There will be basketball almost every night this week in the San Diego Section.

Girls begin quarterfinals play in Divisions II, III, and IV tonight and  Tuesday night.  Boys tip Tuesday night in II, III, and IV.

Open semifinals are Tuesday and Wednesday and finals  Saturday at the Jenny Craig Pavilion on the University of San Diego campus.

D-V teams will play championship games Thursday evening at Sage Hill High in Carlsbad.

A look at this week’s Boys’ games:

OPEN

Two terrific semifinals matches and a potentially great final, if St. Augustine and El Camino pass their tests.

El Camino won its 20^th in  a row and is 27-3 after a  105-68 romp over Lincoln (13-14), which trailed only 28-24 after one quarter.

The second-seed Warriors take on tough La Costa Canyon (25-5) Wednesday at El Camino. St. Augustine (27-2) will meet Torrey Pines (26-4) at University City High.

Ray Johnson ‘s Wildcats, coming strong after the January eligibility  of Army-Navy transfer Devin Watson, have averaged 80.2 points a game during their streak.

The Oceanside club has not lost since dropping a 77-71 decision to Sweetwater Dec. 21 and hold two February decisions over La Costa Canyon, 74-70 and 78-70.

Beating the same team three times in a row in the same season is El Camino’s test.  Cathedral could not pull off the trifecta a year ago against St. Augustine.

Prediction:  El Camino 64, La Costa Canyon 61.

No. 1 seed St. Augustine topped Torrey Pines, 60-55, in the West Hills Tournament in December.

The Saints led Vista, 20-4, after one quarter and 44-18 at the half in a 70-29, quarterfinals victory.

Saints coach Mike Haupt called off the horses early in the third quarter, but not before Trey Kell bombed the Panthers (7-21) into submission with 27 points.

Torrey Pines trailed Hoover (18-11) by six points after three quarters and caught the Cardinals at 53, forcing an overtime, before prevailing, 68-59.

Look for Torrey Pines to rely on tough defense, slow it down on offense and try to prevent a St. Augustine jail break.

Prediction:  St. Augustine 57, Torrey Pines 52.

DIVISION I

Escondido (21-8) and 16-12 Morse, 9 and 12 seeds, respectively, have been flies in this division’s ointment.  The Cougars ushered out top seed Eastlake in the quarterfinals, 49-46.

Morse advanced with wins over 5 Cathedral and 4 Poway.

The championship may be decided Tuesday night when 2 seed Mission Bay (15-8) takes on 3 San Marcos (20-8).

Prediction:  Morse 54, Escondido 50.
San Marcos 60, Mission Bay 52.

DIVISION II

1 Mater Dei (26-2) and 2 Francis Parker (24-4) are on a collision course to meet in the final.

Parker faces a test against Steele Canyon (22-6), but Mater Dei appears to be a lock against Mt. Carmel (10-20).

Prediction:  Mater Dei 77, Mt. Carmel 59.
Francis Parker 61, Steele Canyon 55.

DIVISION III

Top seed Sweetwater has raced past 27 consecutive opponents  with speed and a pressure defense.

The Red Devils are at a size disavantage against Foothills Christian (20-8), which features 6-foot, 8-inch T.J. Leaf, who scored 35 points in an 85-64 quarterfinals win over Ramona.

If Foothill can get past Sweetwater’s backcourt press the Knights’ could pull off the victory.

Calvin Christian (23-4), the 3 seed, and  2 Kearny (22-2) meet in the other semifinal Tuesday night.

Prediction:  Sweetwater 66, Foothills Christian 62.
Calvin Christian 53, Kearny 48.

DIVISION IV

No. 5 El Centro Central (19-9) visits top seed Orange Glen (24-5) and No. 6 El Cajon Valley (19-10) is at 2 Tri-City Christian (20-8).

Prediction:  Orange Glen 65, El Centro Central 50.
El Cajon Valley 58, Tri-City Christian 49.              

DIVISION V

No. 3 Health Sciences (17-6) of East San Diego (City Heights) meets top seed Escondido Adventist (20-6) in the championship.

Both teams have won 12 games in a row.

