 points above normal for the era. Basketball was a slow-moving, low-scoring, and slowly evolving game offensively, although San Diego somehow scored 76 points in the 1916-17 season against Escondido, which scored 23.
If 82 was correct in San Diego’s progression of high-point totals, the 80 against Grossmont in 1952-53 would be invalid. The issue became moot in 1957-58, when San Diego outscored La Jolla, 86-40.
RIVALRY ON HIATUS
The lede (first paragraph) on an article in The San Diego Union on Jan. 15, 1936:
“Though coaches and principals of both schools are anxious for the series to continue, it now appears that students of San Diego and Hoover Highs will be without their annual Hilltop-Cardinal cage titanic, yearly the high spot of the basketball programs of the rival city schools.”
Hoover had become a member of the Bay League and played league games on Friday. San Diego played Coast League games on Tuesdays and Fridays. Coaches Mike Morrow of San Diego and Bruce Maxwell of Hoover looked for loopholes in their schedules.
The series could be played on Wednesday or Thursday, but this would have put Morrow’s players at the disadvantage of two league and one bragging rights game in one week.
The Cardinals and Hillers, who first played in 1933-34, would resume their rivalry in 1936-37 and played at least once a season until 1976-77.
SWARM OF BEES
Hoover’s powerful Class B team, won the County tournament by defeating Grossmont, 37-4, San Diego, 30-26, and Sweetwater, 37-7, and, led by future San Diego State legend Milton (Milky) Phelps, left their new Bay League rivals reeling.
The Cardinals won league games by scores of 61-24, 49-7, 43-25, 59-27, and 51-14. Santa Monica came closest but still was a well-beaten 35-19. The Cardinals rolled in the playoffs, running Carpinteria off the court, 60-12, and swarming San Luis Obispo, 66-30.
The B playoff semifinals and final rounds were at El Monte High.
Hoover’s opponent in the finals was well regarded South Pasadena, a 32-31 winner over El Monte and the team the Cardinals defeated at San Diego State, 36-22, in the 1934-35 championship.
The venue essentially represented a home game for the Tigers. The distance of about 14 ½ miles from South Pas to El Monte was in contrast to the 120 miles that Hoover had traveled to get to the final four site.
Ernie Mallory (top) and Bill Patterson propelled Hilltoppers’ attack.
OH, OH!
The dispatch from El Monte following the semifinals was curious: “Some doubt remains as to where the final game will be played, although Coach Bruce Maxwell has been advised to report to the El Monte gym here tomorrow afternoon with his Hoover team for the finale.”
Maxwell and his team arrived on time and the team was on the court and waited more than an hour, but South Pasadena didn’t show, announcing that it would play only on its home court, apparently because the Tigers were the visiting team at Hoover in the 1934-35 title game.
No forfeit.
The CIF bulletin of April, 1936, announced that the executive committee unanimously voted that no champion be declared since “a disagreement had developed over the place of playing the final game in Class B basketball.”
The committee also passed a resolution ending existing playoff arrangements in Classes B, C, and D and allowing league champions to host at least one interleague championship game.
HILLTOP BEES ALSO STUNG
Competing as an independent team and holding wins over Long Beach Poly and Santa Ana, Coach Ed Ruffa’s San Diego High B team was rebuffed in its attempt to gain a playoff berth.
CIF boss Seth Van Patten suggested that the Hillers’ B squad take on Hoover’s super team in a best, two-of-three series, with the winners being admitted to the postseason. Since Hoover already had won its league and was in the playoffs, the idea died a quiet death.
FAVORED FLOOR
The San Diego High gymnasium, when not used for practice by the Hilltoppers’ teams, was in play virtually every day of the week.
Point Loma and Sweetwater moved their Metropolitan League opener up one day in order to play on the San Diego court. The teams didn’t want to use Sweetwater’s outdoor court.
San Diego’s playoff with Point Loma was rescheduled for the afternoon. Hoover earlier had requested and was granted use of the San Diego gym for that night.
Metropolitan League teams came from long distances to play games at San Diego High. Army-Navy, Coronado, and Escondido were the only other schools to have gyms. Oceanside’s building was almost complete.
SET SHOTS
Ernie Mallory, one of the top players of the first half-century in the County, and Vance Randolph of San Diego were on the all-Southern California first team…a second-team guard was Pasadena Muir Technical’s Jackie Robinson…Point Loma coach Joe Beerkle, short of players, moved varsity standout Joaquin Qualin to Class B and Qualin scored 12 points in a 40-12 win over Army-Navy…Ramona won the Southern Prep League championship by defeating runner-up Julian, 43-8…Hoover fielded five teams, Varsity, Class B and C, junior varsity and junior varsity B…Hoover’s Class C squad nosed out Memorial Junior High,15-13…after players had dressed and departed for home it was discovered that Memorial had scored an additional two points…the teams agreed to play another game the next week…Dickie Tazlear scored 16 as Hoover prevailed, 30-24….
