Football season is just beyond the horizon in this chaotic year, but  many coaches are actively preparing for a January start (in the usual basketball season), including those who have reached 50 victories in their San Diego Section football careers.

Earlier postings listed the Top 10 active football coaches in victories, and the all-time Top 27 in winning percentage.  Use the Football/Coach 100 Club page for a list of the 100 game winners.

NAME	SCHOOL	W-L-T	OVERALL	PCT
Troy Starr	Mount Miguel Helix	8-13 83-18-1	91-31-1	.744
Ron Burner	El Capitan		83-85-2	.494
Kerry Legarra	Imperial		80-56-2	.587
Jason Texler	El Cajon Valley Escondido San Marcos	18-16 5-15-1 56-27	79-58-1	.576
Tony Corlee	San Pasqual		73-71-1	.507
John Self	Brawley		72-33	.690
Sean Sovacool	La Costa Canyon		70-44	.614
John Joyner	Marian		70-57	.551
Tim White	Westview Julian Borrego Springs	10-24 34-54-2 24-16	68-94-2	.421
Tracy McNair	Morse		67-61-1	.523
Tristan McCoy	Rancho Bernardo		61-45	.575
Thadd MacNeal	Carlsbad		60-44	.577
Kellen Cobbs	Granite Hills		58-37	.611
David Dunn	Lincoln		58-51-1	.532
Scott Longerbone	Steele Canyon		54-42-1	.562
John Wallace	Santa Fe Christian		52-30	.634

CLOSING IN ON 50

John Anderson	Mt. Carmel	46-55	.455
David Wong	Calexico Vincent Memorial	44-16	.733
Tyler Hales	La Jolla Country Day	44-32	.579
Charles James	University City-San Diego	44-36	.550
Tim Estes	Santana	43-48	.473
Robbie Owens	Helix	42-12	.778
Dave Rodriguez	Oceanside	40-25	.615

Bill Rainey left with a couple championships when he graduated from Crawford High in 1962 and went on to the University of Southern California.

Rainey, who passed away recently at his home in Seattle, was the San Diego Section football player of the year in 1961 and also was the first San Diego Section track-and-field champion in the 880-yard run in 1961.

Two separate and distinctive achievements.

As a junior Rainey bested  the field at Kearny High in the inaugural San Diego Section championships, winning in a time of 1:58.0.

Rainey proceeded to score 19 touchdowns in the fall and led Crawford to the CIF championship, 13-0 over Kearny, but it was in the game the previous week that forever etched Rainey’s name in San Diego Section lore.

 

The 175-pound halfback scored 5 touchdowns in a 31-13 victory over Helix in a contest billed as matching the two best teams in the County.  Entering the game Crawford was 6-0-2 and Helix 8-0.

Crawford’s 8-0-2 championship record remains the only unbeaten season in school history.

Rainey was an all-Southern California, first-team choice by the Helms Athletic Foundation and the San Diego Section player of the year.

Bill did not defend his 880-yard championship in the spring track season.  He instead contributed to Crawford’s track-and-field squad by becoming a pole vaulter.

The CIF board of managers passed a resolution at the end of the 1980-81 school year that resulted in the dividing of three leagues and the board-approved addition of a 10^th regular-season game.

Cause and effect was County population, which had grown to 1.8 million in the 1980 census, with almost 1 million in the city.

–The 10-team Metropolitan League split into the Mesa and South Bay leagues, under a Metropolitan Conference umbrella.

Bonita Vista, Castle Park, Hilltop, Montgomery, and Sweetwater became the Mesa League in  3-A, a classification for playoffs instituted in 1979 to accommodate enrollment concerns.  The South Bay’s Chula Vista, Coronado, Marian, Mar Vista, and Southwest were designated 2-A schools.

Bosses had to meet a second time to determine the names of the Metro’s new leagues.  Other suggested names included Eastern, Western, Bay, Coast, Inland, and Freeway, according to Bud Maloney of the Evening Tribune.

CITY SHAKEUP

The Eastern and Western leagues realigned and a Central League was formed as part of a three-league City Conference.

The 3-A Eastern went from 8 to 5 teams, losing Clairemont and Point Loma to the 2-A Western, and Crawford to the 2-A Central.

The Western went radical as St. Augustine, Lincoln, Serra, and Hoover left and joined Crawford and formerly independent Christian in a six-team Central.

A revised Western of seven clubs included Clairemont, La Jolla, Mission Bay, Point Loma, San Diego, University, and first-year University City, which played a junior varsity schedule.

Palomar (3-A) and Avocado (2-A) replaced the Avocado East and Avocado West, the change not affecting schools except for division nomenclature. Explosive growth in the 1960’s and ’70’s had created several realignments within the original Palomar and Avocado circuits.