The Health Sciences Surgeons recovered from a three-game sojourn into higher classifications, losing to Olympian, Sweetwater, and Monte Vista in blowouts.

Health Sciences has improved from an 0-2 first season in 2009-10 and three successive wipeout seasons that followed–4-10, 3-9, and 3-14.

Escondido Adventist’s Hawks went out of its division twice and was beaten by Tri-City Christian and Orange Glen.

Prediction:  Health Sciences 50, Escondido Adventist 43. 

St. Augustine is top-ranked in the final UT-San Diego regular-season poll and is the defending state champion in Division III as playoff teams enter the homestretch of the season.

Coach Mike Haupt’s team,  29-4 a year ago, take a 26-2 record into this season’s playoffs and are ranked 18th in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.

St. Augustine finished 10th overall in the state in 2012-13.  The Saints  defeated San Francisco Sacred Heart 59-52 in overtime for the championship after Trey Kell buried three consecutive free throws to forge a tie in the final three seconds of regulation.

The two teams with victories over the Saints are Chino Hills (24-4), ranked seventh, and Lakewood Mayfair (23-5), ranked 17th.

Chino Hills holds a 66-55 win over the Saints and Mayfair beat them, 62-61, in late December in the  Torrey Pines tournament.

Should St. Augustine win the San Diego Section Open Division playoffs there is no guarantee it would revert to D-III in the Southern California alignment.  The Saints may be placed in the Open Division and be grouped with a maximum of four Southern Section Open clubs.

El Camino is 15th in D-1, Mater Dei Catholic eighth in D-II, St. Augustine third in D-III, Sweetwater sixth and Kearny ninth.  Francis Parker is “on the bubble” in D-II.  La Costa, No. 10 a week ago, dropped out of the D-II Top 10.

Cal-Hi Sports does not follow the San Diego model in identifying teams’  divisions.

1	St. Augustine	26-2	130	1
2	Mater Dei	24-2	115	2
3	Sweetwater	25-0	98	3
4	El Camino	26-3	97	4
5	La Costa Canyon	24-5	77	4
6	Torrey Pines	25-4	70	6
7	Eastlake	23-5	35	8
8	Francis Parker	23-4	25	10
9	Foothills Christian	16-8	24	7
10	Kearny	21-2	22	9

**Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis

Others receiving votes: San Marcos, 12;  Mission Bay, 5; Steele Canyon, 3; Calvin Christian, 1.

Thirteen sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Craig Malveaux and Don Norcross (U-T San Diego correspondent); Terry Monahan (U-T San Diego correspondent); Bill Dickens, Andrew Smith (eastcountysports.com); Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions); John Kentera, Jack Cronin (The Mighty 1090);
John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section office);
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com);
Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com);
Aaron Burgin (fulltimehoops.tumblr.com).

Seventeen teams with losing records and three .500 squads  made the San Diego Section playoffs.

It doesn’t look as ridiculous as in previous years.

Pairings announced Saturday promise good games, even  in early rounds, especially considering size of brackets and number of divisions.

Only in Division II is there virtual mediocrity. Seven of the eight, first-round visiting clubs have losing records, some real bad (see Hills, Granite 7-19).

D-II clubs have a combined .503 winning percentage and overall record of 198-196.  The others reflect more success:  Open–157-65, .707; I–251-173, .592; III–260-148, .637; IV–216-166, .565; V–108-55, .662.

OPEN IS OPEN

The eight-team Open Division promises big matchups in later rounds.  Only Vista (7-20) and Lincoln (13-12) look out of place.

St. Augustine (26-2) and El Camino (26-3) are the  1-2 seeds and could meet in a blockbuster final at the University of San Diego’s Jenny Craig Pavilion on March 8.

Eastlake (23-5) and Mission Bay (13-8) are top-ranked D-I entries, but that division looks wide-open.

San Marcos (18-8) is dangerous.  In-an-outers Poway (17-11), Carlsbad (17-11), Escondido (19-8), Westview (17-10), Helix (16-12), and Cathedral (15-10) all could make runs.

‘DEI AND PARKER

Mater Dei (24-2) and Francis Parker (22-4) should  ride to the D-II final.

Teams in the Mater Dei half of the bracket are a combined 80-103. Teams in Parker’s half are 94-92.

