San Diego had two teams in the Southern California finals and another poised to advance, but neither could get over the hurdle.

Three losses by the area’s best, based on enrollment size, made for a  bitterly disappointing end to a difficult and unprecedented season, made uneven and often unimportant by the invasion of a virus known as the Asian Flu.

San Diego High won  11 consecutive games at the big table, then fell flat and lost in the championship, 24-7, to Downey. The Cavers also lost in the finals in 1925, ’33, and ’47.

Ramona, after sitting for three weeks with canceled or postponed games, was beaten by Bishop 33-0 in  finals for the smallest schools,  those with under 500 enrollment.

Visiting Santa Ana Mater Dei defeated Escondido, 20-14 after the Cougars had eliminated Calexico, 48-12.

Defense was hallmark of Cavemen. from left: Neal Petties, Manuel Darisay, Mike Ritchey, Robert Fowler, Carlos Gutierrez, Calvert Fackrell, Larry Landon, George Coggins.

SLEIGHT OF HAND

Quarterback Pete Yoder of Downey almost faked San Diego High out of Aztec Bowl, where some 12,500 persons were on hand, including 22 busloads of red-clad partisans who ventured down U.S. 101 to support the visiting Vikings and arrived two-and-a-half hours before kickoff.

(The Downey supporters  also were hungry, setting an Aztec Bowl record at the concession stands, according to San Diego State official Spence Gartz).

Downey had knocked out San Diego, 35-21, in the first round of the 1956 playoffs, when the Vikings were  on a fast track to a legendary championship game that would pit Downey’s Randy Meadows against Anaheim’s famed Mickey Flynn.

San Diego was favored in the rematch.

After starting the season with a loss and a tie, Downey kicked in with 11 straight victories.

CAVERS GO BELLY UP

Yoder flawlessly ran  the so-called belly series, in which the quarterback attempts to confuse the defense by appearing to hand off to a ball carrier, then withdraws the ball and hands off to another or runs or passes.

The Vikings rushed for 293 yards, including 194 in the second half.  San Diego ran only six offensive plays in the third quarter and just 16 in the second half.  Downey was successful on one of two onside kickoffs after intermission.

San Diego narrowed the score to 18-7 with 8:45 remaining in the game, then did not see the ball again until 15 seconds were left as the Vikings played keep-away.

The Cavers never figured out the Downey offense.

Cavers coach Duane Maley, who was thinking about retirement and moving into administration, was shocked but not at a loss for words.

“Our line didn’t hold up,” Maley said to Jerry Magee of The San Diego Union.  “We made too many mistakes and they didn’t make any.  We’re not that bad and they’re not that good.”

The Cavemen had swept the City Prep League, then outpointed Sweetwater, 31-7, Montebello, 27-7, and Whittier, 20-6, to gain their sixth trip to the finals 41 years.

HONORS

San Diego tackle Calvert Fackrell was a first-team all-CIF Southern Section choice. End and teammate Neal Petties and quarterback Ezell Singleton were on the second team.

Teen magazine named Fackrell, Lincoln quarterback Russ Boehmke and Coronado halfback Hal Tobin to its all-America team.  Boehmke and Tobin received honorable mention on the Wigwam Wisemen of America all-star squad. Seven teams were selected with Jim Josephson of San Jose the only Californian on the first squad.

Tobin was the Southern Section lower division co-player of the year with Santa Ana’s Henry Enriquez. Center Mike Heyn of Coronado and back Gordon Frank of Escondido were on the second team.

NOT THAT BISHOP

Ramona’s opponent in the smallest schools finals was not the private institution in La Jolla, which was years from fielding a football team.

The Bulldogs took on a team located at the foot of the Eastern High Sierras in a small community not unlike Ramona’s, although sitting a couple thousand feet higher.

Bishop bused more than seven hours and 355 miles south, but it was the host Bulldogs who lacked energy. The visiting Broncos scored in every quarter.  Ramona twice advanced to the visitors’ 20-yard line but gave up the ball.

Ramona may not have  recovered from it first playoff trip, to Needles, where the Bulldogs topped the host Mustangs, 20-18.

Ramona to Needles is about 180 miles as the crow flies, but approximately 307 miles via major highways U.S. 395 and U.S. 66 after a 20-mile jaunt from the the Bulldogs mountain community on State 67.

There were other, shorter distances on rural highways but those might not have gotten the Bulldogs there any sooner.

MONARCHS RUN AND RUN

Escondido outgained Mater Dei, 364 yards to 359, but the Monarchs, guided by future NFL coach Dick Coury, rushed for 340 yards and, after building a 20-7 halftime advantage, held off the Cougars before 6,500 persons at Escondido.

The visitors came on the field in a military double time and ran their plays with soldierly precision. Fullback Henry Enriquez kept the Cougars at a distance by rushing for 171 yards in 26 carries and scored on a 32-yard run.

The Monarchs topped Claremont, 20-14, for the Southern Group title and San Marino beat Pomona Catholic, 26-13, for the Northern Group championship, both divisions for small schools.

SAINTS FINALLY FIND THEIR NICHE

St. Augustine joined the City Prep League after decades on the outside.

The school opened in 1922 and played its first game in 1924, then meandered through the years with a “Have-Team-Give-Us-A-Game” mantra.

The Saints were in the Southern Prep League from 1941-43 but their games did not count in the standings.