LONG AND WIDE

The San Diego Section’s acceptance of the  Imperial Valley League’s four, smaller entities from the Southern Section had meant expansion in 1980 of the old Southern Prep League, now the Southern Conference with a Mountain-Desert League and Coastal League.

The Mountain-Desert, stretching about 125 miles east from Pine Valley (Mountain Empire) to Winterhaven (San Pasqual), also numbered Imperial, Holtville, and Calipatria.

The Coastal loop was more geographically agreeable, going up and down Interstate 5,  805 and their tributaries, to Army-Navy, Chula Vista Christian, La Jolla Country Day, Francis Parker, and Santa Fe Christian, plus, oddly, Julian, tucked away in the mountains.

— Left standing and unchanged was the nine-team Grossmont League, which in the future finally would split.

AIR CORYELL OF FOOTHILLS

Helix quarterback Jim Plum, throwing to star receivers Allan Durden, Karl Dorrell, and Craig Galloway, set a state record with 3,328 passing yards and passed for 32 touchdowns as coach Jim Arnaiz’ Highlanders posted a 10-3 record and went to the San Diego Section finals before the fogbound Scots lost a  34-16 decision to Vista.

Helix’ passing game had a familial connection to the San Diego Chargers’  “Air Coryell”.

Chargers running backs coach Earnel Durden, a former Los Angeles City player of the year at Manual Arts and all-America at Oregon State, was father of three Helix standouts, beginning with Mike, followed by Kevin, and finally Allan, a  tough, shifty,  60-catch receiver.

Linkage did not stop with the Durdens.  The all-purpose Dan Hammerschmidt was son of Al Hammerschmidt, who quarterbacked an upset victory by Cal Poly-Pomona in 1962 over Coryell’s San Diego State squad and who was Helix’ head coach from 1968-72, succeeded by Arnaiz.

The younger Hammerschmidt  tied a record that can never be broken, a touchdown on a 99-yard pass play, with a couple added feet.

Hammerschmidt backed up Plum, returned kicks, played cornerback, and was variously described as “the heart and soul of Arnaiz’ defense.”

DAN HAD A HAMMER

Midway through the season Hammerschmidt found himself playing flanker on offense, stepping in for the injured Dorrell.

Helix was backed up to its half-foot line after Hammerschmidt misjudged his position in calling for a fair catch, fumbled, and barely saved a safety or a Granite Hills touchdown by recovering the punt just before the end zone stripe.

The Highlanders’ senior had no time to fret about his error.

On first down Plum pitched a lateral  that Hammerschmidt caught, then dodged a tackler at his four-yard line, picked up a block from Durden, and took it to the house.

“After Jim threw me the pass I got that great block from Allan—he always blocks like that—and I just ran as hard as I could,”  Hammerschmidt told the Evening Tribune’s Bud Maloney, who was covering the game, a  24-0 Helix victory.

OH, SAY CAN WE SEE?

Dorrell, Durden, and Galloway arguably were the best set of receivers on the same team in San Diego Section history. Plum ranks among the best quarterbacks and Arnaiz is in the top rung of coaches.

It should have been one of the all-time championship games when Helix met Vista in a rematch of the season opener for the 3-A title in San Diego Stadium, but forces of nature and the pounding attack of Dick Haines’ Vista Panthers prevailed.

Thirty-plus years later Steve Brand of The San Diego Union remembered the game as if it were yesterday.

“Helix was loaded with talented athletes,” said the longtime prep writer.  “Vista just hit you.  It was quite a matchup, until the fog rolled in early in the game.”

WRITERS ALSO GROUNDED

When the game started Brand was in the press box high above the field.  “It got so bad we could not see the game at all.  The media went down to the field  and I remember creeping along the sideline, trying to see.  The fog grounded the Helix attack.”

What struck Brand even more was response of the announced crowd of 15,302.

“The game clock operator and the announcer also were on the field, which meant that when one of the teams scored there was a very obvious pause between the score, the announcement, and the cheers,” said Brand.

“If we were on our sideline hashmark and sent someone in motion, he disappeared in the fog,” said Arnaiz.

“We continued to throw the ball but they were all checkdown, short passes, “said the  Highlanders’ coach. “You could not throw beyond 10 yards.  Our passing attack took a beating.”

VISTA 2-0 VERSUS HIGHLANDERS

“Vista ran the heck out of the option and Dan did a great job of holding them down with his great play.  He went out (with an injury) after the first quarter and they began to wear us down.”

Who’s the say Vista wouldn’t have won, fog, rain, or clear skies?  The Panthers defeated Helix 24-0 in the season’s hastily prepared, first game, the so-called “10th game”, which the CIF approved at the end of the 1980-81 school year.

Fog is not a problem, if you’re Vista.  The Panthers defeated Patrick Henry, 32-0, in a heavy, seasonal shroud for the championship in 1974.

