Jack Menotti, who coached Madison to an undefeated season on the field in 1972, passed away Dec. 28, 2012.

Menotti, 78, also coached at Mesa College and was head coach at Ramona.  He was introduced to coaching in the 1960s by Birt Slater, the legendary Kearny High mentor.

“He didn’t have a  football background but he wanted to get into football,” Slater recalled.  “I told him, ‘You go home this summer and learn as much as you can.  We’ll see where you are when we come back to school.'”

Menotti  apparently was a quick study.  “He became a very good coach,” said Slater, who appointed Menotti to his  staff and eventually named the Los Angeles-area native defensive coordinator of  teams that were annual playoff contenders in the late ‘sixties.

Madison’s  8-0-1 season of 1972 was almost wrecked by an administrative error which resulted in  two forfeits that followed back-to-back victories over Clairemont, 41-6, and Point Loma, 14-3, early in the season.

Despite the two forfeits, Madison still was battling for the Western League championship when the Warhawks met Kearny late in  the 1972 season.

The teams fought to a 15-15 tie. Kearny won the championship with a 4-1-1 record and went into the playoffs. Madison was 4th at 3-2-1 but would been 4-2 and the champion had it beaten Kearny, which also would have finished 4-2.

Imperial’s Royce Freeman tied for 10th in scoring among California football players in 2012 with 220 points in 12 games.  Freeman tied for 75th nationally, according to MaxPreps.

Madison’s Pierre Cormier scored 176 points for a tie for 34th in California and La Jolla Country Day’s Sage Burmeister was 45th with 168.

Freeman and Norwalk’s Rashaad Penny are the only juniors in the top 10.  Isaiah Sharp of Wasco is the only sophomore.  Leaders:

Name, School                                                   G  TD PAT 2PT. Points

Jake Taylor, Lake Arrowhead Rim of World  14  57        0        0   342

Sty Hairston, Banning                                        13  56        0        1   338

Terrell Newby, West Hills Chaminade            14  45        0        0  270

Tony Cota, Manteca Sierra                               12  41         0       1   248

Ryan Severson, San Jose Valley Christian     13  39         0       3   240

Jimmy Toland, Indio Shadow Hills                  11  39         0       0  234

Rashaad Penny. Norwalk                                  11  37         0       4  230

Nathan Chunn, Escalon                                     14  38         0       0  228

Joe Protheroe, Concord Clayton Valley          14  36         0       3  222

Royce Freeman, Imperial                                 12  36         0       2  220

Isaiah Sharp, Wasco                                          12  36          0      2  220

Scoring statistics were supplied to MaxPreps by team representatives and correspondents. PAT and 2-point conversions can be incomplete or inaccurate.

St. Augustine scored an impressive victory but San Diego teams lost three of four games  in the Long Beach Jordan-hosted Public-vs.-Private showcase Saturday  at Long Beach City College.

The Saints defeated high-scoring Riverside JW North, 63-54.  Cathedral was beaten by Etiwanda, 60-54.  Santa Monica topped La Jolla Country Day 60-39, and Corona Santiago edged Army-Navy, 58-53.

A 26-14 second quarter propelled the Saints (5-1) to a 10-point halftime lead over the North Huskies, who were 10-1 coming into the game  and who had averaged 88 points in the previous four games, with only a 100-86 loss to Mt. Vernon, N.Y.

Cathedral (8-2) trailed Etiwanda (8-2) 38-29 at the end of three quarters and outscored the Eagles 25-22 in the fourth quarter  but shot only 35 per cent overall on 17 of 49 field-goal attempts.

Army-Navy (6-1) could not overcome a 34-13 blowout in the second and third quarters as the Santiago Sharks moved to 8-3.

Santa Monica improved to 8-3 and La Jolla Country Day fell to 2-2.

Cal-Hi Sports has spoken.

Oceanside, 12-1, and San Diego Section II champion, is 15th in the newletter’s final 2012 state rankings.  The Pirates are fourth in Southern California D-II, following Gardena Serra, West Hills Chaminade, and Huntington Beach Edison.

Other San Diego Section entries were far down the list.

In D-II Poway (10-3) is 41st overall and ninth in the South; Helix (10-1), is 44th and 10th, and Valhalla (9-4), is 45th and 11th.

Madison (14-1)  was first among the South’s D-III squads, but 46th overall.

But for a 30-20 loss to Temecula Chaparral which took on added importance each week as Chaparral lost its last four games after a 7-0 start, Oceanside would have been matched against Gardena Serra in the Southern California regional playoff.

If you believe the final CalPreps power ratings, coach John Carroll’s Pirates would rank 11th in California, but that hypothesis is flawed because the teams that finished with lower power ratings advanced further than Oceanside in the postseason and lost points when defeated in the regional playoffs, in which Oceanside didn’t participate.

Cal-Hi’s top 15 with CalPrep power ratings:

1–Concord De La Salle, 76.2.
2–Corona Centennial, 69.4.
3–Harbor City Narbonne, 68.3.
4–Vista Murietta, 66.3.
5–Gardena Serra, 66.2.
6–Folsom, 59.0.
7–Granite Bay, 64.5.
8–Long Beach Poly, 67.2.
9–Bellflower St. John Bosco, 67.0.
10–Santa Ana Mater Dei, 65.4.
11–Ventura St. Bonaventure, 60.5.
12–West Hills Chaminade, 57.8.
13–Mission Viejo, 64.1.
14–Huntington Beach Edison, 57.8.
15–Oceanside, 60.6.