St. Augustine was a member of the Los Angeles-area Southland Catholic League from 1945-50. Travel was costly for the small, private school, which teetered on athletic insolvency.

The Rev. John  R. Aherne joined the school faculty in 1942 and was named principal in 1952. The 6-foot, 5-inch Aherne became a towering figure in the community.

Aherne lobbied the media, enjoyed power lunches with civic big shots at the Grant Grille downtown and Lubach’s on Harbor Drive,  and was the driving force behind St. Augustine’s “Appreciation Night” which was first held in 1955 and became an event so large in scope that principal speakers included major college coaches and some of the country’s leading sports figures.

City schools, uneasy about St. Augustine’s ability to recruit in their school districts, possible conflicting  eligibility issues, and that the Saints represented the  Catholic faith, finally let them into the club.

In its 33rd year of football St. Augustine at last had some local partners.

THREE NEWCOMERS IN THE VILLAGE

Crawford opened on 55th Street in East San Diego, taking a huge chunk of Hoover’s enrollment.

Carlsbad finally broke off from Oceanside and went out on its own, but students still attended classes in the building at Oceanside High.  There no longer was an Oceanside-Carlsbad High.

Helping itself to Helix and Grossmont expatriates, Mount Miguel rose in Spring Valley, in the shadow of the 2,559-foot Mount San Miguel.

Crawford and Carlsbad essentially played junior varsity opponents. The teams’ varsities met and  Carlsbad defeated Crawford 20-13, on John Penrod’s 85-yard pass interception return.

OLE!

Mount Miguel’s Matadors had some impressive firsts.  Rocky Barsotti scored a touchdown the first time Mount Miguel had the ball in the Metropolitan League carnival.

Wayne Summers returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and the Bullfighters dispatched Mar Vista 20-6 in their first-ever game.

Coach Tom Welbaum, who left Helix to Dick Gorrie when the Mount Miguel position opened, directed the new school to an impressive, 5-3 start. Included were victories over big brothers Grossmont, 32-14,  and Helix, 21-19.

AVOCADO COACHES WAVE WHITE FLAG

There was  no question that coach Bob (Chick) Embrey’s Escondido Cougars were a landslide choice to win the Avocado League.

Oceanside’s John Simcox described the Cougars as “sure winners”.

“Escondido could lose its eleven starters and still have a club which could take the league,” said Mar Vista’s Art Filson.

The Cougars are “twice as good” as anyone else, said Vista’s Harry Johnston.

Pessimist Embrey tried to downplay his club’s prospects, but wasn’t convincing:  “I thought it might be our year to really go, but in addition to…injuries (17 players reportedly out for awhile), our line hasn’t been coming around.”

The Cougars were undefeated in league play (6-0) and outscored its brethren 239-52 en route to a 9-1 campaign. A 47-6 win over Fallbrook gave Escondido a sendoff of 18 consecutive league wins.

HIGH-STEPPING HAL

Coronado’s Hal Tobin (below) was the leading scorer in Southern California with 144 points in nine games, although Escondido held Tobin to 51 yards in 18 carries and one touchdown when the Cougars routed the Islanders 49-18 in the Avocado League’s biggest game.

Tobin, who would continue on to play at USC, finished with 1,029 yards in 127 carries for an  8.5-yard average in leading the undermanned Islanders to a 5-4 record.

Tobin was unique in pursuit of points after touchdowns.  He ran for the point by lining up 8 yards behind the center and taking a direct snap.

STEP RIGHT UP!

Writer Jerry Magee of The San Diego Union let it all hang out in the lead on his story for the City Schools’ carnival:  “Some 300 strutting girls…eight bands, music, pageantry, and football derring do–and all for the price of a single admission!”

Magee described a “sideshow hawker in a checked vest” employing such a spiel to describe the 19th annual event, which drew 20,000 to Balboa Stadium.  On the same night the Metropolitan League carnival was viewed by an overflow crowd of 12,500 in Aztec Bowl.

The East’s Kearny, Point Loma, Lincoln, and San Diego outscored the West, 24-0, as each squad scored a touchdown in the City League extravaganza.  El Cajon, Mount Miguel, and Helix of the East topped Grossmont, Chula Vista, and Sweetwater of the West 13-6 in the suburbans’ fourth annual carnival.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

The state division of highways announced plans for a four-lane road from San Diego to Yuma, Arizona.

“When the freeway is completed you will be able to drive from San Diego to Yuma without encountering a stoplight or intersecting road,” said Jacob Dakema, district highway engineer.

The trip would obviously be  faster but also shorter, said Dakema.  The Highway 80 route covers 178 miles.  The interstate drive will be 173 miles.

The freeway will be part of the Interstate Highway System, inaugurated in 1956 by President Eisenhower partly as a means of quicker transportation and mobilization of troops in event of a crisis in the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

THE KEARNY COMET

Ed Buchanan  of Kearny led the CPL with 86 points in eight games and scored 53 consecutive points for the Komets, including the last touchdown in a 13-13 tie with Point Loma.  He scored  all of his team’s points in a 26-13 win over St. Augustine and 13-6 triumph over Hoover, and the first seven points in a 44-20 win over Mission Bay.

The 165-pound, :09.6 100-yard dasher passed 50 yards to Kenny Griffin for the second touchdown against Mission Bay, then returned a punt 75 yards for the third touchdown.