Arnaiz and Haines were virtually even when they hung up their whistles after a combined 52 seasons on the San Diego scene.

Arnaiz was 212-77-7 with 6 trips to the finals (4-2) and a .726 winning percentage in 27 seasons. Haines  was 194-85-1 (.698) with 6 championship games (3-3) and a 3-0 record head to head with Arnaiz in 25 seasons.

CHARGERS CONNECTION, CON’T

Grossmont quarterback Jeff Van Raaphorst, the son of  Dick Van Raaphorst,  a kicker for the Chargers in 1966-67, piloted another air-oriented attack.

A placekicker and a converted tight end, Van Raaphorst was virtually even with Helix’ Jim Plum in  the regular season with 25 touchdown passes and 2,975 yards passing.  Plum had 2,793 and 27.

Plum had the edge when Helix defeated Grossmont, 49-14, with a line that read 18 for 22, 336 yards, and 4 touchdowns.  Van Raaphorst completed 20 of 41 passes for 329 yards, and 1 TD.

CONNECTIONS, CON’T.

Willie McCloud of Clairemont, a 6-foot, 1-inch, 160-pounder, was the son of Willie McCloud a San Diego High football and baseball standout from 1957-59.

Fallbrook coach Tom Pack attended Mission Hills’ Bishop Alemany in the San Fernando Valley, where Granada Hills was an L.A. City Section power, holding sway under coach Jack Neumeier, who nurtured several quarterbacks, including John Elway.

Neumeier retired in 1979…to Fallbrook. “That Jack Neumeier?” Pack exclaimed when a Fallbrook High teacher and neighbor of Neumeier’s casually mentioned the name.

After constructing a new home,  Neumeier was free and accepted Pack’s oft-repeated invitation to join the Warriors’ staff as an unattached assistant coach, sitting in the press box during the first half of games and heading to the sidelines with his play sheets and observations in the second half.

Neumeier brought his spread offense and passing game to the Warriors and the results were dramatic.  Fallbrook scored 82 points and had a 4-5 record in 1980.  They improved to 228 points and an 8-2 record this year, their second winning season since 1967.

MADISON PLAYER’S SILENT WORLD

Darryl Rutland, a 17-year-old, 6-foot, 1-inch, 200-pound junior nose guard occupied a unique position in the Madison defense.

Rutland was deaf.

“It’s totally refreshing to have Darryl on our squad.” head coach Bob Bishop told Bud Maloney of the Evening Tribune. “He doesn’t hear the roar of the crowd, just goes out and plays football.”

What about a play-ending whistle by officials?  Would Rutland be at risk for a penalty.

“No,” said Bishop.  “Darryl plays a very controlled game. He’s very intelligent, knows the rules, and plays by them.  He has never had a penalty…i think it would be the official’s mistake if one was.”

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

Virtually ignored by the media were very small public and private schools that included Borrego Springs, Francis Parker, Julian, Victory Christian, Chula Vista Christian, La Jolla Country Day, and Santa Fe Christian.  They all labored in six-man and eight-man football obscurity.

Like life on the African veldt, only the strong survived, i.e., those with healthy enrollment and paid-up tuition.

Julian, which began playing in 1967, and Borrego Springs, first season of football in 1967, moved down from 11-man and found their niches in lesser numbers.  So did Santa Fe Christian.

10 MORE THAN ENOUGH?

Twenty-nine schools took advantage of the board of managers’ approval of an extra game.  The schools played before classes started and with limited time to prepare.

Reaction was mixed.

“I’m all for it,” enthused Vista coach Dick Haines, whose team ended Helix’ 12-game winning streak 24-10 before 5,500 persons at Vista. “It was a well-played game with few penalties and no injuries.”

But there were 300 yards in accepted penalties and a couple players sidelined when Sweetwater defeated Carlsbad 18-13.  “I still think the extra game is worthwhile,” said Carlsbad coach Mel Galli.

Point Loma and Morse played before a small crowd in the so-named first “Friendship Bowl”.  “It’s not fair to gauge the crowd because neither school knew about the game until a month ago,” said the Pointers’ Bennie Edens.

Point Loma and Morse were the only city schools to accept the extra game invitation and the teams gathered afterward for a postgame meal.  Players with identical jersey numbers sat across from each other.

“It’s not worth it, no matter what the crowd was,” said Granite Hills’ Paul Wargo.  “It was too soon. I question the sanity of having a 10^th game without preparation.”  Wargo’s club beat Bonita Vista 14-0.

“You have to budget your time,” said Jim Arnaiz.  “Because of the early start we don’t have the luxury of one-a-day practices (instead of “double days”).

Mount Miguel’s Brian Smith said some schools took advantage of unclear guidelines during the one-week of conditioning.  “We weren’t even supposed to touch the football.  Some schools touched the ball, believe me.”