Royce Freeman’s touchdowns are as common as July’s 110-degree days in  the Great Imperial Valley.

The 6-foot, 1-inch, 215-pound junior continued to make history this season at Imperial High, whose football lineage dates to 1942 and whose  list of graduates goes all the way back to 1908.

Freeman led the Tigers to a 9-3 record and won the San Diego Section scoring championship for the second consecutive season, with 36 touchdowns and a total of 220 points in 12 games.

Freeman scored 39 touchdowns and had a total of 240 points in a 9-3  campaign in 2011.

His career total of 76 touchdowns and 462 career points ranks Freeman seventh in San Diego Section history.  He passed Helix’ Reggie Bush (450) this season and needs 236 points in 2013 to better the career record of 697 set by Mission Bay’s Dillon Baxter in 2009.

IN COMPANY WITH THOMAS, ARNAIZ

Upon graduation in June, 2014, Royce will join the two other most prominent athletic alumni of Imperial High.

Linebacker Robert Thomas, who played collegiately at UCLA, was a No. 1 selection of the St. Louis Rams and the 31th player in the 2002 NFL draft.

Robert  Thomas played seven seasons for four teams and is the younger brother of Stan Thomas, who attended El Centro Central and played  tackle at Texas before  the Chicago Bears’ drafted him with the 22nd selection in the 1991 draft.

Jim Arnaiz was a four-sport standout (football, basketball,  track–shot put and sprints–and baseball) before attending California Poly-Pomona and embarking on a legendary coaching career.

Arnaiz is one of the most honored coaches in San Diego Section history, having guided Helix to four San Diego Section championships and posting a career record of 212 victories, 77 losses, and 6 ties.

MONSIEUR MADISON

Madison’s Pierre Cormier was runner-up to Freeman in Divisions I to IV with 29 touchdowns and 176 points in 14 games.  Oceanside’s William Gulley was third with 158 points, followed by Eastlake’s Aaron Baltazar, the leading D-1 scorer with 128 points.

USUAL D-5 SCORING

The smaller schools produced their annual complement of blockbuster scorers.  Justin Harrison of Calvin Christian had 192 points, followed by Ben Giese of Tri-City Christian (178), Serge Burmeister, La Jolla Country Day, 168; Willie Wilson, Mountain Empire, 140, and Bulla Graft, The Bishop’s 138.

Lincoln remained first in the second UT-San Diego basketball poll despite losing in the Drew Gooden Showcase in El Cerrito Saturday night.

San Jose Mitty, defending state champion in Division II, defeated the Hornets 71-60 in the event named for Milwaukee Bucks NBA player Gooden, who starred at El Cerrito High, near Oakland.

It was the end of a grueling trip for the Hornets, who rode north Friday in two 15-passenger vans. They returned Sunday afternoon.

Lincoln (5-2) received 10 first-place votes in the poll of 14 sportswriters and sportscasters.  Cathedral Catholic was second with four first-place votes.

SAN DIEGO TEAMS IN LONG BEACH

After a 76-62 victory at Pasadena, Cathedral gears up for the Long Beach Jordan-hosted, 14-team Public-vs-Private Showcase Saturday at Long Beach City College. Three other San Diego teams will participate.

The Dons take on the tough Etiwanda Eagles at 6:30 p.m. Other games:  Army-Navy- Corona Santiago, 12:30; La Jolla Country Day-Santa Monica, 2; Jordan-L.A. Price, 3:30; Montebello Cantwell-Rancho Cucamonga, 5: Riverside J.W. North-St. Augustine, 8.

OREGON TRAIL NO FUN

Two traditionally solid San Diego-area teams were schooled by Portland-area powerhouse and nationally respected Lake Oswego.  Helix fell 68-27 at a tournament in Chico and El Camino sustained its only loss in 10 games, losing 60-36 in a non-tournament contest at the Oregon  school.

Lake Oswego is the alma mater of  Minnesota Timberwolves star Kevin Love, son of former NBA player Stan Love, who is the brother of “Beach Boys” founder Mike Love.

STILL GOING

The 66th annual San Diego Kiwanis tournament, once a premier Southern California event, opened this week.  Eight boys teams and 20 girls teams will be competing.

1–Lincoln (10); 5-2; 131; 1.
2–Cathedral Catholic (4); 8-1; 127; 2.
3–Hoover, 5-1; 93; 3.
4–Army-Navy, 6-0; 88; 5.
5–St. Augustine, 4-1; 82; 7.
6–El Camino, 9-1; 60; 8.
6–Mission Hills, 4-1; 60; 6.
8–LaCosta Canyon, 7-3; 50; 4.
9–San Ysidro, 5-1; 42; 8.
10–Torrey Pines, 2-3; 10; T10.
Place–Team (First-place votes); Team record; Points; Last Week

Others receiving votes:
San Marcos (9), Eastlake (6), Mount Miguel (5), Morse (4), Helix (1), Santa Fe Christian (11), Valley Center (1).