2017 Week 17: Cougars Were Steeled in Stretch Run.
Steele Canyon’s winning the State Division 3-A championships was comparative to an NFL team sneaking into the playoffs as a wild card and taking home the Super Bowl trophy.
The Cougars of Coach Scott Longerbone were 4-4 at midseason, got into the San Diego Section playoffs as a No. 7 seed, won 4 games in San Diego, and went on to the state championship with a 44-42 victory over Central Coast champion Half Moon Bay, which had won 14 in a row.
Steele Canyon (12-4) tied La Jolla Country Day’s 2016 state finalist and several others for the most games played by a California high school.
Sixteen games! It’s what they play in the big league.
San Diego Section teams won 2 of 5 state finals in 2016 and 1 of 5 this year. But the section was more competitive this season, no blowout losses compared to 2016, when The Bishop’s was beaten by Oakdale, 47-0, and Horizon was taken down by Strathmore, 62-22.
The most decisive score differential in 2017 was Calexico Vincent Memorial’s 38-20 loss to San Francisco Galileo.
The most recent CIF state format was adapted in 2015. San Diego Section teams are 5-8 in that period and 9-13 since state playoffs were reinstated in 2007.
The Los Angeles Rams’ Jared Goff is one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL but five years ago, Goff’s Marin Catholic team from the North Coast Section was a 38-35 loser to Madison in the state D-IV championship…San Francisco Galileo, conqueror of Calexico Vincent Memorial in VI-A, is the alma-mater of many Italian-American baseball players of generations past and of prominent people in business and the arts but probably is best known as the school from which O.J. Simpson graduated and the school that baseball immortal Joe DiMaggio did not attend…DiMaggio never went to high school…San Diego State came hard at the last minute and received a commitment from Helix quarterback Carson Baker, who originally had chosen California-Davis….Baker completed 19 of 31 passes for three touchdowns and ran for another as Helix battled Folsom before losing, 49-42…Highlanders sophomore Elejon Noa rushed for 1,013 yards in five playoff games…Galileo scored touchdowns on three of its first five snaps in the third quarter after trailing, 14-8, at halftime…Cameron Junger passed for five touchdowns and rallied El Centro Southwest from a 34-14 deficit early in the third quarter but Milpitas scored the winning touchdown with 2:37 remaining in the game…Steele Canyon withstood a Half Moon Bay rally after the school on Highway 94 led, 34-15, in the third quarter…the championship was a breakthrough for Coach Scott Longerbone’s program…the Cougars had not moved beyond the San Diego Section semifinals in seven previous tries….
2017: Hamamoto, Hauser, Jackson Jump 3 Places
Three coaches each moved up three spots in the annual review of those with at least 100 victories in their careers in this area or in the San Diego Section.
Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto now has 218 victories and is fifth all-time behind Herb Meyer (339), John Carroll (248), Bennie Edens (239) and John Shacklett (229).
Hamamoto started the season eighth. Mission Hills’ Chris Hauser, with 154 victories, climbed from 19th to 16th and Madison’s Rick Jackson, with 128 wins, moved from 32nd to 29th.
Jackson, whose overall record is 128-39-1, has the best active won-loss percentage, .765, and will enter the 2018 season as the Section all-time leader among coaches of least 100 victories.
Carroll is second in won-loss percentage at .763. Kearny’s Birt Slater next at .753, followed by Chula Vista’s George Ohnessorgen (.745), and Eastlake’s John McFadden (.735).
Several mentors, if they return next year, are not so far from 100 that they couldn’t make the jump in one season.
Olympian’s Paul Van Nostrand has 94 victories, Grossmont’s Tom Karlo, 91, Ramona’s Damon Baldwin, 90, and St. Augustine’s Richard Sanchez, 89.
Chula Vista’s Chet DeVore, who coached from 1951-55, was 44-7-1 and has the highest percentage (.856) among coaches of at least 50 games. San Diego’s Duane Maley, 1947-59, was 97-19.3 (.828). Hobbs Adams of San Diego, 1929-34, was 41-11-2 (.772), and Amos Schaefer of Coronado, 1926-35, was 55-25-5 (.676).
John Perry was 53-15-5 (.760) from 1920-27 at San Diego and 40-34-6 (.538) from 1930-39 at Hoover for an overall 93-49-11 (.644).