Sweetwater (25-0) and Kearny (21-2) are at the top of D-III, but questions persist over Kearny’s less-than-robust list of opponents.

Foothills Christian could meet Sweetwater in  the semifinals in the division’s most appealing contest.

D-IV lacks pizzazz, although Orange Glen (22-5) has emerged after years in the tank.  Second seed behind the Patriots is Tri-Christian (18-8), which has dropped two to D-V  7 seed Pacific Ridge.

D-V is the smallest of the small.  Escondido Adventist (18-6) is top seed.

 

San Diego County was “free” of the giant Southern Section and on its own, twenty-eight schools strong.

The formation of the local CIF section pleased administrators and assorted education honchos who wielded the sharp end of the stick.

Coaches and most fans were ambivalent.

The great competition against Northern schools and the building excitement of playoffs at foreign sites against largely unknown opponents was gone, replaced by two divisions and two weeks of watered-down postseason play.

Champion of 28 schools was not like champion of more than 300.

3  STAY PUT

Three County affiliates did not join the new section. Mountain Empire and Rancho del Campo remained in the Southern Section and usually played more easily accessed Imperial Valley squads.

Fallbrook, 0-8 in 1957 and 0-9 in ’58 as a member of the Avocado League, was not considered strong enough to compete against schools from the North County circuit.

The Warriors had joined the DeAnza League in Riverside County in 1959 and stayed there through this football season.  Their opponents were schools such as Hemet, Perris, San Jacinto, and Beaumont.

The alignment agreed with coach Al Waibel’s club, which was 3-1 in the league and 6-3 overall.

Fallbrook dropped a 32-0 decision to San Pedro Mary Star of the Sea in the first round of the Southern Section small schools playoffs.

Football at Julian still was seven years away, making 27 the actual count of football-playing schools in the San Diego Section.

San Diego fans were happy, as long as their teams were winning.

That meant that virtually every week was a celebration at Escondido High, where coach Bob (Chick) Embrey built a small school power into a major force in the new order.

The game of the year matched San Diego, at 6-2 the Eastern League champion and, by reputation, the favorite, against the 7-1-1 Cougars in the AA semifinal.

MAESTRO, MUSIC!

Escondido fired a shot across the Cavers’ bow before the kickoff.

The North County school’s pep band struck up “The March of the Olympians,” which was written for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, as the Cougars  marched onto the field from the South end of Balboa Stadium, helmets tucked under their arms against their sides.

They could have been matadors entering the ring.

The novel approach clearly one-upped the Cavemen, who for years cowed visiting teams with their traditional entrance down the steps from the top of Balboa Stadium’s North end zone.

COUGARS IN CONTROL

Escondido’s 19-13 victory was not as close as the final score.  The Cougars outgained San Diego, 293-246, and led, 19-7, in the third quarter.

“We could have scored more, don’t you think?” enthused the jubilant Embrey.

Embrey could not have been blamed for gloating, although that was not his intention. He was Escondido’s star player in 1944, when the Cavers beat the Cougars, 20-0, in a Southern Section playoff.

Quarterback Doug Bennett completed 6 of 9 passes for 161 yards against San Diego and, as further evidence of a changing of the guard, had the fastest man on the field.

Wingback Dave Blunt was on the receiving end of a 66-yard pass play which gave the Cougars a two- touchdown lead.

Blunt also became the first San Diego Section sprint champion the following spring, running :09.7 in the 100-yard dash and 21 seconds in the 220.

POINTERS WIN TIE

Point Loma tied Helix, 6-6, in the other semifinal and advanced because of their 13-8 advantage in first downs.

Mount Miguel, winner of five in a row since it had gone to a power ground game, in coach Harry Johnston’s words, defeated La Jolla, 7-6, and Vista beat University, 32-20, to reach the Class A, small-schools championship.

The championship games went to form.

Escondido defeated Point Loma, 20-13, before an estimated overflow crowd of 9,000 at the Cougars’ field.

Doug Bennett passed 42 yards to Dave Blunt and 4 yards to Pete Schouten and Blunt returned an intercepted pass 40 yards to give the Cougars three touchdowns and a 20-6 lead.