Buchanan, who rushed 24 times for 209 yards against St. Augustine, had two additional touchdowns against the Saints nullified by penalties.

Buchanan went on to an outstanding career at San Diego Junior College, was a nine-season player in the Canadian Football League, and was named to the Saskatchewan Roughriders all-time team.

YUMANS IMPRESSED

San Diego did not have  benefit of the new highway, as it bused to  Arizona  over the circuitous U.S. 80.

Quarterback Ezell Singleton completed 14 of 16 passes (the two incompletes were drops) as the Cavers wowed an overflow crowd of 9,000 and defeated the Yuma Criminals 40-0, with a demonstration of ball control.

Four of the Cavers’ six touchdowns  came on drives of 60, 79, 65, and 75 yards. Highlight of the game, however, was a point after touchdown.

The play began with Singleton taking the snap from center, but Singleton soon was trapped by a horde of defenders.  The quarterback lateraled the ball to Bobby Anderson, over Anderson’s head.  The elusive halfback recovered and weaved his way 25 yards into the end zone.

REALIGNMENT

Escondido, twice the size of other Avocado League schools with an enrollment of almost 1,400, will return to the Metropolitan League in 1958.  The Cougars were in the Metro from 1933-42 as one of the original members. They were part of a CIF-designated Group 12 affiliate from 1943-45.

Escondido returned to the Metro in 1946 and became a charter member of the Avocado League in 1954.

City Prep League bosses met for five hours and adjourned with a plan to realign in 1958 with two divisions in basketball and baseball.  Football would continue with one round-robin schedule. La Jolla would continue to be a member, but its games would not count in football.

A new high school, James Madison in Clairemont, reportedly would open in 1958 with its teams competing on a junior varsity level for one year. Madison would bring to 10 the number of CPL schools.

Lincoln, St. Augustine, Hoover, San Diego, and Point Loma would form one division and Kearny, Mission Bay, La Jolla, Crawford, and Madison would be in the other.

Realignment would come in the city with advent of the Eastern and Western Leagues but not until 1959.  Madison would not open until 1962. And La Jolla returned to league standings in 1958 after two seasons in which its games did not count.

REVENUE AND LIGHTS

Lincoln vice principal George Parry attended the re-leaguing meeting and pointed out that the issue of facilities never came up and that only three of the nine CPL schools had lights: La Jolla, Hoover, and San Diego/Balboa Stadium.

Parry revealed that Lincoln realized about $2,000 as its share of gate receipts for a night game in Balboa Stadium with St. Augustine. Lincoln’s share for an afternoon contest with visiting Kearny was about $200, Parry said, stressing the need for more fields with lights.

THE GAMBLER

Shan Deniston always thought the odds were in his favor.

The new Lincoln coach faced a fourth down and three yards to go at Lincoln’s eight-yard line in a game in which the Hornets trailed at Point Loma 7-6 early in the fourth quarter.

Fullback Dick Carey wedged for the first down and Lincoln went on to complete a 99-yard drive, scoring on quarterback Russ Boehmke’s 43-yard dash. Lincoln won, 20-7.

Deniston tested his luck again in Balboa Stadium against San Diego.

After stopping the Cavers on Lincoln’s 5, 20, 16, and 4-yard lines in the first half, the Hornets were on their 36-yard line with  fourth-and-two.  Less than a minute remained in the half.

Lincoln passed incomplete and San Diego took over. On the next play Bobby Anderson zigzagged through the Hornets’ defense to score with 35 seconds left in the half.  San Diego won, 13-7.

Hoover’s Roy Engle strangely rolled the dice against Mount Miguel.

Art Samuel and John Erickson had combined on a 50-yard touchdown pass play to put the Cardinals ahead 21-14 with a minute to play.

Hoover then stunned its home crowd by attempting an on-side kickoff.  The Cardinals recovered and quickly scored again in a 28-14 victory.

SANGUINARY FLOW

“We’ve tasted the tiger’s blood and like the taste,” said Chula Vista coach Bob Geyer after the Spartans surprised Helix’ defending Metropolitan League champion, 32-19, and went on  to a 28-6 win over Mount Miguel and 52-19 victory over El Cajon Valley before a 20-13 loss to Sweetwater in the  title-deciding final game.

1957 or 1954?

Only the first names changed.  Hoover’s Jim Pfister, Sam Sharamitaro, and Jim Young all had brothers, Bill, Al, and Ken, respectively, who played for the Cardinals in 1954.

10 OKAY ONCE

San Miguel School in National City, its numbers shrunk after a 65-0 loss to Ramona, defeated North Hollywood Harvard Military, 13-7, the following week, playing the last half with just 10 players.

The school, which would eventually merge with The Bishop’s in La Jolla in the early 1970’s, pulled the pin on the season, forfeiting its final game to Army-Navy.