“If they could allow us to split the one week of conditioning period into three days of straight conditioning and three allowing use of the ball and blocking dummies, it would be better,” said Arnaiz.

Carlsbad’s Galli cut to the chase: “We’ll make some money off the game, even if the crowd was down a little.”

San Diego Section schools never looked back.  Ten regular-season games became the norm.

WORTH THE WAIT

University City, 17 years after original planning, opened on 80 acres off Genesee Avenue in North Clairemont, the Section’s 64^th football-playing school and 13^th in the San Diego Unified School district.

Money for U. City, which began with 10^th and 11^th graders and played a junior varsity schedule, was included in a 1974 bond measure, but “politics, court battles, and angry homeowners delayed construction for six years,” reported The Union.

HELLO, BALBOA

The new Balboa Stadium, at Glenn Broderick Field, named after a San Diego High football and track coach in the 1920s and ‘thirties, was home field again for San Diego.

The Cavers played three games in the 3,700-seat facility, which was wired for lights and future expansion to 5,000 seats.

The original stadium was built in 1914.  An upper deck to accommodate the San Diego Chargers was constructed in 1961.  The stadium was demolished in 1978.

TRUE GRID

Helix linebacker and baseball catcher Jerry Schniepp saw beyond the game… Schniepp was destined for a career in athletics and in 2011 became the fifth commissioner in San Diego Section history, serving until Schniepp’s 2020 retirement… the CIF finally was able to raise $21,000 through donations to cover expenses for using San Diego Stadium as the championship venue after fears that a financial shortfall would force the two games to 4,000-seat Mesa College, 7,200-seat Southwestern College, or the  5,500-seat Mt. Carmel High… Helix’ Jim Plum cut off the tip of a finger on his throwing hand in a lawnmower accident in May but “I was throwing a nerf ball as soon as they put in the stitches,” said Plum. Dennis Shaw, who passed for 39 touchdowns in leading Don Coryell’s San Diego State team to an 11-0 record in 1969, became head coach at Chula Vista… Monte Vista beat Helix for only the fifth time in 21 seasons and the Monarchs began the week of preparation “thinking brave,” said coach Gary Cooper, perhaps recalling Hollywood’s Gary Cooper and his brave stand in the movie, “High Noon”…. Sweetwater rolled through the Mesa League behind the powerful running of James Primus and senior brothers, quarterback Wes Saleamua and fullback Dan, who were 13 months apart in age… as a 300-pound defensive lineman, Dan became a seventh-round NFL draft choice out of Arizona State in 1987 and played 12 seasons and in 177 games for three teams… Helix’ Karl Dorrell was a four-year letterman at wide receiver at UCLA and was the Bruins’ head coach from 2003-07…Dorrell became head coach at Colorado in 2020 after several years on NFL staffs… Patrick Henry’s Don Shafer tied a CIF record with 3 field goals in a 9-9 tie with Lincoln… .Lincoln reached the 2-A finals behind the quarterbacking of 5-foot, 4-inch Rodney Hill…Section newcomer Imperial defeated Mountain Empire, 15-6, for the 1-A championship….

 

Will there be a season?

Even a truncated season with no playoffs and play restricted to league games will be cause for rejoicing, it says here.

The state CIF is scheduled to make a decision July 20 on whether there will be games in the fall.

Meanwhile, coaches and players wait.

Active top 10 in career victories:

NAME	YEARS	W-L-T	PCT
Rob Gilster	1989-2019 (31)	230-129-5	.639
Ron Hamamoto	1985-2019 (34*)	228-159-4	.588
Sean Doyle	1996-2019 (24#)	204-94	.685
Matt Oliver	Christian (20)	172-73-3	.700
Chris Hauser	2000-2019 (20*)	168-74-2	.693
Mike Hastings	1998-2019 (22)	148-105	.584
Rick Jackson	2004-2019 (16)	141-49-1	.741
Tom Karlo	Grossmont (15*)	108-65-2	.623
Joel Allen	The Bishop’s (11)	100-35-1	.739
Damon Baldwin	Ramona (15)	100-69-1	.591

*Coached at multiple schools (use Football/Coach 100 Club menu to see a complete list of coaches with at least 100 career victories and their schools).

#When Doyle became coach in 1996 school was known as University of San Diego High, and became Cathedral Catholic at a new campus in Carmel Valley in 2005.

TRY TO TOP THIS

Point Loma has had three head coaches in the last 75 seasons.

Don Giddings, later the school principal and the first principal at Patrick Henry, was 52-23-3 from 1946-54.  Bennie Edens was 238-173-17 from 1955-97, and Mike Hastings is 148-115 since 1998.