1955 Football, Looking Back: Cavers in Epic Struggle
Originally posted Dec. 30, 2016.
By the grace of a 17-14 advantage in first downs, San Diego High survived a 20-20 standoff with Anaheim in the CIF playoff semifinals before 10,271 persons at Long Beach Veterans’ Memorial Stadium.
A heart-thumping conclusion represented the final shot in a frenetic battle of undefeated teams that brought an end to a week of intrigue and one-upmanship.
Anaheim had defeated Glendale 27-13 at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, and San Diego ushered out Bellflower in Balboa Stadium, 26-6, in the quarterfinals round, setting up what many figured would be a “semifinal for the championship”.
Drama began in the days leading to the showdown:
San Diego’s answer to Mickey Flynn was Deron Johnson, who was named to The Sporting News all-America team as pass-catching end and linebacking defender.
MONDAY, DEC. 5
San Diego assistant coach Birt Slater met with Anaheim athletic director Dick Glover and CIF commissioner Ken Fagans in Los Angeles.
Anaheim won a coin flip in Fagans’ office to determine the home team, according to the Anaheim Bulletin, but the Colonists did not have a home field and were playing in the low-capacity La Palma Avenue Park.
A grandstand to be built at the La Palma facility wouldn’t be ready until the 1956 season, but there were several stadium possibilities in the region.
Glover wanted the game to be in the new, 7,500-seat Orange Coast College facility in Costa Mesa.
Slater, speaking for head coach Duane Maley and the San Diego administration, argued for the 13,000-seat Long Beach Veterans’ Stadium.
Slater said Orange Coast would not be large enough for an expected huge crowd that would follow the Hillers from San Diego.
Glover, citing observers’ reports, asserted that San Diego attendance was only about 2,000 out of the 3,500 that watched the Bellflower game.
Glover also claimed that Colonists followers outnumbered San Diego’s in Balboa Stadium in 1953, when Anaheim won, 21-7.
TUESDAY, DEC. 6
Anaheim, perhaps with some prodding from Fagans and with a promise of a huge visiting crowd from San Diego, finally agreed to move the game to the larger, financially less demanding Veterans’ Stadium.
Flynn sidestepped David Grayson (12) and Ed Ferreras on 67-yard touchdown run.
“A football field is still 100 yards long no matter where it’s located,” Anaheim coach Clare Van Hoorebeke cryptically replied to a question concerning his opinion about the contest’s being moved from the “originally-planned” Orange Coast venue.
San Diego, according go the Anaheim media, seemed to be making mountains out of mole hills.
The Cavers also wanted to wear their powder blue jerseys, which were introduced this year and were a popular departure from San Diego’s traditional Columbia blue.
Anaheim had the choice of color and opted for its home blue tops. “San Diego will play in their ‘Sunday School’ whites,” according to the Bulletin.
“The ‘Border Bandits'”, declared the newspaper, “acted like true scoundrels when they tried to force the game to be moved to San Diego and then insisted on their choice of jersey color.”
San Diego had another reason for wanting the game moved from the Costa Mesa campus. Anaheim was familiar with the layout and had won two games there this season.
San Diego’s Steve Allen is stopped by Anaheim’s Don Penfield, but not before Allen had gained 15 yards in rousing playoff.
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 7
Dick Glover responded to Orange County fans who felt the Colonists had let them down by agreeing to play at Long Beach Vets.
If not Orange Coast, why not the equally familiar Santa Ana Bowl, capacity 9,000?
Glover cited a few reasons:
“Long Beach charges 10 per cent of the gross, Santa Ana 10 per cent of the first thousand (dollars) and 15 per cent after that.
“Veterans Stadium is in the back yard of Cypress and Los Alamitos (communities from which Anaheim would draw support) and we have a (financial) obligation to our own school.”
The clay soil of Orange Coast’s parking lot also would cause problems in the event of rain.
Orange Coast College was 18.1 miles from Anaheim High. Long Beach Veterans Stadium was 14.8 miles. (Santa Ana Bowl was 8.2 miles).
THURSDAY, DEC. 8
How good was Mickey Flynn, the 160-pound junior who, with “pony “backfield mates Joe Avitia (155), Don Penfield (145), and George Dena (145), had led the Colonists on a 27-game winning streak in the Sunset League?