QUICK KICKS

Ramona defeated Claremont-Webb, 6-0, to end a 25-game winning streak for the Gauls…the growing CIF Southern Section, now numbered 270 schools…Sweetwater set a school scoring record in a 59-0 victory over El Cajon Valley, bettering a 57-0 romp over Oceanside in 1926, the last season the Red Devils were in the CIF playoffs…Sweetwater’s 8-2 record represented its most wins since the 1941 squad went 8-0…official San Diego city population was 494,201 on the June 1 start of fiscal year…a new rule restricted city football coaching staffs to 4, for varsity and JV…Grossmont coach Ken Maynard was direct, predicting that his team “is certainly going to better its sorry showing of a year ago.”…the Foothillers improved from 1-7 to 4-4…Lincoln’s Russ Boehmke passed for 271 yards against Kearny, completing 11 of 17 attempts and touchdown passes of 32, 29, 19, and 50 yards, plus running 16 yards for a touchdown in a 33-13 victory…Chula Vista and St. Augustine had their wrists slapped by CIF Southern Section commissioner Ken Fagans for scrimmaging before the permitted date…Kearny coach Don Henson coached from the press box in the first half of a 13-13 tie with Point Loma…Lincoln and St. Augustine scored five touchdowns in the last seven minutes, the Saints winning 25-18…attendance for the 25th San Diego-Hoover game was a disappointing 6,000…Mount Miguel was 2-0 and feeling its oats when the Matadors took on Sweetwater…”They’re hot but we’re going to cool them down a bit,” said Tom Parker, whose Red Devils shut down the Lemon Grove team, 18-0…St. Augustine’s JV defeated Lincoln,7-6, when Raul Martinez reached back into the mists of time and drop-kicked the winning point after touchdown…San Diego was behind for the first time all season when Point Loma led 13-7 into the fourth quarter, but Willie McCloud ran 32 yards for a score and Ezell Singleton ran five yards for a touchdown with 46 seconds remaining and the Cavers pulled out a 21-13 victory…the San Diego-Sweetwater playoff was considered a home game for both teams, although the Balboa Stadium site was on the San Diego campus…a coin flip determined after the game that the Cavers would be  visitors for the quarterfinals against Montebello…that game was played at East Los Angeles Junior College, as was the semifinal game versus Whittier…San Diego’s yell leaders were reinforced by one cheerleader from every other school in the CPL when the Hillers played Downey…Lincoln rushed for 361 yards in an opening-game, 46-13 rout of Chula Vista…San Diego and Hoover teams came together at the North Park Lions Club’s annual dinner honoring the Cavers and Cardinals at the Imig Manor (later known as Lafayette Hotel) on El Cajon Boulevard….

A silent killer loomed.

Discovered in February in a Southern China province, a virus that  became known as the Asian Flu hit area teams with full force several months later.

The germ spread to Singapore, then was transported by U.S. Naval personnel, reaching the shores of the Pacific Coast in June.

The virus spread across the country in the summer and fall and claimed the lives of almost 70,000 Americans and almost 2 million worldwide.

There were no reported deaths in San Diego football circles, but the germ’s affect was felt throughout the season.

First mention of flu on the sports pages of local newspapers came September 29, when 10 El Cajon Valley High players and 500 students missed classes, according to football coach Glenn Otterson.

Sick players and canceled and postponed games were noted almost daily in October.

–Ramona was reduced to a squad of 10 and  forced to cancel its opening game at Imperial, then was idled again when Claremont-Webb withdrew (the teams met later).

The Bulldogs’ game the next week at Lancaster Edwards Air Force Base Desert also was called off. Ramona finally was ready for its league opener, but Brown Military Academy couldn’t field a team.

–Three games involving Avocado League teams were scratched within 48 hours.  Escondido, expecting a crowd of 6,000 when it stepped up in competition to take on a Metropolitan League power, was forced to pull out of a game with Sweetwater. San Dieguito had to find a later date  with Vista, but Vista and Sweetwater got together and played.

–With 7 starters out and only 22 of  45 roster players available, Helix officials discussed the possibility of not going to Oxnard.  The Highlanders decided to head North and were beaten, 52-6.

–Claremont, in Eastern Los Angeles  County, was down to 10 players and canceled with Sweetwater, which was able to fill the date against Brawley, which needed an opponent after Holtville came down with the illness.

–Claremont later was on the receiving end as Army-Navy’s team was racked with the flu.

–Chula Vista scheduled Upland after Chino withdrew.

–West Covina bailed on El Cajon Valley, which got a game with Fullerton, but that game was canceled because of rain.

–Lincoln coach Shan Deniston and Mission Bay’s Harry Anderson were slowed by flu symptoms.

–Deniston called off practice when four starters were out.  Tackle Tony Dement was struck with a different ailment.  Dement was forced to undergo surgery after a mosquito bite on his leg became infected.

–Twenty-three games in Southern California were canceled on Oct. 12.

–Crawford and Carlsbad, first-year teams, met in what essentially was the schools’ only varsity contest. Crawford’s first-team backfield, featuring Hoover transfer Arnold Tripp, stayed home with the flu. and the Colts missed a chance at an undefeated season, losing, 20-13.

Colts coach Walt Harvey picked up a bug on Crawford’s crowded, sweaty bus ride home and spent the next 10 days in bed.

–Eighty-nine St. Augustine players, comprising freshman, junior varsity and varsity, were inoculated at the same time with painful flu shots, which often left the patient with a very sore arm and, in some cases, flu-like symptoms.

–Tiny San Miguel School in  National City defeated host Studio City Harvard Military 13-7 and finished the game with 10 players.  The Knights postponed their next game against Army-Navy.

–Literally hundreds of other players missed school or games.  The virus affected every school in the area.

–A sign of a return to normalcy came in November, when the Asian Flu no longer was considered a threat to patrons in crowded movie theaters.  Attendance at San Diego film venues had dropped almost 25 per cent in October.  

