Birt Slater Field on the Kearny High campus is going to be dug up and a new field will be in place by 2014.

The Komets will play their remaining three, 2013 home games at Madison, versus Clairemont, Point Loma, and La Jolla.

In tribute to the legendary coach, who was 89 when he passed away Sept. 3, Komets coach Kenny Nears hoped the team could turn out in the final game against Lincoln in Kearny’s vintage, striped uniforms, which had been outlawed by the National Federation of High School associations.

The white stripes on the maroon jerseys had to be modified, as did the maroon stripes on the white jerseys. The stripes had to be of a certain width and length.

The rule, which had been on the books several years, also essentially mandates  that home teams wear dark jerseys and visiting teams white jerseys.

Kearny’s predominant stripes supposedly posed a visual problem for officials calling games, although that has been disputed by members of the San Diego County Officials’ Association.

Lincoln defeated Kearny, 18-16, and the Komets’ request to wear the old uniforms was denied by school officials, citing the existing rule.

PRISON BARS

Several reasons have been given as to why Slater designed the stripes in 1961, his third season as head coach.

A popular story told by Slater is that he became enamored of the uniforms worn in a college game Slater was watching on television.

Slater never would state publicly what he told me probably 40 years ago. “I love those stripes…they remind me of prison bars,”said Slater, who was a tough-minded, challenging coach.  “You look tough in them.  You feel tough.  Of course, you have to play tough.”

“We got a lot of criticism at first,” Slater remembered.  “But we won a lot of games, and we didn’t hear much after that.  I figured if we wore them, we’d have to win with them.”

As Larry Shepard, quarterback of the 1963 San Diego Section championship team, remarked in a stirring testimonial at Slater’s memorial, with one of the old jerseys hanging from the podium: “They gave our team and our community an identity, which we didn’t have.”

SANTA FE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLED

Santa Fe Christian’s opponent was as long on talent as the identity of the man after whom the school was named when it opened in 1959.

Santa Barbara Bishop Diego, in honor of Bishop Francisco Garcia Diego y Moreno, the first bishop of the diocese of the two Californias in 1840, hammered the Eagles Saturday afternoon, 34-3.

On a hot, windy Santa Ana day, on which temperatures were near the nineties at the coastal campus in Solana Beach, Bishop Diego enhanced its top rating among the state’s small schools in the competitive Division IV.

The Eagles were on the shorter end of a 13-8 score in 2012 at Bishop Diego.

Entering  Week 6 games, Christian and Francis Parker ranked No. 2 and No. 4, and Santa Fe Christian was No. 8 in Cal Hi Sports’ State Bowl South rankings. Christian was edged by Mission Bay, 24-21, and fell out of the undefeated ranks at 5-1.  Francis Parker, 4-0, remained unbeaten after a bye.

But ‘Fe coach Jon Wallace told writer John (‘Fei) Maffei, “We don’t look at ratings, ours or theirs. Our goal is to win the Coastal League and the San Diego Section title….”

The real racing begins next week for many teams throughout the section, with the beginning of league play.

QUICK KICKS

Six of UT-San Diego’s Top 10 were idle last week…No. 3 Eastlake slammed Sweetwater, 52-14; No. 5 Cathedral drubbed Morse, 42-13; No. 7 Madison  whacked Mira Mesa, 41-6, and No. 10 El Capitan beat Granite Hills, 55-14…Army-Navy inaugurated football at its new facility and was on the wrong end of a 49-0 thumping by The Bishop’s…a 49-0 victory at Tri-City Christian was the 100th victory at La Jolla Country Day for coach Jeff Hutzler…he’s 100-33 with the Torreys… 

The weekly UT-San Diego football poll went through a topsy-turvy Week 5, beginning with Oceanside’s loss to Mission Hills,  and flip-flopping all the way down to El Capitan’s high-powered Vaqueros, making their bow in the Top 10.

I differed on a few of the vote’s results.

My essential disagreement with colleagues was over No. 2.  I had Cathedral.  They went for San Pasqual.

San Pasqual opponents have a combined 11-12 record.  Cathedral’s is 13-8.

I weigh heavily San Diego teams’ performances against those out of the area, essentially from Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside Counties.

Cathedral was upset by a strong, local Helix squad but measured Vista Murrieta, the Los Angeles Times‘ No. 4-ranked club coming in to the Broncos’ match with the Dons, who beat the Riverside County power, 35-28.

Cathedral also took on what appeared to be an elite challenge in its season opener when the Dons signed Jordan High, a 2012 state champion from Sandy, Utah.  The Dons won 38-6 and Sandy has struggled since, posting a season record of 3-3.

My associates apparently don’t think much of my applications.  They voted Cathedral low enough that the Dons are fifth this week.