Anaheim scored a touchdown on its first or second play in nine of 11 games.
Flynn was averaging 68 yards on his 19 touchdowns and had scored on his first carry in eight games.
Gary Land, who sustained a broken ankle in a practice two weeks before, had been ably replaced at right guard in the Cavers’ line by junior Gary Becker. Ron Collins, who had sustained an elbow injury earlier, was ready to go at center.
FRIDAY, DEC. 9
John De La Vega of the Los Angeles Times described the game as a “hair-raiser.”
Jim Trinkle of The San Diego Union also captured the moment in his game account:
2025 Football Season Week 17: It’s a Wrap.
San Diego Section football is done for the year and the Section did well in the opinions of various voting and ratings entities: Six of Cal-Hi Sports’ top 70, nine in the top 38 of Max Preps.com, and six with computer ratings of 46 points or more by Cal Preps.com
Cal-Hi Sports’ expanded ratings took in what the newsletter considered the top 75 teams in the state: 13—Cathedral (11-3). 14—Carlsbad (10-2). 17—Mission Hills (9-3). 18—La Costa Canyon (10-2). 22—Granite Hills (10-3). 23—Lincoln (10-3). 59—Mount Miguel (8-4). 60—San Marcos (7-5). 70—Point Loma. (11-1). Publisher Mark Tennis has the final word, with input from various human contacts in the state.
Max Preps relies on computer conclusions: 11—Cathedral. 13—Mission Hills. 15—Carlsbad. 16—La Costa Canyon. 17—Granite Hills. 24—Lincoln. 31—San Marcos. 36—Point Loma. 38—Mount Miguel. 50–Oceanside. 60–Rancho Bernardo. 68–Poway.
Cal Preps.com points also were based what the computer spat out: 59.7—Cathedral. 52.6—Mission Hills. 51.2—Carlsbad. 48.7—La Costa Canyon. 48.7—Granite Hills. 46—Lincoln. 38.7—San Marcos. 34.6—Point Loma. 34.2—Mount Miguel.
SAN DIEGO SECTION IN THE STATE PLAYOFFS
The state CIF, after years of discussion, went to an invitational model in 2006 and then to state playoffs involving teams that qualified from California’s 10 individual sections.
The San Diego Section was 1-3 in the state finals in 2025 after posting a 4-2 record in the Southern California regional playoffs.
The Dons were denied a fourth state championship, losing to the Sac-Joaquin power for the second time in three championship games. The Dons beat the Bulldogs, 33-21, in 2021 and lost, 21-14, in overtime in 2018.
After falling behind, 21-0, Cathedral never got closer than two touchdowns. Out of it at 42-14 in the fourth quarter, the Dons scored twice. “I’m just extremely proud of the boys,” said coach Sean Doyle. “They fought until the very end. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Doyle ended his 30th season with the Dons with 251 victories, second all time in San Diego County.
V-AA
Oakland Bishop O’Dowd (11-4, North Coast) 37, Christian (8-8) 0, @Buena Park High.
A Patriots highlight was offered by freshman running back Julian Morones, who rushed for 87 yards in 13 carries. Under game-long pressure by the Dragons’ defense, Christian quarterback Kaleb Runkle was sacked five times and completed 10 of 28 passes for 98 yards, and rushed for 51 yards in 13 attempts or escapes.
VI-AA
Valley Center (9-6) 36, San Jose Lincoln (11-4, Central Coast) 35, @Fullerton High.
The Jaguars won with a classic final drive, going 78 yards in five plays in the final 1:42 and springing Joeisha Ryan Tirado for the last 14 yards to tie the game at 35 with 32 seconds remaining, and then living through the drama of two false start penalties as kicker Jesse Morales was lined up for the PAT.
Morales finally booted the game winner, putting an exclamation point on his game of six catches for 134 yards, including a fingertip snag of 54 yards for a touchdown after being blanked in the first half.
Tirado, named the game’s most-valuable player, rushed for 193 yards and scored three touchdowns in 24 carries, caught two passes for 25 yards, and recovered a fumble from his position as a defensive lineman. Jaguars quarterback Braylon Mitchell passed for 307 yards and two touchdowns.
VI-A
Winters (14-1, Northern) 28, Morse (10-5) 7, @Buena Park High.
“We won one game last season, so we’ve come a long way,” said Tigers coach Tracy McNair. “It shows we’re headed in the right direction.”
STATE PLAYOFFS HISTORY
>Overtime.