QUICK KICKS

Jack Mashin was the first coach to win 100 games, when Grossmont defeated Oceanside, 21-6, in game 6 of the 1941 season… El Camino’s Mike Hobbs coached a San Diego Section record and maybe coached or tied a state record… Hobbs’ team
posted a 9-7 record in 2019…the 16 games played in one season have never been equaled in this area…other teams from San Diego played 15 games in the previous decade, but El Camino went one step further when it did not have a first-week bye and was forced to play four San Diego section playoff games before entering the state playoffs…after a 4-6 regular season, the Wildcats caught fire and won five in a row before bowing at Santa Rosa Cardinal Newman, 31-13, in the state III-AA championship game….

Address changes and new names represent most of the news-making activity these days in the San Diego Section as it pushes on to a critical date and still looking for light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.

The state CIF is scheduled to make a decision later in July on the 2020 future of football in California, but steps here were taken over the spring to position the men who will lead.

Nine new coaching assignments have been announced, including those for five veteran mentors who have moved on to other schools, according to prep writing honcho John Maffei of The San Diego Union and Max Preps.

NAME	NEW SCHOOL	PREVIOUS SCHOOL	REPLACED
Tyler Arciaga	Bonita Vista	Mar Vista	Sam Kirkland III
Jason Texler	Eastlake	San Marcos	John McFadden
Bryan Wagner	Hilltop	Sweetwater	Drew Westling
Will Gray	Hoover	Kearny	Zach Shapiro
Curtis Mays	Mar Vista		Tyler Arciaga
Kyle Williams	Poway	Westview	Scott Coats
Shane Graham	Rancho Buena Vista		Joe Meyer
Ervin Hernandez	Sweetwater		Bryan Wagner
Jason French	Westview		Kyle Williams

Kearny has not announced a replacement for Will Gray, who had a won-loss record of 34-25 from 2015-19.

Jason Texler has coached in the North and East County and now moves south to a strong program at Eastlake, succeeding John McFadden, who was 135-50-4 in 16 seasons.

Texler is 79-58-1 in 12 seasons over 16 years.  He was 18-16 at El Cajon Valley from 2004-06, 5-15-1 at Escondido in 2010-11, and 56-27 at San Marcos from 2012-18.

Texler was an assistant on McFadden’s staff in 2019 and is a classroom teacher at the Chula Vista school.

Arciaga was 41-34 from 2013-19 at Mar Vista and comes from a coaching family.  His father Bob Arciaga, was head coach at San Diego Southwest from 1978-80.

Wagner moves from Sweetwater to his alma mater, Hilltop, where he tied a County field-goal record of 53 yards in 1978 and eventually was a punter for nine seasons in the NFL, including 1994 with the San Diego Chargers.

Williams served at Westview since 2016.

Grossmont was the  champion in baseball.  San Diego High was the champion in track and field…for three days.

San Diego lost a title after a review of film from the 440-yard race in the Southern Section finals revealed that Hal Espy had finished fifth and not fourth, taking away a point from the Cavemen and awarding the team championship to Glendale Hoover, Glendale, and Compton.

The winners tied with 15 points each, edging the stunned Cavers, who had 14 ½.

BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

Grossmont, picked below San Diego and La Jolla in early-season City Prep League forecasts and a non-factor in previous races in the Coast League, rode the strong arms of its pitching staff, headed by left-hander Ray Preston, to win the Southern Section title.

Splitting the sports with regular and italics typefaces:

3/5/51

Clyde Wetter, his eye on Hal Norris’ 1950 school record of 58-2 1/2, took the Southern California lead in the 12-pound shot when he reached 56 feet, 4 ¾ inches, in a 66-38, dual meet win over visiting Sweetwater.

3/8/51

San Diego and La Jolla tied for first in the City Prep League Relays in Balboa Stadium, each with 51 ½ points, followed by Grossmont with 45.

All marks were combined. Distances were cumulative.  Teams could enter three in each event and their performances were combined.

An individual record was set when San Diego’s Hal Espy ran the 100-yard dash in :10.0.

3/9/51

San Diego Lions Club announced it was sponsoring a three-day, first annual baseball tournament of sixteen teams, including outside teams Anaheim, Brawley, El Monte, and Norwalk Excelsior.

San Diego and La Jolla were seeded No. 1 and No. 2, followed by Excelsior and El Monte.

Metropolitan League boss Joe Rindone, principal at Chula Vista, announced a double-round robin baseball schedule, highlighted by the annual carnival April 27 at Lane Field. 

John Green was named coach at Sweetwater, replacing Bruce Clarke, called to active duty by the Marine Corps in response to the war in Korea.

Other new Metro coaches included Bob Ganger at Mar Vista and John MacDonald at Oceanside.  Bill Duncan returned at Escondido and Chet DeVore at Chula Vista.  Coronado did not field a team.