San Pasqual is 5-0 against Torrey Pines, Del Norte, Mt. Carmel,  Poway, and La Costa Canyon.

No knock on the Eagles, who have passed every test, but Cathedral has lined up against far more formidable opponents.

*Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Others receiving votes with points in parenthesis: St. Augustine (12), Grossmont (8), Mission Bay (6) Christian (5), Mount Miguel (3). La Costa Canyon (2), Imperial, Hilltop, Torrey Pines, 1 each.

Thirty-one sportswriters, sportscasters and administrators vote each week, including:  John Maffei, Craig Malveaux, Dennis Lin, Don Norcross, Lisa Lane, and Andrew Burer, U-T-San Diego; Steve Brand, Terry Monahan, Bill Dickens, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, U-T-San Diego correspondents; Nick Pellegrino, East County Sports.com; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (107.9 FM The Mountain); Jeff Kurtz, playonsports.com; Ernie Martinez, XTRA Sports 1360; John Kentera, Jack Cronin, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, Jordan Carruth, Bobby Wooldridge, Mark Chiebowski (The Mighty 1090;  Rick Willis, Brandon tone, Jake Fadden, KUSI-TV; Craig Elsten, 619sports.net; Rick Smith, Partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, CIF San Diego Section, and Bruce Ward, San Diego Unified School District.

Corporate shakeups have nothing on the expected  San Diego Section football poll next week.

Numbers 1, 3, and 7 were beaten and Cathedral rocked Southern Section rankings when it handled visiting No. 4 Vista Murrieta, 35-28.

Mission Hills, which sat second in the UT-San Diego poll behind Oceanside since Week 1, hammered the Pirates 30-6 before more than 5,000 roaring spectators at the San Marcos school.

I have voted the Grizzlies No. 1 since the start of the season, but with less confidence each week as Oceanside began to roll and overcome a haunting loss to Gardena Serra.

Mission Hills coach Chris Hauser, despite a rather manic sideline persona, coaches a tough defense that reflects his energy.

The Grizzlies intercepted four passes and recovered two fumbles.

Maybe most impressive was the Mission Hills kicker, Esteben Senteno.  He offered an NFL-like performance with field goals of 50, 47, and 27 yards, and bombed a 62-yard punt.

DONS AVENGE

I often see a Cathedral assistant coach in the Starbucks near my home in Scripps Ranch.  This week the coach and I visited about the Dons’ upcoming game against Vista Murrieta.

The coach wanted me to believe the Dons were in a very good position to reverse a closer-than-the-score-indicated, 21-10 loss to the Broncos on the road in 2012.

Considering that Vista Murietta had won its first three games by scores of 66-28, 52-13, and 69-21 and was fourth in the L.A. Times’ poll of Southern Section and L.A. City teams, I thought Cathedral was a longshot.

“After last year the returning players were confident we could play with them,” said Dons coach Sean Doyle.

“Rankings are rankings,” Doyle told writer Steve Brand.  “Are they better than Oceanside or Mission Hills?  Who knows, but we knew they were good coming in.”

But for a loss to Helix a week before, the Dons would have been undefeated.

Cathedral contributed to the loss by coming away without a score after virtually renting a suite inside Helix’ 10-yard line in the fourth quarter.

BULLDOGS BARKING

Ramona, which has hung around the bottom rung of the Top 10, lay in the weeds and trapped No. 3 Helix, 10-6  on a cool evening in the mountains.

The Bulldogs of veteran coach Damon Baldwin are off to a 5-0 start.

Ramona fell off to 8-5 last season although it reached the III finals before losing to Lincoln 42-14.

WISH I HAD COME UP WITH THIS STAT

Jim Lindgren of UT-San Diego noted that there are only two in the San Diego Section who have won a  championship as a quarterback and as a coach:  The Bishop’s Joel Allen and Mission Hills’ Chris Hauser.

The 28-year-old Allen quarterbacked Christian to a championship in 2002 and led The Bishop’s to a title in 2010.  Hauser doubled at Vista as a player in 1982 and as coach in 2001.

Lindgren also noted that Bulla Graft, a second baseman on Chula Vista Park View’s 2009 Little League World Series champion, is a star running back at The Bishop’s.  Graft scored 23 touchdowns as a sophomore last season and rushed for 127 yards versus Christian.

QUICK  KICKS
The Classical Academy Caimans of Escondido improved their record to 3-1 with a 28-21 victory over Newport Beach Sage Hill…all of the game’s 49 points were scored in the fourth quarter!…Christian fired the first shot in the Division III run-up to the playoffs by defeating The Bishop’s 56-28…l…it wasn’t an upset but Eastlake, No. 5, threatened the Top 10 rating of St. Augustine, No. 7, with a 23-0 victory….