YEAR
DIVISION
TEAM
SCORE
OPPONENT
SECTION
SCORE
2024
I-AA
Lincoln (12-2)
28
Pittsburg (12-3)
North Coast
26
V-AA
El Capitan (11-4)
7
Carmel (15-0)
Central Coast
48
VI-A
Monte Vista (9-6)
21
Summerville (14-1)
Sac-Joaquin
38
2023
VI-A
Sweetwater (8-7)
13
Colusa (14-0)
Northern
33
2022
I-AA
Lincoln (13-1)
33
Concord De La Salle (10-4)
North Coast
28
II-AA
Mater Dei (11-4)
26
Oakland McClymonds (12-2)
Oakland Athletic League
18
II-A
Granite Hills (13-2)
31
Danville San Ramon Valley (12-3)
North Coast
24>
VI-AA
Classical (11-3)
7
San Jose Santa Teresa (9-6)
Central Coast
0
2021
I-AA
Cathedral (11-2)
33
Folsom (11-4)
Sac-Joaquin
21
I-AA
Mater Dei (13-0)
34
Modesto Central Catholic (13-2)
Sac-Joaquin
25
II-A
Scripps Ranch (13-1)
31
Santa Clara Wilcox (11-3)
Central Coast
28
2019
III-AA
El Camino (9-7)
14
Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman (14-1)
North Coast
31
IV-A
La Jolla (10-5)
21
Escalon (14-1)
Sac-Joaquin
52
2018
I-AA
Cathedral (12-2)
14
Folsom (14-1)
Sac-Joaquin
21>
III-AA
Lincoln (11-5)
7
Atherton Menlo (13-2)
Central Coast
21
V-A
San Diego (12-2)
21
Colfax (13-1)
Northern
10
VI-A
Orange Glen (10-4)
13
San Francisco Lincoln (13-0)
San Francisco
24
2017
I-AA
Helix (13-2)
42
Folsom (16-0)
Sac-Joaquin
49
III-AA
Steele Canyon (12-4)
44
Half Moon Bay (14-1)
Central Coast
42
IV-A
El Centro Southwest (14-1)
45
Milpitas (14-1)
Central Coast
41
VI-A
Calexico Vincent Memorial (12-3)
20
San Francisco Galileo (11-2)
San Francisco
38
2016
I-AA
Cathedral (15-0)
38
Stockton St. Mary’s (14-2)
Sac-Joaquin
35>
II-AA
Madison (13-2)
21
San Jose Valley Christian (13-2)
Central Coast
17
III-A
The Bishop’s (14-1)
0
Oakdale (14-2)
Sac-Joaquin
47
V-A
La Jolla Country Day (12-4)
17
Oakland McClymonds (13-1)
Oakland Athletic League
20
2015
III-A
Rancho Bernardo (13-2)
35
San Francisco Sacred Heart (11-4)
Central Coast
14
IV-AA
Bonita Vista (12-3)
21
Hanford (14-1)
Central
33
2014
I
Oceanside (14-1)
7
Folsom (16-0)
Sac-Joaquin
68
III
El Capitan (14-1)
28
Moraga Campolindo (16-0)
North Coast
35
2013
None
2012
III
Madison (14-1)
38
Kentfield Marin Catholic (14-2)
North Coast
35
IV
Santa Fe Christian (11-4)
7
Modesto Central Catholic (13-2)
Sac-Joaquin
66
2011
II
Helix (13-1)
35
Loomis Del Oro (13-2)
Sac-Joaquin
24
2010
III
Madison (12-2)
14
Escalon (14-1)
Sac-Joaquin
30
IV
The Bishop’s (14-0)
40
Stockton Brookside Christian (12-1)
Sac-Joaquin
14
2009
I
Oceanside (14-0)
24
San Jose Bellarmine (11-2-1)
Central Coast
19
Small
Francis Parker (11-3)
40
Modesto Christian (15-0)
Sac-Joaquin
44
2008
II
Cathedral (14-0)
37
Stockton St. Mary’s (12-3)
Sac-Joaquin
34
2007
II
Oceanside (12-0-1)
28
Novato (13-1)
North Coast
14
2006
None
1935 Baseball: Slow Beginning Didn’t Stop Hilltoppers From 10th Championship
Coach Mike Morrow’s team started with an uneven, 2-3-1 record and needed a tie-breaking playoff win over Long Beach Poly for the Coast League championship and berth in the Southern Section playoffs.
Vance Randolph, sidelined a few games because of illness, was the Hilltoppers’ most-valuable player, with a .521 season batting average and pitched the 8-2 victory over undefeated (12-0) Santa Maria that clinched the school’s 10th Southern Section title.