3/11/51

Coronado was awaiting the results of its “telegraphic” track meet with Balboa High of the Panama Canal Zone.

3/14/51

Clyde Wetter took the national lead in the shot put at 58 feet, 3/8 inches, as Grossmont outscored Kearny, 73-31.

“A shot putter relies on the wrist snap for great power and distance,” the 5-foot, 8-inch, 180-pound Wetter told Gene Earl of The San Diego Union, “but strong fingers are just as important, to keep the ball from slipping while being released.”

Wetter revealed that part of his exercise regimen is standing several feet from a wall and falling against it with all fingers extended and kept straight to prevent flex.

–San Diego won an early City League dual-meet showdown against La Jolla, 61 2/3-42 1/3.

The Vikings’ Joe Epps and San Diego’s Hal Espy were double winners in the 120-yard high hurdles and 180 low hurdles and 100 and 440-yard races, respectively.

Espy also anchored the Cavers to a 1:32.4 victory in the 880-yard relay and Frank Johnson won the broad jump at 22-6.

–Lincoln Lucero set a Point Loma record of :20.3 in the 180 lows, but Hoover won, 53 1/3-50 2/3.

3/16/51

San Diego and La Jolla made the Lions seeding committee look good by reaching the championship game, the Cavers 22-1 over Oceanside and 6-3 over El Monte. 

La Jolla advanced, 5-4 over Escondido and 3-2 over Grossmont.

Doug Hubacek’s 3-run homer in the last of the seventh inning ousted El Monte and Tom Tomaiko scored on Bill Whitson’s single in the 10^th inning to top Grossmont.

3/17/51

San Diego outscored Long Beach Poly, 32 4/15 to 29, to win the large-school team championship for the third consecutive year in the 30^th Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach.

Newport Harbor won the small schools division with 30 points, followed by Covina (24) and Kearny (21 3/5).

Several running events in the crowded field included two heats.

–Walter (Red) Taylor won his heat in the 100 in :10.2, followed by Hal Espy, who also anchored the San Diego 880-yard relay squad to victory in one of three races.

–Clyde Wetter broke Hal Norris’ meet record (56-3/4) with a 57-9 ¾ effort, almost 7 feet further than Ontario Chaffey’s Don Vick, who would set a national record in 1953.

–John Rushing of Kearny won the 180 lows in :19.7 and La Jolla’s Joe Epps took a heat in the 440 in :52.

–Don Hydrick of Chula won a division of the pole vault at 12-3.

La Jolla’s Bill Whitson was tournament most-valuable player as the Vikings defeated San Diego, 5-3, for the Lions title at Lane Field.

Whitson struck out 10, walked one, allowed five hits, and profited from three double plays.

Kearny won the consolation bracket, 19-0, over St. Augustine in the morning championship at San Diego High.

3/18/51

Because of a San Diego City League ruling that no school could compete or practice during the Easter week, there would be no teams in the upcoming, Pomona 20-30 Club tournament, which San Diego High had won 7 times in the event’s 16-season- history. 

Escondido would be the County’s lone representative.

3/28/51

Oceanside won seven of 12 events and Bob Penrod took the 100 in :10.1 and set a school record of :22 seconds in the 220, but Chula Vista claimed the Metropolitan League dual, 55-49.

3/30/51

John Rushing of Kearny ignored blustery weather and won three events and anchored the relay team to victory in the meet’s final event as the Komets edged Point Loma, 54-49.

The 1:35.4 victory in the two-lap exchange of batons broke a 49-49 tie.  Rushing also won the 100 in :10.4, 180 lows in :20.6, and broad Jump at 21-2 ½.

Bill Whitson struck out 16 and didn’t allow a hit and La Jolla won its CPL opener, 11-0, over Point Loma.

Pointers base runners were by a walk and two errors.

–Charlie Powell hit a 400-foot home run and Eddie Boyle doubled in two runs in the sixth inning as San Diego topped Kearny, 5-4. 

San Diego sophomore Bob Borovicka came on in the sixth and struck out 10 of the 15 batters he faced, allowed three hits and two walks, and tagged out a Kearny runner at the plate for the final out of the game.

4/3/51

Kearny beat La Jolla, 5-4, but the Vikings’ Bill Whitson, in a three-inning relief appearance, faced the minimum 9 batters and struck out 5. 

–Grossmont outscored San Diego, 7-2, in what was inaccurately described as an upset.

Grossmont coach John Hancock’s signature pitcher, Ray Preston, set down the Hillers on seven hits and drove in a run with a third-inning single.

–San Diego’s junior varsity defeated Grossmont’s JV, 22-0.

4/12/51

Grossmont (4-0) was pulling away in the CPL baseball race, routing challenger Kearny (2-2), 14-4. 