Don Hegerle, a leader and playmaker for 1950s San Diego State basketball teams and who later coached at Escondido High, passed away on Sept. 9.

Hegerle, 82, was a fast, slashing guard who fearlessly drove to the basket and fired jump shots for one of the best teams in Aztecs history.

He was a vital player on the 1955-56 Aztec team that overcame three straight losses at the start of the season and went on to post a 23-6 record.

Hegerle averaged 10.9 points and scored 315 points, third highest on the team, which was paced by Tony Pinkins (18.1) and Danny Newport (14.7).

The Aztecs earned a berth in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national tournament in Kansas City by defeating Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, 93-69, Pasadena Nazarene, 78-62, and Humboldt State, 91-63.

After enduring a 30-hour trip to the Midwest by rail, the Aztecs’ opening contest following a first-day bye had a 10:30 a.m. tipoff.  They defeated Alderson-Broaddus of Philipi, W.Va, 77-64.

San Diego State’s season came to an end in another contest that began the next morning.  The Aztecs were eliminated by Gustavus-Adolphus of St. Peter, Minnesota, 69-60.

Hegerle, who played high school football, basketball, and baseball at Point Loma, was head coach at Escondido for five seasons before going into administration.

The 1957-58 team, paced by brothers Toby and Steve Thurlow and Jim Gabbard, posted a 20-11 season  and tied for the Avocado League championship.

Hegerle’s overall record with the Cougars was 73-50.

A lifelong basketball fan, Hegerle’s favorite team became the University of San Diego Toreros.  His son-in-law is Ky Snyder, athletics director at USD.  Snyder’s wife, Sue, was a standout in track and field at San Pasqual and later the women’s volleyball coach at USD.

Three traditional strongholds among the San Diego Section’s smaller schools are a combined 12-0 and staking their turf in Division III.

Christian, Francis Parker, and The Bishop’s each is 4-0.  Christian, of the Central League, will take on the Coastal League’s The Bishop’s in Week  5 in a possible, midseason playoff preview.

Christian was ranked second in Southern California by Cal-Hi Sports going into this week’s games, behind Santa Barbara Bishop Diego.

Parker was fifth and The Bishop’s ninth.

The Patriots  have outscored their opponents,  185-16. Their victories are 42-0 over San Luis Obispo Mission Prep, 42-0 over Santana, 66-3 over El Cajon Valley, and 35-13 over Ontario Christian.

Mission Prep (3-1) has rebounded and was seventh in the Cal-Hi Sports rankings before a 24-6 win over Santa Monica St. Monica this week.

Parker, which has outscored its opponents, 166-52, defeated Santana, 52-13, and The Bishop’s edged Coronado, 20-17. The Knights have a 144-65 edge in their scoring.

Other D-III teams that could make noise under the San Diego Section’s new playoff format include Hoover, Coronado, and Santa Fe Christian.

PIRATES UNLOAD ON TITANS

Oceanside’s 61-0 victory over Poway was the worst defeat for the Titans since a 61-0 loss to Orange Glen in 1978.

Oceanside has topped 61 points five times in its 87-year football history:

The Helix Highlanders had four graduates on NFL rosters when teams reached the 53-man limit earlier this month.

Scots alums include running back Reggie Bush of Detroit, quarterback Alex Smith of Kansas City, cornerback Jaemar Taylor of Miami, and tight end Levine Toilolo of Atlanta.

A total of 16 players from the San Diego Section made NFL roster at cutdown:

NORLAND AND ST. THOMAS AQUINAS LEAD

Helix is among 14 other U.S. schools tied for third in NFL contributions.

Norland of Miami and St. Thomas Aquinas of Fort Lauderdale lead with 6 players. Pahokee, Florida, has 5.

The next 15, with 4  each:

Helix; Southlake Carroll, Texas; Colton; Concord De La Salle; Cincinnati Bishop Elder; Belle Glade Glades Central, Florida; Greenwood, South Carolina; Long Beach Poly; Mission Viejo; North Miami Beach; Houston North Shore; Sherman Oaks Notre Dame; Piscataway, New Jersey; Rock Hill, South Carolina; Austin Westlake, Texas.

LOUISIANA HAS MOST WITH LEAST

California leads with 225 players, followed by Florida, 186; Texas, 184; Georgia, 95; Ohio, 74; New Jersey, 63; Lousiana, 62; Pennsylvania, 58; South Carolina, 54, and Virginia, 50.

Louisiana has one player for every 73,119 residents.  South Carolina is second with one for every 85,655, and Mississippi  third with one for every 92,728.   California is not in the top 10.

Miami, with 24, is the hometown with the most players, followed by Houston (16), and Detroit, 14.

Information is provided annually  by the NFL communications department.