Morrow’s team was 15-8-1 overall and 13-4 against high school squads.
3/1/35
An alumni team, comprised of several professional players leaving for spring training, was scheduled to meet the San Diego High varsity tomorrow in a third annual benefit contest.
Proceeds would be used to help send the Hillers to Pomona for the annual 20-30 Rotary Club Invitational and demonstrations in base running, throwing, and fungo hitting was to add to the game activity.
Among those scheduled to play for the alumni included Athos Sada, Al McNeely and brothers Chet and Swede Smith.
—The Hoover varsity had 13 base hits to 5 and defeated the “Yannigans”, 12-7, in an intrasquad game. The team name was slang for rookie or reserve players.
Future Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams (top row, middle), and catcher-third baseman Roy Engle, top, third from right, led Hoover Cardinals.
3/2/35
Heavy rain soaked the City Stadium field and forced cancelation of the alumni-varsity contest.
3/3/35
Julius Skinner gave up one hit and doubled in the winning runs in the ninth inning of a 3-1 victory over the Hilltoppers’ Yannigans.
3/6/35
The destroyer escort U.S.S. Dobbin team won its 48th consecutive game, 3-1 in seven innings over San Diego High. Hillers starter Vance Randolph took the loss, having given up two runs in the top of the seventh.
3/8/35
Heavy rain the night before washed out the Hoover-vs.-Alumni game at Hoover, canceling a planned “Dad’s Day” for fathers of Cardinals players.
3/12/35
Frank Galindo’s triple scored Bing Williams in the eighth inning and San Diego and the Marine Corps Recruit Depot battled to a 1-1 tie after nine innings on the Leathernecks’ diamond.
—First baseman Ted Williams had five base hits and Hoover had 17 overall in a 17-3 win over the Naval Hospital squad.
3/13/35
Ted Williams relieved starter Morris Hurst after MCRD erupted for eight runs in the first inning. Williams kept it close but the Leathernecks beat the guests, 12-11.
3/14/35
Bill Skelley and Julius Skinner limited the U.S.S. Milwaukee team to two hits as the San Diego won, 11-1, in City Stadium.
3/16/35
Ted Williams hit two home runs and a double and pitched the last three innings in relief of starter Ralph Twiss as Hoover scored a 6-2 victory over the Santa Ana Saints at Hoover.
—The Alumni defeated San Diego, 12-5, the graduates bunching seven hits and a couple Hilltoppers errors against starter Vance Randolph and relief pitcher Bill Skelley.
3/20/35
The Texas Liquor House team had 14 base hits against pitchers Morris Hurst and Ted Williams and defeated Hoover, 10-8, at Golden Hill Playground.
3/21/35
Charlie Strada allowed one hit and St. Augustine won, 4-0, at Sweetwater.
3/23/35
Winning pitcher Bill Skelley tripled in three runs in the top of the ninth inning and San Diego, outhit, 17-12, scored another run in the 10th to defeat the USC Trojans’ Freshmen, 12-11. By agreement, San Diego was visiting team in the City Stadium encounter.
—Third baseman Roy Engle doubled and tripled and Woody Helm and Morris Hurst added three hits each as Hoover took a 10-1 victory at Long Beach Wilson.
Standouts (from left) were Bill Skelley, San Diego High; Ted Williams, Hoover; Vance Randolph, San Diego, and Woody Helm, Hoover.
3/26/35
Hosts Ralph Twiss and Ted Williams gave up three hits and Hoover scored a 3-2 victory over the combined San Diego State Varsity and Freshmen squads.
—The Hoover junior varsity and the Grossmont varsity struggled to a 0-0 tie at Grossmont, days after the teams deadlocked, 4-4, at Hoover. San Diego High’s JV outlasted the Coronado varsity, 9-7, at Golden Hill Playground.
3/27/35
Hoover outhit host Sweetwater, 7-6, and made the hits count in a 7-2 nonleague win. The U.S. Coast Guard vessel Bonham squad struck for 18 hits in a 16-5 win at Coronado.
3/28/35
San Diego opened Coast League play with a 4-2 victory at Santa Ana. Frank Galindo homered off Saints ace Willie (Emperor) Jones, but the Hillers trailed, 2-1, before launching five hits in a three-run rally in the eighth inning, ignited by a single by Bill Skelley, who pitched the distance, allowing four hits.
—Coronado outscored St. Augustine, 11-6.
3/30/35 Dick Sawaya’s two-run home run was not enough as the visiting San Diego Hillers dropped a 4-3 decision to the USC Freshmen at Bovard Field on the Trojans’ campus.