Polls are great, but what do they mean come playoff time?

First things first:

Cathedral hung on to first place in the UT-San Diego basketball poll, but for the first time since the 2013 calendar the Dons were not  unanimous choices.

Cathedral received 8 first-place votes after an uneven week in which it was surprised by Army-Navy 67-61 and needed an overtime before subduing St. Augustine 62-59.

Cathedral, Army-Navy, and El Camino each received first-place votes.

Teams are in the second round of league play, with  playoffs scheduled to begin Feb. 19.

After roughly 20 games, division playoff favorites are shaping up.

Coming out of the backstretch toward the turn for home:

I–El Camino.  The Wildcats are under the radar on a state level, ranking 39th in the computer-based view of CalPreps, but rate a slight edge locally over Mission Hills.

II–San Diego Section’s most loaded division. La Costa Canyon, San Marcos,  and Hoover  stand out. Morse and  San Ysidro are demanding respect.  La Costa is fifth, Hoover 10th, San Marcos 12th, and Morse 20th in CalPreps.

III–Cathedral is 3-0 against St. Augustie this season and is third in its division and 19th overall in California.  St. Augustine is fifth in D-3.  Unless a New York Jets-Balitmore Colts, Super Bowl III upset occurs, these two teams will meet in the Section finals.

IV–But for a confounding loss to La Jolla Country Day (9-8), Army-Navy (17-4) would be San Diego’s No. 1-ranked team.  The Warriors are seventh in the state in D-4 but could make a deep playoff run.

V–Dialing Tri-City Christian, 18-1 and 12th as seen by CalPreps.

First-place votes in parenthesis:

Place	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	Cathedral Catholic (8)	19-3	119	1
2	Army-Navy (2)	17-4	106	6
3	St. Augustine	15-4	103	2
4	La Costa Canyon (2)	18-4	101	3
5	El Camino (1)	20-2	95	4
6	San Marcos	20-3	59	T8
7	Hoover	19-5	55	5
8	Mission Hills	17-4	39	7
9	San Ysidro	16-6	19	T8
10	Morse	19-5	10	NR

Also receiving votes:  Santa Fe Christian, 15-6 (6 points); Torrey Pines, 13-8 (6); Tri-City Christian, 18-1 (2); Westview, 15-6 (2).  

The Handyman set aside his tools when one job was finished and was preparing to use them in another.

Gene Edwards’s 29-year run as head coach at La Jolla ended with a 27-0 victory over Clairemont.

He was going to continue working for the school in a role best described as “facilities fixer-upper.” Gene had accepted a position upon retirement.

He would utilize his skills around the campus as a general handyman.

This was no extension of goodwill to keep Edwards occupied.

He had supervised and helped in the construction of his home in the La Jolla Muirlands and Edwards knew his way around a Skil saw.

Edwards’  playing and coaching career of more than 40 years on local gridirons began at San Diego High in 1945. Gene was an all-Coast League lineman  in 1946 and ’47 and played for San Diego Junior College, Oregon, and San Diego State.

Edwards began his coaching career at Brown Military Academy in 1954, followed by a stint at Mar Vista.  He moved to La Jolla in 1958, and succeeded Harry West in 1961.

The Vikings were 136-128-9 during Edwards’ tenure, with three league championships, six seconds, and 6 playoff appearances.  His 1980 team went to the 2-A finals, losing to Lincoln 39-22. Edwards also coached baseball, softball, golf, and wrestling.

Gene’s  best team may have been his first.  Led by quarterback Dan Berry, a future fifth-round draft choice of the NFL Philadelphia Eagles, and scatback Butch Taylor, the Vikings were 7-1, their best record since 1948, and they defeated San Diego 27-19.

The victory over the Cavers was La Jolla’s first  since 1951, a period in which Vikings’ losses to San Diego included blowouts of 57-0 in 1955 and 59-0 in 1958.

JEWEL CITY UPROAR

That the 1961 game was played at La Jolla on a Thursday night contributed to a curtailed coverage of the game. The San Diego Union sent a representative but the Evening Tribune did not.

A win over San Diego was considered very large in the Jewel City and afternoon newspaper-reading residents were outraged that the victory did not command front-page headlines.

The telephone rang off the hook in the La Jolla offices of newspaper publisher James Copley.  An edict soon came down from the fourth floor at the Union-Tribune building on Second Avenue in downtown San Diego.

Massive coverage, including a full picture page of game action, henceforth appeared in the Saturday Evening Tribune.  Prep followers everywhere were elated. The affable and respected Edwards had something to do with that.

Seven  months following his final game Gene passed away at age 60 from an apparent heart attack.  His cremains were scattered over the gridiron at the Vikings’ Scripps Field.

THUNDERING HERD, CONT.

The rapid rise of Rancho Buena Vista continued. The Longhorns’ 56-36 win over Point Loma in the 3-A semifinals almost boggled the imagination, virtually a weekly occurrence for coach Craig Bell’s team.

Rancho rushed for a stunning total of 596 yards before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 5,500 persons at Mira Mesa.

“Jeepers,” Pointers coach Bennie Edens groaned.  “They’re so versatile.  You stop them off tackle, they run the trap.  Take away the trap and they run the option.  Take away the option, they run something else.”