WHO’S A BULLY?

No one, but that was what several residents of Spring Valley thought I was calling Mount Miguel after the Matadors defeated Vista, 40-13, for the Class A title.

In my game story I made a comparison of the good big man always defeating the good little man.  And  I wrote, using a very trite and poor play on words, “Mount Miguel’s Matadors, a big, bullish Metropolitan League entry, overpowered Vista, a small tough Avocado Leaguer….”

I received telephone calls and letters from outraged Mount Miguel followers, saying I had called their team a bunch of bullies and most suggesting I should not show my face in Spring Valley, where the school was located.

Looking back, what was Mount Miguel doing in the small schools bracket?

With more than 2,500 students, Mount Miguel was the largest school in the County.  Vista had an enrollment of about 950.

Mount Miguel and La Jolla were the two at-large teams invited to the small school playoffs after finishing second in their large school leagues and with the best second-place records.

“They were just too big and too strong,” said Vista coach Pat Mongoven.  “Maybe they’ll do something next year about those pairings.”

MATADORS’ 1-2  PUNCH

“Torge and Freeman, then comes the screamin’!” That was how Tribune writer Roger Conlee described the Mount Miguel attack.

Russ Torge gained 146 yards in 11 carries and scored two touchdowns, including one from 71 yards.

Duane Freeman had 74 yards in 14 carries, scored once, and blocked a punt which Matador John Rea returned 19 yards for a touchdown.

DOUG VS. EZELL

Doug Bennett, who played behind Steve Thurlow at Escondido in 1959, completed 98 of 155 passing attempts for 1,577 yards and 17 touchdowns in 11 games.

San Diego’s Ezell Singleton had a sizeable advantage with 28 touchdown passes in 1958, but wasn’t that far ahead with 111 completions in 179 attempts for 1,711 yards.

Bennett averaged 10.2 yards per passing attempt and Singleton 9.6.  Singleton averaged 15.4 yards per completion and Bennett 16.1.

HONORS

Bennett made the all-Southern California first team.  End Doug Agatep of Escondido and Helix lineman Dennis Michalenko were  on the second team and Crawford running back Jim (Corky) McCorquodale was on the third team.

There were no San Diego Section players on any of the three, all-Southern Caliifornia lower division teams.

EXPANDING

The alignment would be for only one season, but the 10-team Metropolitan League was halved into Northern and Southern Divisions, geography be damned.

El Cajon, El Capitan, Escondido, Granite Hills and Hilltop formed the Northern Division. A Southern Division embraced Helix, Grossmont, Chula Vista, Mount Miguel, and Sweetwater.

The distance between division rivals Escondido and Hilltop was 36 miles.  The distance between Hilltop and city neighbor and non-division opponent Chula Vista was 3 miles.

The six schools in the Grossmont League would have their own circuit in 1961, plus the new Monte Vista High in Spring Valley.

PERSISTENCE PAYS

St. Augustine’s defense braced and stopped Point Loma on the Saints’ 19, 22, 37, 24, and one-yard lines, but the Pointers finally put the 12-6 game away with a touchdown by Curtis Mosley that ended a five-play, 27-yard drive with 1:36 remaining.

It was St. Augustine’s first loss in 14 games.

ALL-STAR GAMES AND CARNIVALS

They were abundant and they were popular.

San Diego scored its first victory in five tries over the Los Angeles City aggregation in the 12th annual Breitbard College Prep All-Star game.

The 27-12 victory, fueled by the performance of Escondido’s Steve Thurlow and San Diego High’s Richard (Prime) McClendon, came before an Aztec Bowl record turnout of 13,700.

Thurlow passed for two touchdowns and ran for another.  McClendon rushed for 151 yards and ran 66 yards for a score. The local squad trailed 12-0 at halftime but wore down the Los Angeles stars with a rushing attack that netted 333 yards.

The San Diego-L.A. format replaced the Southern California-L.A. game in 1956.  The series started in 1949.

CAVERS TAKE TO AIR

Passes by the Cavers’ Lou White resulted in carnival scoring plays of 88 yards to Thomas Phillips, 22 yards to David Ortman, and 68 yards to Eddie Frost.