4/1/35
Charlie Strada’s four-hit pitching was enough for St. Augustine, 2-1 winner over the Naval Hospital team at Golden Hill Playground.
—Escondido defeated the visiting San Diego High junior varsity, 8-1, behind Orville Hoffmann’s four-hit pitching.
—Ted Williams went the distance on the pitching mound and went the distance at bat, socking two home runs in the Cardinals’ 11-3 win over the Marine Corps team on the Leathernecks’ diamond.
4/4/35
Art Rinder pitched a one-hitter and St. Augustine topped Coronado, 10-1, at Golden Hill playground.
—Marshall Pierson’s Texaco Servicemen dropped an 8-3 decision at Hoover.
4/5/35
Charlie Strada stopped the San Diego Junior Varsity, 4-2, and St. Augustine improved its record to 5-1-1 at University Heights playground.
—Grossmont led Oceanside, 2-1, in the seventh inning, when the Pirates took advantage of wildness and errors and beat the visiting Foothillers, 9-2.
Battery for Grossmont was from a famous San Diego sports family. Bill Nettles started on the mound and twin brother Wayne caught.
—Sweetwater topped Coronado, 5-4, as Jack Brink hurled an 11-inning complete game.
4/6/35
Ralph Twiss allowed one hit, a sixth-inning single, and struck out 13 as visiting Hoover walloped Covina, 15-0. Ted Williams hit for the cycle with a 5-for-5 day of two singles, double, triple, and home run.
The Cardinals’ Morris Siraton also had three singles and two doubles, and Sheldon Fouts homered. The Cardinals struck for 19 base hits against two Colts pitchers.
—Seven runs in the fourth inning held up for a 14-10, Coast League victory by Long Beach Poly over San Diego in the City Stadium.
The Hillers answered with six runs in the bottom of the inning but were victimized by six errors.
—Escondido took visitor Holtville, 7-1 and 9-6, in a doubleheader as the Hoffmann cousins, Karl and Orville, doubled up on the Vikings with complete game pitching.
4/9/35
Bill Ondler hit two doubles and Hoover outscored a team from the USS Detroit, 9-7.
4/10/35
Workhorse Charlie Strada tripled in two runs in the third inning and stopped Sweetwater on three hits in St. Augustine’s 3-1 win at University Heights.
4/11/35
Les Cassie’s double was the pivotal blow as the Hoover JV beat the Oceanside varsity, 5-4.
—Vance Randolph, sidelined with illness several weeks, returned to pitch and San Diego, with Bill Skelley relieving Randolph, scored a 14-6 win with a 22-hit attack over a team known as the All-Stars in the City Stadium.
—La Jolla, outhit, 11-6, outscored Sweetwater, 11-10, in a Metropolitan League game on the Vikings’ field. Monte Soule, touched for 11 hits, struck out 12 Red Devils in the victory.
—Bill Nettles went all the way on the mound and Grossmont scored three runs in the eighth inning and three in the ninth to outscore Metro defending champion Escondido, 6-5.
—Ted Williams had four hits and struck out 16 and Hoover defeated visiting Glendale, 10-5.
4/12/35
Bill Skelley scattered 11 hits and his home run in the seventh inning put San Diego ahead, 6-4 in the eventual 7-4 ictory over Glendale in City Stadium.
—Army-Navy’s Hugh Kittle struck out 17 Coronado Islanders and gave up one hit in a 1-0, Metro League victory on the Warriors’ diamond in Pacific Beach.
—Hoover won at San Bernardino, 7-1, as Ted Williams homered and singled and Tommy Johnson had two hits and scored four runs.
POMONA 20-30 ROTARY CLUB TOURNAMENT
4/18/35
A five-run fourth inning doomed San Diego in a loss to Fullerton, 7-6, sending the Hillers into the consolation bracket in an event they were champions in 1933 and ’34.
—Hoover defeated Whittier, St. Augustine topped Puente, 12-4, and Escondido defeated Sweetwater, 11-2, in other first-round games, all played to seven innings.
4/19/35
San Diego gained the Consolation Bracket finals with victories over Brea-Olinda, 9-3, in the morning and Glendale Hoover, 6-2 in the afternoon. Escondido advanced to the semifinal game by eliminating Montebello, 6-4, and Glendale, 2-1.
The Hilltoppers and Cougars were the only San Diego County teams remaining. Long Beach Poly committed six errors but did not allow a hit and bounced St. Augustine, guilty of seven errors, 6-1. Glendale ushered out Hoover, 3-2, and Sweetwater fell to Covina, 6-3.