Bell apparently had seen enough of the passing game. Quarterback and future Los Angeles Dodgers manager “David” Roberts’ first attempt, on the fourth play of the team’s first possession,  was intercepted by Michael Driver and returned 56 yards for a touchdown.

Perhaps the Pointers should have allowed the Longhorns some receptions, to keep them off the ground. O.J. Hall rushed for 288 yards in 20 carries and scored three touchdowns.  Markeith Ross gained 218 yards in 18 carries and scored 4 touchdowns.

Almost as an afterthought, tailback James Lewis gained 76 yards in 4 carries and caught Roberts’ only other pass for a 30-yard gain.

“Their running attack rates with anything I’ve seen in high school,” said  Edens. “We scored enough points to beat most teams.  I wish I had an answer for how to stop ’em.  I don’t.”

POINTERS ALSO PRETTY GOOD

Point Loma defeated the Longhorns, 42-35, early in the season and also had an outstanding offense, with quarterback Danny White, who threw for more than 3,100 yards in an 8-5 season, most of the passes  to J.J. Stokes and Brett Callan.  Stokes later was a No. 1 NFL  draft choice of San Francisco out of UCLA.

Rancho’s O.J. ran like the more renown O.J. Simpson.FOGGY NOTION

Morse’s defense was more up to the task in the finals, but the Longhorns, making the jump from 2-A to 3-A, won their second straight title, 21-7.

As Steve Brand put it in The San Diego Union, some observers were saying the Morse-RBV final in San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium was the best game they’d never seen. Seasonal fog rolled in, draping  a shroud on the field in the second half.

The 12,119 fans in attendance could only hear as the scoreboard operator, statisticians, and announcer walked the sidelines.

The fog brought back memories of San Diego Section title contests in 1974 and ’81, not to mention many games in the area’s prep history, including San Diego’s fog-delaying playoff loss at Fullerton in 1950.

EL CAMINO COMES UP SHORT

Coach Herb Meyer’s Wildcats presented just one player who rose above 6 feet, 1 inch, and went all the way down to 5-4 Joe Malek, their starting quarterback. “It’s the biggest  collection of midgets we’ve ever had,” said Meyer.

El Camino didn’t come up short on the field, posting a 13-1 record and taking out Lincoln 38-6 in the 2-A championship behind the 4 touchdowns by 5-6 running back Brian Madlangbayan.

Of a playoff run in which they outscored opponents 184-20, Meyer said:  “It’s scary to play this well.”

CALIFORNIA TIE-BREAKER

Deadlocked at  25, Lincoln and Grossmont went into overtime in the 2-A quarterfinals. Lincoln’s Charles Brown needed just two of his team’s allotted 4 plays to score from the 10-yard line under the California tie-breaker rule.

Grossmont sophomore Jason Eskridge, who rushed for 182 yards in 29 carries and blocked an extra-point kick, came up a half-foot short on fourth down.

Although the game went into the books  a tie, it still was a bitter “loss” for the Foothillers. Lincoln advanced.

The season ended with a 10-1-1 record for the Foothillers, who overcame a 12-point disadvantage at halftime and led 25-19 when they punted with two minutes remaining.

Lincoln’s Victor Dean fumbled the punt on his 25-yard line but recovered and took the ball 75 yards to tie the game. Dean repeated the following week in a 38-35 win over San Pasqual, returning a punt 77 yards with 32 seconds remaining in the game.

In another California tie-breaker Point Loma advanced over Orange Glen after a 28-28 standoff.  J.J. Stokes caught 79, 59, and 19-yard touchdown passes in regulation play and a 14-yard scoring pass in the tie-breaker, which was determined in the Lomans’ favor by Brett Callan’s 99-yard interception return.

HAINES ATTENDS SEEDING MEETING

Vista missed the playoffs in 1987, when coach Dick Haines did not make a presentation at the seeding meeting, an absence construed by some members of the selection committee as that the Panthers weren’t interested in participating.

Haines stormed and fussed but was one of the first  to arrive at the postseason parley this year, advocating for the 4-6 Panthers. Vista was awarded with a first-round game against No. 3 seed Chula Vista (9-0-1).

Sweetwater’s Andy Sanchez almost did not make the meeting.  His car broke down near the E Street on-ramp to Interstate 5 in Chula Vista. Fearing he’d be victimized by the “Dick Haines Rule,” (if your team is on the bubble and Sanchez’s was at 5-5, you’d better be there) Andy called his defensive coordinator, Dan Prager.

Prager picked up Sanchez and the pair rushed to the seeding site  “I thought, ‘Who’s going to believe this?'” said Sanchez.

PLAYOFFS EXPANDED

Seven losing teams  gained playoff berths as the tournament was expanded to 16 teams.

More teams did not make the process easier, according to committee member John Shacklett of Morse.  “This was much more difficult (than when 12 teams were given berths),” said Shacklett.

Not everyone was rejoicing.

“I think it stinks,” St. Augustine coach Marty Martin said of the pairings, “but you have to play them all anyway.”  The 6-4 Saints were matched in 2-A against Western League champion Kearny (9-1) and won their first-round game, 18-16.

“My opinion is that the playoffs are diluted,” University City’s Steve Vukojevich said of the expanded format.  “I personally think eight-team playoffs are better; it would produce a quality championship.”

Vukojevich told Steve Brand that “if I can’t finish in the top two (of the league) I think it would be a waste of time to participate, but I’d leave it up to the kids.  I don’t think 4-5 is a playoff record.”