The Metropolitan League carnival featured only Grossmont District squads and drew a capacity crowd of 12,000 to Aztec Bowl.

Six teams played three, 20-minute quarters.

Mount Miguel, Granite Hills, and Helix of the West won, 25-6.

Mount Miguel beat El Cajon Valley, 19-0, in the second quarter after Granite Hills, teeing up for the first time, battled to a 6-6 standoff with El Capitan. Helix and Grossmont played to a scoreless deadlock in the final quarter.

START-UP INCONVENIENCES

Granite Hills opened its doors for the first time, minus some of the usual necessities.

The Eagles’ one “luxury” was cold showers, but was an improvement over the initial conditions.

Coach Glenn Otterson’s team originally was forced to use hoses to wash off practice sweat and dirt. The players then had to take their uniforms home for a more complete cleaning and bring their own towels to school.

Lockers became available midway into the season.  Until then, the Eagles’ used a “dressing room.” As Roger Conlee wrote in the Evening Tribune, the players piled their clothes in a bare, four-walled enclosure that was locked during practice.

“SHOWERS,” CON’T.

Four seconds remained at Mount Miguel, where Granite Hills and Sweetwater were completing a nonleague game which Sweetwater won, 20-6.

As Granite Hills quarterback Tom Roth was about the accept the snap from center, Roth and his teammates heard a hissing noise behind them.

Sprinklers went on all over the field.  Scrambling officials were unable to find the automatic timing device which controlled the system, so the teams went ahead with the last play in a shower.

“Both benches (then) emptied fast,” said Otterson.  “They scattered like it  was a fire drill.”

UNIVERSITY OF…PENALTIES?

Coach Robert (Bull) Trometter’s University of San Diego High Dons dropped a 30-6 decision to Fallbrook.

Nothing out of the ordinary about the score but the Dons had five touchdowns erased by penalties, including 4 in the game’s first six minutes.

Uni, playing a full varsity schedule for the first time, was eager to please Trometter, the highly successful former Marine Corps Recruit Depot mentor.

“I wouldn’t say it was the officials’ fault,” tactfully noted Trometter, a decorated, retired Marine Corps officer. The coach said his players essentially were “over-eager and inexperienced,” leading to a flood of off-sides, holding, and other violations.

The Dons dropped their first three games, won their final three and earned a first-round Class A playoff berth.

NIGHT AND DAY

Rowdism, which provoked a move of the city football carnival from evening to afternoon in 1959, was a continuing problem.

Police Chief Elmer Jansen addressed several concerns for his department, including staffing and expense, and suggested switching games to daylight.

Very Rev. John Aherne, principal at St. Augustine, was spokesman for the pro-night-games group and said crowds would be down at day games and that there was no guarantee that rowdyism would not continue.

Night games continued in the city during the playoffs  after much rhetoric.

PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM

An  Oceanside-Carlsbad school district trustee suggested that Oceanside and Carlsbad replay their 0-0 tie.

John Prenzel proposed an investigation to determine if such a game “would be in accord with California Interscholastic Federation rulings.”

Prenzel thought a rematch under auspices of the Oceanside Lions Club could be played on Thanksgiving Day, with proceeds going to the rival schools’ student body funds.

The game wouldn’t affect league standings, said Prenzel.

It was an idea whose time had not come. No action and no game took place.

PLACEMENTS POPULAR

Field goals were making a comeback, or rather they were being discovered.

After years in which no placements were made or attempted, at least four attempts were successful this year.  Soccer-style kicking still was a few years away.

Coronado lost to La Jolla, 21-10, but the Islanders’ Bob West kicked a 21-yard field goal.  San Dieguito’s Randy Simpson made a 34-yard placement in a 3-0 victory over El Centro Central.

Not to be outdone, Helix’ Bill Burnett was good from 25 yards in a 36-0 win over Grossmont and Fallbrook’s Jim Martin converted from 22 yards in a 24-14 win over Elsinore Military Academy.

SCHOLASTIC STUMBLES

City schools quarterly grades during the season meant academic casualties.

Clairemont, the consensus preseason favorite, would not win a league game and lost fullback Ron Power, one of the area’s better offensive players, to grade deficiencies.