4/20/35
San Diego won a consolation semifinal in the morning, 6-1 over Whittier, and conked Calexico, 15-0, in the afternoon final as sophomore Bill Skelley hurled a four-hitter. Gus Angelous and R.C. Moore hit home runs in the 14-hit attack.
Escondido was eliminated in the championship semifinals, 2-1, in eight innings by Pasadena Muir Technical. Long Beach Poly then edged Muir, 2-1, for the title.
—Back home, Hoover came up short again, 7-1, to the U.S.S. Whitney at Central Playground.
4/24/35
Third baseman Roy Engle starred in the field and at the plate as Hoover won the opener of the three-game “Civil War” series, 3-1, in seven innings after a 10 a.m. start in City Stadium before San Diego High’s student assembly and assorted baseball fans.
4/25/35
San Diego High evened the series before a Hoover crowd of assembled Cardinals students, 9-5.
Ted Williams, the winning pitcher two days before, was the losing pitcher as the rivalry series evened at one game apiece.Roy Engle doubled and tripled for Hoover and Williams hit a home run.
The Cardinals’ four-run outburst overcame a 1-0 San Diego lead in the third inning, but the Hilltoppers scored three in the fourth and five in the sixth.
Del Ballenger had four singles in four at bats in Hoover’s 12-hit attack. Frank Galindo had two of the Hillers’ nine hits.
San Diego had five hits in the five-run sixth, including doubles by Bill Skelley, R.C. Moore, and Jim Harris.
4/26/35
Bill Skelley’s two-hit pitching included 12 strikeouts and Johnny Bareno contributed a single and double and San Diego coasted, 7-0, at Pasadena.
—Sweetwater stepped out of the Metropolitan League again and sent St. Augustine back to its North Park campus, 7-1, a day following the Red Devils’ 10-3 win over the Hoover JV.
—Meanwhile, Oceanside (2-0) took undisputed possession of first place in the Metro, 4-0 over visiting La Jolla (2-1) behind Johnny Ortega’s two-hitter.
—Bill Nettles gave up six hits and hurled Grossmont (2-1) to a 10-5 win at Army-Navy (1-2) and Karl Hoffmann pitched Escondido (1-1) to a 3-1 victory at Coronado.
4/30/35
Ted Williams allowed five hits and Hoover defeated San Diego, 6-2, to claim the best-of-three series for the city championship. Williams, Roy Engle, and Woody Helm each had two hits.
5/3/35
Ted Williams homered and Ralph Twiss struck out 13 as Hoover won a nonleague game at La Jolla, 13-3.
—Karl Hofmann socked two home runs and Escondido, despite 12 strikeouts by Hugh Kittle, Hoffmann’s rival pitcher, won at Army-Navy, 10-5.
—Grossmont improved to 3-1 and was in first place in the Metropolitan League with a 6-4 win over visiting Coronado.
—The longest trip for any team other than San Diego or Hoover was Sweetwater’s 88-mile roundtrip jaunt to Oceanside, where the Red Devils scored a 7-3 victory.
—San Diego wrapped the Coast League race with a 6-2 win at Alhambra, giving the Hilltoppers a first-place tie with Long Beach Poly, each with a 4-1 record.
5/4/35
Charlie Strada scattered eight hits and the visiting Saints surprised at Hoover, 6-2, aided by a first-inning grand slam home run by Francis Drummy.
5/6/35
Bing Williams’ three-run home run in the first inning was enough for San Diego, behind Bill Skelley’s pitching, to claim a 7-2 victory in a playoff for the Coast League championship at Long Beach Poly.
5/9/35
CIF commissioner Seth Van Patten, wanting to continue the interest of anything that included Hoover and San Diego, scheduled a Southern California playoff Saturday between the freelance Cardinals and Coast loop champion Hilltoppers.
5/10/35
Grossmont’s fourth straight Metropolitan League win, 4-1 over La Jolla behind Bill Nettles’ seven-hit pitching, left the Foothillers in first place.
—Karl Hoffmann went 13 innings on the mound and Escondido outlasted traveling Sweetwater, 2-1. Oceanside beat Army-Navy, 9-2, and St. Augustine, behind Charlie Strada’s three-hitter, won a nonleague game at Coronado, 3-2.
5/11/35
Union reporter Harry P. Hache declared that a crowd of more than 2,000 persons were in City Stadium and saw San Diego score seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and won the Southern Section playoff with Hoover, 14-11.
The Cardinals outhit San Diego, 18-17. R.C. Moore homered for the Hilltoppers and Ted Williams for the Hoover.