The Centurions took their 4-5 eventual record into the 2-A eliminations and gave San Pasqual a test before losing, 27-23.

TRICKY DICK?

Chula Vista eliminated Vista in the playoffs 24-22 after some “Hainesmanship.”

On Monday, following the playoff meeting, Haines informed Chula Vista officials that he did not have head phones, which, according to high school rules, meant that Chula Vista also would have go without  communication from field to press box.

Haines called Chula Vista again later in the week and said that he was going to borrow communication equipment from Torrey Pines, where his son, Rik, is head coach. Then Haines called again, saying the agreement “fell through.”

Chula Vista assistant coach Gary Chapman was able to obtain headphones for the Panthers from nearby Castle Park.

Haines, burning the coaxial cables from North County to South, dialed Chula Vista again on the same day and informed the Spartans that he did not have enough white jerseys, the required color for visiting teams.

Haines wanted his squad in Vista red.

“We told him it didn’t matter if he put his team in junior varsity jerseys,” said Spartans coach George Ohnessorgen.  “We were wearing our home blues and he would have to find a way to dress his team in white.”

Haines told Chula Vista coaches before kickoff  that his borrowed headphones weren’t working.  It was soon determined that someone had unplugged the connection behind the Panthers’ bench.

“I’ve heard a lot of stories about Dick and I can’t blame him,” said Ohnessorgen.  “He was just playing a little cat and mouse.”

DOES HE SHAVE YET?

Not old enough to play varsity football, Rashaan Salaam had to wait until his 15th birthday, which came the week La Jolla Country Day played Francis Parker.

The 6-foot, 1-inch, 185-pound sophomore started the season on the Torreys’  junior varsity.  “But that was a joke,” said athletics director Patrick Murphy.  “He scored every time he got the ball.”

Salaam had 19 rushes for 216 yards, caught 5 passes for 98, and had three returns for 57—371 yards combined—and scored five touchdowns. ‘Day beat Parker, 48-30, for its first victory over the Lancers since 1985.

Salaam ran for 1,246 yards and scored 21 touchdowns in 6 games.

A lot more would be heard from Salaam, who would play in 11-man and 8-man games in the next two seasons.

NOT YET, ‘BAY

“I’d say it’s about time we beat them again,” said Mission Bay’s Dennis Pugh when the coach was informed that Kearny held an all-time advantage of 24-1 against the Buccaneers, whose only victory over the Komets was a 12-6 decision in 1958.

Timing was not on the Bucs’ side.  Willie Matson’s Komets won the Western League championship with a 20-10 triumph. Kearny profited by the transfer from Sumner High in St. Louis of junior Darnay Scott, who returned a kickoff 92 yards and caught a 10-yard pass for touchdown.

WILD WORLD OF 8-MAN

Julian defeated Midway Baptist 53-31.  The Eagles’ Eric Fredburg rushed for 455 yards in 19 carries and scored on runs of 76, 64, 53, 26, and 23 yards.  The listed San Diego Section 8-man rushing record was 286 by Borrego Springs’ David Glantz in 1984.

TRUE GRID

Rancho Buena Vista’s Dave Roberts, a future major league outfielder and manager who spent time as a player and coach for the San Diego Padres, never threw more than 4 passes in a game…his season totals were 21 attempts, 17 completions…David Dunn, the future head coach at Lincoln, was an all-CIF choice at Morse…Dunn was a fifth-round draft choice of the NFL Cincinnati Bengals in 1994 and played five seasons, catching 91 passes for 6 touchdowns and also serving as a kick returner for four teams…top top three teams in the decade of 1980-89 were Sweetwater (90-22-2), Lincoln (90-26-1), and Helix (89-22-5)…Rancho Buena Vista’s O.J. Hall and Markeith Ross each rushed for more than 2,000 yards and were named San Diego Section co-players of the year…no duo had ever achieved the yardage milestone in California…Mission Bay’s 9-3 record represented a school record for wins…the Bucs won 7 in 1954 (against a largely junior varsity schedule), 1958, 1973, and 1974…Holtville defeated Imperial 34-13 for the Mountain-Desert title, then beat the Tigers 42-7 the following week for the Section 1-A championship…”From Day I it was the only thing on our minds,” said Holtville coach Sam Faulk. “We were behind only once all season”…from the season’s seventh game through the first round of playoffs Lincoln outscored its opponents 171-0…things perked up at Calipatria, a winner of one game in two seasons and outscored 339-10 in 1988…the Hornets improved to 4-6…Lincoln’s Terrell Davis was a rare avis…the 6-1, 195-pounder was a fullback and played on the defensive line in football and was a quarter miler and shot putter in track, diversified skills, size and speed which contributed to a brilliant NFL career with the Denver Broncos…St. Augustine earned a playoff berth for the first time since 1970, and finished with its first winning season (7-5) since 1982 and second since 1973…3-year-old West Hills competed on the varsity level for the first time…Borrego Springs did not field a team….

January, 1958,  was  special  for Tom Shaules, for St. Augustine High, and for basketball in San Diego. That wintry month annually signals the anniversary of Shaules’  epic run through the City Prep League.

The 5-foot, 8-inch senior scored a record 60 points against Crawford, led the Saints in three games in which they scored more than 100, and created a buzz around North Park and throughout the County.

