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.

North County’s game of the year is  Friday night, when  Oceanside and Mission Hills, ranked 1-2 in the UT-San Diego football voting, will roll in the dirt for more than just neighborhood bragging rights.

Mission Hills (4-0), which  became a San Diego Section force under former Vista coach Chris Hauser, seeks its first-ever win over John Carroll’s Pirates (3-1). Oceanside holds a 5-0-1 advantage in a series that has been played regularly since 2009.

The teams tied 10-10 in 2011 and Oceanside has  beaten the Grizzlies in Section finals in 2007 and 2010 and in the semifinals in 2009.  The Pirates have had an average scoring advantage of 31-12 and outscored their Highway 78 rivals 185-76.

Another big game will match Cathedral and Southern Section power Murietta Vista Murietta.

The Broncos, Riverside County’s premier team and a Southern Section power, have victories of 66-28 over Downey, 52-13 over Yucaipa, and 69-21 over Redlands East Valley.

Cathedral is 2-1 and figures to be Murietta’s biggest test in the regular season.

The Top 10 still is the same at the top, but San Pasqual (4-0), and Eastlake (3-1) have been coming on.

Gary Mayer, who led a 1958 Ramona High team that raced to an 11-0 record and won the Southern California small schools championship, passed away at age 72  on Sept. 19 in Rialto, where he had resided since 1966.

Mayer scored 25 touchdowns and scored 43 points after touchdown in 1958 for a total of 193 that ranked as the second highest ever by a San Diego County athlete, one point behind the 194 that Oceanside’s C.R. Roberts scored in 1953.

Mayer was the 1958 Southern California small schools’ player of the year as the Bulldogs outscored their opponents, 514-53, and defeated Needles, 26-21, for the title.

Mayer was selected to play in the annual Breitbard College Prep football game, in which all-stars from San Diego County played a team of all-stars from the Los Angeles City Section in 1959.

Ramona was a premier team among schools with less than 500 enrollment, winning two Southern California championships under coach Glenn Forsyth and reaching the finals three times while posting a 42-4 record form 1954-59.

Mayer went on to play at Colorado State and San Bernardino Junior College but his career ended after a succession of injuries.

Gary’s brother, Grant, was the second leading scorer in the San Diego Section in 1961 with 15 touchdowns and 98 points.

A memorial service for Gary Mayer will be at 11 a.m. Sept. 27 at Montecito Memorial Park, 3520 E. Washington Street, in Colton.

A webpage for those who wish to leave memories and express their feelings has been established at Legacy.com and here:
http://www.legacy.com/guestbook/DignityMemorial/guestbook.aspx?n=gary-mayer&pid=167056389

Oceanside (24), Mission Hills (6), and San Pasqual (1) all received first-place votes in balloting after for the Week 4 CIF San Diego Section football poll.

Ramona, at 9, and Carlsbad, at 10, are new to the top 10.

*Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.                                                               Others receiving votes with points in parenthesis: Rancho Buena Vista (16), Grossmont (13), Mt. Carmel (6), El Capitan (5), La Costa Canyon (4), Christian (2), Hilltop (1), Mission Bay (1).