5/16/35
Jim Harris’ grand slam home run in the fifth inning and Bill Skelley’s six-hit pitching were enough for San Diego to win a quarterfinals playoff, 9-4, at Placentia Valencia.
—Grossmont claimed a tie for the Metropolitan League championship with a 6-4 victory in 10 innings at Sweetwater. Bill Nettles went the distance for the Foothillers, giving up five hits.
—Army-Navy took a bye from league action and defeated St. Augustine, 5-0, sending ace Charlie Strada to his first loss, as Hugh Kittle struck out 19 Saints.
–Oceanside and Oceanside, which were to meet later in the week, kept alive their hopes for a tie with Grossmont. The Pirates took advantage of 11 errors to score a 16-3 victory at Coronado and Escondido blanked La Jolla, 5-0, on the road.
5/24/35
Oceanside pushed over runs in the eighth and ninth innings to defeat defending champion Escondido, 2-0, and earn a tie for the Metropolitan League title with Grossmont, both with 5-1 records.
Escondido finished with a 4-2 record. La Jolla, Coronado, and Sweetwater each was 2-4 and Army-Navy, 1-5.
Monte Soule struck out 18 Coronado batters but 10 errors torpedoed Soule and the Vikings, who made one base hit against the Islanders’ Jack Brink.
6/1/35
Vance Randolph, moving from shortstop to the mound, relieving Bill Skelley in the eighth inning with the bases loaded and one out, retired the side and San Diego beat Colton, 5-2, in a Southern Section semifinal game in City Stadium.
6/8/35
Vance Randolph pitched and slugged San Diego to an 8-2 win over visiting and undefeated (12-0) Santa Maria, earning the Hilltoppers their 10th Southern Section championhship since 1917.
Randolph also tripled in two runs in the first inning, doubled in two more in the seventh and stole home in the inning.
2025 Football Week 16: Doyle (251 Wins), Cathedral Go For Another State Championship
Cathedral’s 42-21 victory over Los Alamitos last week in the state regional Division I-AA playoffs was the 251st in coach Sean Doyle’s career.
That’s right, 251. The Dons’ victory over Carlsbad in the San Diego Section finals had been hailed on the Southwestern College scoreboard as No. 250 for Doyle, sending the Dons into the regionals, while this website, while not official and not affiliated with the CIF, declared that the win was No. 248.
An ineligible player, asserted in a statement from the office of CIF commissioner Jerry Schniep, had appeared in all 10 games in 2012, wiping out Cathedral’s 8-2 season. We originally went along with that information.
But when asked by John Maffei before the Los Alamitos game, Doyle told the reporter that he had researched game film, talked to coaches and players, and said that the ineligible player had not been a participant in two Cathedral victories, 29-21 over Lincoln and 28-20 over St. Augustine, Cathedral’s main Eastern League opponents. The player’s overall participation was such that in four other games he had been in for one play.
According to Maffei, after visiting with Doyle, Cathedral’s forfeits should have been eight and an overall record of 2-8 and not 0-10 in 2012. Max Preps originally had reported eight forfeits and Cal Preps originally reported six.
Doyle goes for No. 252 this week against Folsom, longtime Sac-Joaquin Section power and a familiar championship game opponent for the Dons. Cathedral lost to the Bulldogs, 21-14, in 2018 and won a rematch, 33-21, in the 2021 final.
Adjustments in the Coach 100 table will be made at the end of this week’s games. The records of Doyle, Lincoln’s David Dunn, and St. Augustine’s Richard Sanchez will be noted.
Cathedral’s Kevin Clark (37), Cole McComic (81), and Tijs Beals (84) were happy campers after 42-21 Regional playoffs victory.
SAN DIEGO SECTION REGIONAL RECORD 4-2
Christian outscored Cerritos Valley Christian, 27-13, in Division V-AA and Valley Center defeated Moreno Valley Valley View, 30-19, in Division VI-AA in other Friday night’s regional openers.
Oxnard Pacifica edged Granite Hills, 42-35, in D-IA, Arcadia Rio Hondo topped Santa Fe Christian, 26-21, and Morse ousted Simi Valley Grace Brethren, 57-40 in VI-A, on Saturday.
Cathedral will meet Folsom at Mission Viejo Saddleback College on Friday, Dec. 12.
Christian plays Oakland Bishop O’Dowd of the North Coast Section on Friday at Buena Park High.
Valley Center’s game against San Jose Lincoln of the Central Coast Section will be on Friday at Fullerton High.
Morse and Winters of the Northern Section will kick off at Buena Park High on Saturday, Dec. 13.