Mira Mesa will have its third coach in the school’s 41-year history. Gary Blevins (145-117-4, .552) announced his retirement. Blevins succeeded Brad Griffith, who started the program in 1977 and was 112-82-3, .576 when he retired after the 1994 season.
For a complete list of 100-game winners, go to the “Football” menu on the home page and drag to “Coach 100 Club”.
—A rare playoff run by San Diego teams in the Southern California playoffs.
—San Diego High marched through four rounds to win its only CIF Southern Section championship, along the way setting a school single-game scoring record…maybe.
—Hoover blitzed Class B opponents in an attempted sequel to championships in 1931-32, 1933-34, and 1934-35, but there was no championship hardware and no satisfaction.
FAST START
San Diego entered the season with four lettermen starters, Ernie Mallory, Melvin Hendry, Vance Randolph, and Lowell Lee, and picked up a fifth, Bill Patterson, who transferred in from Frankford, Indiana.
Alhambra and Long Beach Poly were favored to fight it out for Coast League laurels. The Hilltoppers were 6-8 overall the previous year, 3-7 in league play, and 0-4 against the Moors and Jackrabbits.
San Diego showed early that it was vastly improved, sweeping Class A (a more preferred nomenclature than “varsity”) competition on the Hilltoppers’ home floor in the 13th annual San Diego County Interscholastic Tournament that opened the season in December.
With Mallory leading, Coach Mike Morrow’s squad whipped through Grossmont, 48-13, Point Loma, 36-14, and Ramona, 54-15.
Alhambra was the visitor in the league opener and went home a stunned, 31-28 loser after trailing, 15-9, at halftime. Mallory led the winners with 13 points.
The San Diego-Alhambra contest was played on a Friday afternoon at 3:30 instead of at the usual 7:30 p.m. because the Moors didn’t want to be headed home late at night on the Coast Highway with the threat of fog.
Travel and its various inconveniences always were a nemesis for the far-flung Coast League squads.
The 1935-36 Southern California champions pose in front of the City Stadium peristyle, front row (from left): Ernie Mallory, Paul Shea, Roy Cleator, Vance Randolph, Billy Cesena. Middle row, from left: Coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow, Roy Rollins, Judson Starr, Melvin Hendry, Lowell Lee. Top row, from left: Bill Patterson, Bob Barth, Homer Peabody, manager Erickson. Missing, Eddie Preisler, Herman Gatewood.
COAST IS CLEAR
The visiting Hilltoppers led Long Beach Poly, 18-17, at the end of three quarters in their next game but couldn’t hold on and dropped a 21-19 decision. It was the Jackrabbits’ 17th victory in the 19 games between the teams since they first met in the 1920-21 season but also San Diego’s last loss in the 15-1 season.
A 40-18 victory at Santa Ana was followed by a 29-23 win at Alhambra, setting up another big game with Poly at San Diego. The Hillers prevailed, 29-25, as Vance Randolph, who would be lost to the team at midterm graduation, scored 11 points.
Randolph and acting captain Eddie Preisler were scheduled to participate in cap and gown ceremonies but opted to stay with the team and make their final appearances at Santa Ana. A 37-29 victory over the Saints clinched the Hilltoppers’ first outright league championship. They had tied for first with Poly in 1932-33.
With time before the beginning of the playoffs, the Hillers took on the touring Knapps Grocery Stores squad from Oakland. The 51-25 rout was part of a doubleheader in which Coach Ed Ruffa’s B team, playing an independent schedule, defeated the Markel-Johnson Poultry House, 31-28.
BEERKLE LOOKING FOR EDGE?
Point Loma, 7-0 and Metropolitan League champion after a 24-16 victory over 6-1 Escondido, was the Hillers’ first playoff opponent.
The Pointers did not have a gymnasium (one newspaper reported the Pointers defeated their alumni, 38-28, “on an outdoor court made soggy by the rains”) and even used the Hillers’ gym in preparation for the game.
San Diego’s Roy Cleator unsuccessfully attempted to block shot of Point Loma’s Joaquin Qualin, while Hillers’ Lowell Lee (13) and Vance Randolph (16) look on, with Pointers’ Moxon Mixon (40).
Pointers coach Joe Beerkle also bemoaned the fact that he had players who were “on call” to the tuna industry.
Beerkle said that if a fishing vessel came in, starters Gil Gonsalves and Joaquin Qualin would have to forego the playoff encounter and help off-load the boat.