Friday night home games at St. Augustine meant get there early. The tiny Daugherty gymnasium between 32nd and Bancroft streets was built to accommodate about 500 persons.  Attendance would be double that, as long as the fire marshal wasn’t around.

On January 8, 1958, St. Augustine jumped to a 46-18 halftime lead over Crawford, an  out-manned first-year school.

Shaules had 27 points in the first two quarters.

Jerry Moriarty, the Saints’ coach,  turned  the second half over to Tom Carter, the varsity football mentor who also doubled as JV basketball coach.

Moriarty got into his automobile and drove a few miles East to Hoover to  scout the remainder of the Cardinals-San Diego game, both upcoming opponents for St. Augustine.

A very late-evening telephone call awakened Moriarty at home.  Someone, possibly Carter, was calling to say that Shaules finished the game with 60 points and that St. Augustine had won 102-38.

Shaules’ quarterly scoring output was 13, 14, 13, and 20.  Evening Tribune reporter Paul Cour wrote:  “The Saints’ sharpshooter scored 20 field goals on driving layins and his unorthodox jump shot from around the key.”

This in an era long before three-point shooting arc.

Shaules also made 20 of 21 free throw attempts, including 17 in a row.  The Saints led 76-24 after three quarters.

Carter sat Shaules for the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, according to Cour.

“Coach Moriarty wouldn’t have let me play that much,” said Shaules.  “He was embarrassed.  The next time we played Crawford I only played the first half.”

Shaules followed with 34 points to pass 1,000 in two seasons in a 71-57 victory over Kearny, then had 37 more in a 105-34 victory over La Jolla.

Next up was Lincoln.  Hornets coach Don Smith said he would not make any drastic defensive changes.

“Teams have two-timed Shaules; they’ve used a zone against him, and he still scores,” Smith told Cour.  “We’ll play the game like any other.  We think we can win the ball game.”

Shaules sniped the Hornets for 38 points in a 74-50 victory.

St. Augustine then  took a rest from City Prep League competition and defeated Arizona’s visiting Yuma High Criminals, 62-51, as Shaules scored 23 points.

St. Augustine finally was stopped, when Hoover scored a 55-48 victory and Shaules was held to 19 points in a slow, dreadful affair in which 48 personal fouls were called, 24 on each team.

After an earlier, 62-56 victory over San Diego, the Saints and Cavers met again.  San Diego High brought in bleachers to increase its gymnasium’s capacity from about 900 to 1,500.

A turnaway crowd of more than 1,600 (the entrance was closed an hour before tipoff) watched the Cavers, who would finish with a 23-2 record, score a 65-57 victory.  Shaules scored 27.

St. Augustine, in its first City League season, finished with a 20-6 record and tied for second with an 11-5 league standing. Shaules set the County scoring record with 735 points and a 28.3 average.

St. Augustine was not a basketball school. Shaules’ supporting cast essentially was Sammy Owens, a rugged forward and 15-point scorer known more as one of the City League’s best football running backs.  Alex Castro, a defensive specialist, was the  Saints’ other starting guard.

“Bill Whittaker (a playground mentor who went on to a long career as baseball coach at St. Augustine) taught me some things when I was 8 or 9 years old,” said Shaules, “but my idol was a guy named Robin Freeman.”

Shaules fashioned a jump shot  that, like  Freeman’s, had a reverse spin on the ball.  A 30-point scorer, Freeman was an all-America at Ohio State in the early ‘fifties, when Shaules was a student at Blessed Sacrament, the grammar school which also lists Bill Walton among its alumni.

His records have been broken but Shaules remains a San Diego hoops legend.

He was known as “Shotgun” Shaules during a successful career for Seattle University, then a powerful independent whose alums included future NBA Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor.

“I went with Elgin (on what could be termed as a recruiting visit) and the team back to Louisville for the NCAA finals when they played Kentucky,” Shaules remembered.

The NCAA would frown upon the practice today.

Shaules went into sales for the National Filter Company after college and finally was able to relocate to San Diego in 1998.  A widower with three grown children, Tom resides in the Chula Vista suburb of Eastlake.

 

The UT-San Diego boys’ basketball ratings deadline came a few hours early yesterday.  Disaster struck a little later for the No. 1,  and No. 5 teams.

Cathedral Catholic was stunned by No. 6 Army-Navy, 67-61, as 7-foot, 1-inch Cheikh (Chay) Ndiaye (En-die) dominated the shorter but quick Dons with a 25-rebound-22-point-10-blocked-shots performance in the Martin Luther King Showcase at Hoover.

Hoover, No. 5, was shocked by Horizon, 91-90, in overtime.

More upheaval is possible Thursday night at Point Loma Nazarene University, where No. 1 Cathedral and No. 2 St. Augustine collide.

First place votes in parenthesis.

Place	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	Cathedral Catholic (13)	17-2	130	1
2	St. Augustine	13-3	106	3
3	La Costa Canyon	15-3	97	5
4	El Camino	17-2	85	6
5	Hoover	18-4	79	2
6	Army-Navy	15-4	63	4
7	Mission Hills	16-3	56	7
8	San Ysidro	15-5	34	8
8	San Marcos	18-3	34	9
10	Torrey Pines	11-7	6	NR

Others receiving votes: Westview, 14-5 (5); Morse, 17-5 (5); Francis Parker, 10-5 (4); Santa Fe Christian, 111-5 (1); Helix, 13-5 (1).