Ray Preston, the Foothillers’ pitching ace, moved over to first base and collected four hits, including two home runs, a double and single.

4/14/51

Grossmont walloped La Jolla, 11-0, as Ray Preston struck out 18 and allowed two singles to Vikings shortstop Art Luppino.

The Foothillers finished the first half of the CPL race with a 5-0 record. San Diego was 4-1 and Lions tournament champion La Jolla was 1-4.

–La Jolla’s Joe Epps and Bill Lawrence posted CPL season highs in the Vikings’ 67-37 win over Point Loma.  Epps cleared the 120 high hurdles in :15.0 and Lawrence traversed the mile in 4:46.6.

–John Parker led the way with a 22-6 broad jump and San Diego teammates Alex Hudson and Frank Johnson also spanned at least 22 feet in an 87-16 win over Kearny.

–Kearny high jumper Danny Bain became the first in the City League to clear 6 feet.

4/20/51

Sweetwater claimed the Metropolitan League dual meet championship, 66 ½-37 ½, at Chula Vista.

The Red Devils won 9 of 11 events and John Palhegyi tied a school record of :22.2 in the 220 on the Chula Vista straightaway.

–No score was reported, only that San Diego topped Point Loma for a 5-0 dual meet record.

–Coach Bill Patten’s Cavers had won 22 consecutive dual meets, dating to a 57-47 loss to Grossmont in the opening dual of the 1948 season.

4/20/51

Art Webber of La Jolla no-hit Point Loma, 6-2, overcoming seven bases on balls and four Vikings errors.

4/24/51

Grossmont closed in on the CPL baseball title, 5-0, at San Diego.  The Foothillers were 7-0, Cavemen 5-2.

4/27/51

San Diego, as expected, cruised to the City Prep League team championship with 73 ½ points, followed by Grossmont (34 3/4) and La Jolla (33 ½) before about 1,000 persons in Balboa Stadium.

–Joe Epps of La Jolla was a double winner in the high hurdles (:15.3) and 440 (:52).

–San Diego finished 1-2-3 in the broad jump, led by Alex Hudson’s 21-10 ½.

–Clyde Wetter won the shot put at 57- ¾, but had some competition from San Diego’s dual-sport star Charlie Powell, second at 55-11 ¾, which was better than the 1948 school record of 55-2 1/4 by Bob Van Doren.

–Bernie Nelson, a Class B performer at Hoover, took the area lead in the high jump when he cleared 6-1 13/16.

A crowd of 2,000 attended the Metro League carnival at Lane Field and saw San Dieguito, Oceanside, and Sweetwater emerge as winners.  . 

–Teams played three innings each.  Mar Vista, Escondido, and Chula Vista were losers.

–Sweetwater’s Dick Walker pitched two hitless innings, and struck out five as the Red Devils beat Chula Vista, 1-0 in the final three innings.

–San Dieguito, borrowed from the Southern Prep League, was a 4-0 winner over Mar Vista and Oceanside beat Escondido, 4-3

4/28/51

Postponed twice, the Metropolitan loop trials at Chula Vista were dominated by Sweetwater with 17 qualifiers, followed by Escondido, 12, and Chula Vista, 9.

–The weather again was cold and blustery but did not hinder Mar Vista hurdler John Poole, who ran :15.3 in the 120 highs.  Dave Binney of Chula Vista recorded a 4:45.6 mile.

4/30/51

San Dieguito ran away with the Southern Prep League title with 103 ½ points, but Bob Knapp of Army-Navy set the only meet record with a 49-foot shot put.

5/1/51

Sweetwater won five events and scored 56 ½ points to win the Metropolitan championship.  Chula Vista was second with 31 ½, followed by Escondido, 29.

Sweetwater’s Jim Seebold won the 440 in :53.4 and was second in the 100.  Teammate Ted Granger was first in the 180 low hurdles (:21) and second to Mar Vista’s John Poole, who won the high hurdles in :15.3.

Oceanside’s Bob Penrod doubled in the sprints with a :10.4 100 and :22.4 220.

No meet records were broken but Sweetwater set a school record with its 1:34.4 victory in the 880 relay and Chula Vista’s Don Hydrick cleared 12-5 1/8 in the pole vault.

5/4/51

Ray Preston pitched a 3-1 victory over La Jolla as Grossmont (8-0) clinched the CPL title..

San Diego dropped a 10-inning, 4-3 decision to Hoover on Dick Pomeroy’s single after the Hillers’ Carl Lutz tied the score in the ninth with a two-run home run.

5/5/51

John Parker broad jumped 23-9½ to take the state lead and break Bob Logan’s 1938 school record of 23-6 3/4 as San Diego High led with 11 qualifiers at the Huntington Beach divisional meet.