Mission Bay was down to 24 players after first teamers Jeff Moran, Martin Brown, and Gene Scales were beaten by the books.

Lincoln lost halfback Vernus Ragsdale.  San Diego halfback George Mahaffey and tackle Billy Tyus also received the academic rubber key.

In another, unexpected move, Robert Nelson, a promising halfback at Point Loma, suddenly transferred to Lincoln.

HELP FOR JEFF

A practice injury left Crawford’s Jeff Greenleaf paralyzed from the waist down.  To help incur Greenleaf’s hospital bills donations were sought and the Colts met Sweetwater in a Thanksgiving Day, postseason contest at Hoover.

More than 6,000 persons were on hand as Crawford, giving an indication of what to expect in 1961, ran past the Red Devils, 33-9.

The Red Devils’ Ron Miller was held scoreless but still led the County with 13 touchdowns and 78 points. Sweetwater coach Tom Parker donated the game films to Greenleaf’s family.

IT’S SIMPLE, JUST WIN

Army-Navy coach John Maffucci described life at the Carlsbad military academy:

“We’re a boarding school and there is an advantage to having the players on campus  most of the time. When we lose, they stay in; when we win, they can go out.”

SIGN OF THE TIME

The frontage road serving hotels in Mission Valley was renamed Hotel Circle by the San Diego City Council.

TRUE GRID

Crawford coach Walt Harvey on running back Jim (Corky) McCorquodale:  “He can run, pass, punt, play defense, and block”…Corky was among the County leaders in scoring with 55 points…“We played better in the carnival (21-6 loss in one quarter to San Diego) than we did tonight (7-0 victory over Crawford),” said Kearny coach Birt Slater….Mission Bay outrushed Pomona Catholic, 258-104, and lost, 27-7…obscure name of the year: Vista halfback Joe Picchiottino (pitch-ee-oh-teen-oh)…Point Loma’s Robert Nelson scored on a 48-yard run on his first attempt as a varsity player…Glenn Forsythe returned to Ramona as head coach after one year as a journalism professor at Reedley Junior College near Fresno…defenders of San Diego’s move away from the Southern Section reminded that the AAAA finale between Compton Centennial and Santa Barbara drew only 8,619 persons to the Los Angeles Coliseum… …St. Augustine’s 14-6 victory over San Diego was the Saints’ first ever against the Cavemen…they were 0-8-1 against Cavers teams of  different levels dating to 1926…the Saints’ Mickey Frank, 6-foot-3 and 292 pounds, was credited for an outstanding defensive performance…Helix’ defense called itself the “Untouchables”…so did San Diego’s offensive backfield…Vista coach Pat Mongoven had another job, president of the North County community’s American Little League….

Selection Saturday is just five days away.

League play wraps up this week, but all eyes are on the postseason and the ensuing rounds that lead to the state championships in Sacramento next month.

Seedings and pairings for the San Diego Section playoffs, to be waged in 5 divisions,  will come out of  Section commissioner Jerry Schniepp’s office sometime Saturday, depending on the length and volume of discussions.

With the new, Open Division format, several teams are on a collision course, including St. Augustine, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, and Torrey Pines, the favorites in an eight-team bracket that also includes Mission Hills, Hoover, Lincoln, and Vista.

Vista, at 5-20, should exit very early, but the others can make things interesting.

Eastlake is the highest ranked Division I team.  The other 15 squads essentially are lying in the weeds.  Mission Bay might be a factor. The Buccaneers are only 12-7 but hung with St. Augustine last week, ending with a flurry of 3’s that cut the final deficit to 54-53.

D-II features Mater Dei, Francis Parker, and Steele Canyon.

Sweetwater and Kearny headline D-III, with Foothills Christian, Del Norte and Calvin Christian gaining some cred.  Calexico Vincent Memorial and Orange Glen may have the edge in D-IV.

El Camino is still fourth in this week’s UT-San Diego poll, but  the Wildcats of coach Ray Johnson have lately positioned themselves for a postseason run.