Three-hundred athletes competed from San Diego’s three leagues, City, Metro, and Southern Prep, along with qualifiers from the Orange and Sunset circuits.

Hal Espy doubled with wins in the 100 (:10) and 440 (:51.9).  Haldon Grey and Walter Taylor were disqualified for false starts in the 100 and the relay team was bumped for a lane violation. Grey recovered to win his heat in :22 in the 220.

–Oceanside’s Bob Penrod won a 220 heat in:22.1 and John Rushing of Kearny doubled in the Class B hurdles with times of :09.1 in the 70-yard highs and :13.1 in 120 lows.

–Forty-eight of the 108 San Diego County entries from league finals qualified to move on to the divisional semifinals at Ontario Chaffey.

5/8/51

Ray Preston struck out 19 batters and didn’t allow a hit in a 21-0 rout of Point Loma.  The Foothillers were 9-1 in league play, San Diego 7-3.

–This was the 35^th and final season the Cavers played home games in Balboa Stadium. They would move to the upper practice field north of the Stadium in 1952.

–Chula Vista shut out Sweetwater, 8-0, as Chuck Phinney pitched a no-hitter.  Escondido claimed the Metro championship with a 5-2 record.

5/12/51

Twenty-two athletes from San Diego’s 3 leagues qualified in semifinals at Chaffey.

San Diego led with six advancers in three events.  Hal Espy won his heat in the 440 in :50.4, off the school record of :49.3 by Norman Stocks in 1946 but unofficially the fifth fastest in area history.

More significant was Clyde Wetter’s losing his first competition of the season, beaten by the Cavers’ Charlie Powell, who had turned in his baseball uniform only four days earlier.

Powell’s winning toss was 56-3 to Wetter’s 56 feet.

5/19/51

San Diego thought it had won the team championship with 15 ½ points.  Glendale Hoover, Glendale, and Compton had 15 each.

The Cavers scored their points early and held on.

John Parker won the  broad jump at 23-3, followed by Compton’s Rollin Garrison, 23-2 ¼, and Parker’s teammates, Frank Johnson, third at 22-1 ¾ and Alex Hudson, tied for fourth at 22-1. When Espy was awarded fourth in the 440 more than half the meet remained.

–Wetter won the shot put with a school-record 58-4 7/8 and Powell was runner-up with 57-9 ¼.

–Others included Joe Epps of La Jolla, fourth in the 120 high hurdles; Bob Penrod of Oceanside 4^th in the 220, and Don Hydrick, Chula Vista, tied for fifth in the pole vault vault at 12 feet.

–Kearny’s John Rushing tied the Class B record of :08.9 in the 70 hurdles and won the 120 lows in :13.2.

Grossmont opened the Southern Section playoffs with a 5-2 win at Santa Ana.  Ray Preston stopped the Saints on 3 hits and 14 strikeouts to improve his record to 8-0.  Preston also singled, doubled twice, and hit a home run.

5/23/51

Grossmont won its semifinal playoff versus visiting El Monte, 9-4, as Preston allowed five hits and struck out seven and his battery mate, Bob Rand, and Bill Harris homered.

5/25/51

Escondido, having beaten Wildomar Elsinore and Holtville, was three outs away from the Southern Section minor division crown, leading 6-4, but bowed to Bonita, 7-6, at Fullerton.

5/26/51

Clyde Wetter was second to Leon Patterson of Taft with a best of 57-8 ½ to Patterson’s 59-2 ½ in the state meet in Berkeley.  Charlie Powell was fourth in the shot put at 54-7 ½ and John Parker fifth in the broad jump at 21-4 1/4.

5/26/51

Ray Preston (10-0) struck out 16 and allowed 2 hits as Grossmont won the Southern Section major division, 5-0, over Compton, before about 1,000 persons at Lane Field. 

Preston, finishing his season with a 10-0 record, beat future major leaguer Benny Daniels, who struck out eight and walked eight.

The Foothillers’ Bill Harris, 2 for 3, and sophomore Ernie Merk, 2 for 4, backed Preston.

STRIKES AND SPIKES

San Diego sprinter Hal Espy entered the Air Force after graduation and then enrolled at Idaho State, where he became a national collegiate boxing champion…Point Loma’s coach was Bennie Edens, later one of the County’s all-time winningest football mentors…Metropolitan League principals, at a meeting at Coronado, announced that ticket prices for football and basketball in the 1951-52 school year, would be increased to 80 cents for adults, while students still would pay 30 cents…Jim Hunt was an all-around contributor at Hoover, scoring in the high jump, 880-yard run, and hurdles…his son, Thom, was one of the nation’s top milers a generation later at Patrick Henry…shot putter Clyde Wetter was one of five brothers and two sisters of a La Mesa family whose father was a grocery store butcher…Ray Preston and Bob Rand were all-Southern California first-team selections….