#	Team (1st place votes)1	W-L	Points**	Last Week
1	St. Augustine (13)	24-2	130	1
2	Mater Dei Catholic	22-2	114	2
3	Sweetwater	23-0	97	3
4	El Camino	24-3	88	5
5	La Costa Canyon	23-4	87	4
6	Torrey Pines	23-4	70	6
7	Foothills Christian	16-8	28	9
8	Eastlake	21-5	26	8
9	Kearny	19-2	25	10
10	Francis Parker	21-4	24	7

**Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis

Others receiving votes: San Marcos, 10; Escondido, Mission Bay, 8; Del Norte, 5; Steele Canyon, 4; Calvin Christian, 1.

Thirteen sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout San Diego County vote in the weekly poll:
John Maffei, Craig Malveaux and Don Norcross (U-T San Diego);
Terry Monahan (U-T San Diego stringer);
Bill Dickens, Andrew Smith (eastcountysports.com);
Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions);
John Kentera and Jack Cronin (The Mighty 1090);
John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section office);
Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com);
Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com);
and Aaron Burgin (fulltimehoops.tumblr.com).

The 12-0 season, Southern California championship, and declaration as national champions was just the beginning for coach Clarence (Nibs) Price and many of the San Diego High Hilltoppers.

Price left the school after the 1917-18 school year and made his way back to Price’s alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley, joining the staff of head coach Andy Smith in 1920.

Price was the Bears’ head coach following Smith’s death and guided the Bears to a 27-17-3 record from 1926-30, including the 1929 Rose Bowl, made famous by the wrong-way run of California’s Roy Riegels.

Price was head coach of the Bears’ basketball team from 1924-54.  His teams won 453 games, seven conference championships, and went to the Final Four of the 1945 NCAA tournament.

Perhaps most significant, seven members of the 1916 Hilltoppers were recruited by Price and played on the 1920 California squad that was 9-0, outscored opponents, 510-14, and defeated Ohio State, 28-0, in the Rose Bowl.

The Bears were known as the “Wonder Team”. In 1953 the Helms Athletic Foundation in Los Angeles named the 1920 squad the greatest in collegiate history.

–Bryan (Pesky) Sprott was known more in college as Albert, his given name, and was the offensive catalyst for the Bears in the Rose Bowl, gaining 92 yards in 20 carries and scoring two touchdowns.

Karl Deeds, another former Hilltopper, raced 61 yards with an interception for the Bears’ final touchdown.

Sprott scored seven touchdowns against Stanford in 1918.

A star runner in high school, Sprott was fifth in the 800-meter run at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

–Harold (Brick) Muller won the state high jump championship in 1918.

Muller won the state high jump and broad jump in 1919 after transferring to Oakland Technical  and was a silver medalist at 6 feet, 2 ¾ inches, in the 1920 Olympics.

Muller  threw a pass a reported 57 yards in the air for a touchdown in the 1921 Rose Bowl. It was said to be the longest pass in football history. The future orthopedic surgeon was the first West Coast player to be a collegiate all-America and won several all-time all-America honors.

Having graduated from medical school, Muller signed with a professional team, the Los Angeles Buccaneers of the fledgling American Football League, then became the team’s head coach in 1926.

For many years Muller served as the team doctor for the university’s  athletic teams.

Walter (Dutch) Eells, “Klean Kut” Karl Engebretsen, Stan Barnes, and Olin (Cort) Majors also played for the 1920 Bears.

Barnes became a federal judge and Majors was a special assistant to the University of California chancellor.

The esteem with which the 1920 teammates were held was such that Sprott’s death in 1951 resulted in giant headlines in Bay Area newspapers.

Sprott, who was hard of hearing, did not see an oncoming freight train.  He  dodged the train at the last moment but hit his head on the iron step of an stationary box car nearby.

Sprott  was on his lunch break from his workplace in nearby Antioch and enjoying a favorite hobby, counting and comparing numerals on passing trains.

WHAT IS “FOOTBALL”?
Nibs Price may have asked that question when he became coach at San Diego High in 1914.

The 5-foot, 6-inch Price had been a star high school footballer in Iowa but discovered that rugby was the prevailing sport when he enrolled at the University of California.

Price had to re-learn the difference between football and rugby.  Rules of the gridiron game had changed dramatically.