There apparently were no arrivals at the Embarcadero, but the Pointers still were outmanned and lost, 32-18. San Diego the next night took on barnstorming Phoenix Union and beat the Coyotes, 45-35.
WHAT’S THE SCORE?
Morrow’s club met visiting Huntington Beach in the quarterfinals and scored a 73-45 victory. Or was it 82-45?
The San Diego Union noted the upcoming game early in the week but then ignored the usual day-of-game advance and did not report on the Saturday night contest.
The rival Evening Tribune printed a very short Monday afternoon story that San Diego had won, 73-45. That score also was corroborated by Don King’s Caver Conquest, with attribution to The Russ, San Diego High’s newspaper.
Ernie Mallory’s 18 points represented the only individual total in the Tribune.
The account seemed all well and good until the Los Angeles Times’ result showed a Huntington Beach dateline and a different score.
The unbeaten Hoover Cardinals Class B squad. Kneeling, from left: Don DeLauer, Gene McNeal, Milky Phelps. Tommy Johnson, Moore. Standing, from left: Coach Bruce Maxwell, Bob White, Yapp, Dick Mitchell, Monseca, Shepard, manager Kahan.
The Times’ story presented an editorial slant toward the losing team and essentially was a wrap on the Oilers’ Orange League championship season, but the text was accompanied by a comprehensive box score, which showed that San Diego exploded for 53 points in the second half and won, 82-45.
Mallory was credited with 18 points, followed by 15 each from Bill Patterson and Melvin Hendry, 2 by Lowell Lee, and 9 by the fifth starter Roy Cleator. Substitutes included Billy Cesena (2), Herman Gatewood (6), Mike Shea (4), and Bob Barth (2).
A player named “Peder” also was credited with 9 points. There was no record of such human, but there was a Homer “Peabody” on the squad.
CIF Southern Section playoff results for the season also honored the 82-45 score.
The Times’ box score still begged the question. Why no definitive story and complete box score in the San Diego publications?
We’ll have to go with the locals’ 73-45 count until hearing otherwise and with their subsequent 34-32 win over Santa Barbara and 47-35 championship game victory over Bonita. Semifinals and finals were played at La Verne College.
RARE OUTBURST
What makes the San Diego-Huntington Beach score enticing is that San Diego’s point total, 73 or 82, was 40 to 50 points above normal for the era. Basketball was a slow-moving, low-scoring, and slowly evolving game offensively, although San Diego somehow scored 76 points in the 1916-17 season against Escondido, which scored 23.
If 82 was correct in San Diego’s progression of high-point totals, the 80 against Grossmont in 1952-53 would be invalid. The issue became moot in 1957-58, when San Diego outscored La Jolla, 86-40.
RIVALRY ON HIATUS
“Though coaches and principals of both schools are anxious for the series to continue, it now appears that students of San Diego and Hoover Highs will be without their annual Hilltop-Cardinal cage titanic, yearly the high spot of the basketball programs of the rival city schools.” That was the lede (first paragraph) on an article in The San Diego Union on Jan. 15, 1936.
Hoover had become a member of the Bay League and played league games on Friday. San Diego played Coast League games on Tuesdays and Fridays. Coaches Mike Morrow of San Diego and Bruce Maxwell of Hoover looked for loopholes in their schedules.
The series could be played on Wednesday or Thursday, but this would have put Morrow’s players at the disadvantage of two league and one bragging rights game in one week.
The Cardinals and Hillers, who first played in 1933-34, would resume their rivalry in 1936-37 and played at least once a season until 1976-77.
SWARM OF BEES
Hoover’s powerful Class B team, won the County tournament by defeating Grossmont, 37-4, San Diego, 30-26, and Sweetwater, 37-7, and, led by future San Diego State legend Milton (Milky) Phelps, left their new Bay League rivals reeling.
The Cardinals won league games by scores of 61-24, 49-7, 43-25, 59-27, and 51-14. Santa Monica came closest but still was a well-beaten 35-19. The Cardinals rolled in the playoffs, running Carpinteria off the court, 60-12, and swarming San Luis Obispo, 66-30.
The B playoff semifinals and final rounds were at El Monte High.
Hoover’s opponent in the finals was well regarded South Pasadena, a 32-31 winner over El Monte and the team the Cardinals defeated at San Diego State, 36-22, in the 1934-35 championship.
The venue essentially represented a home game for the Tigers. The distance of about 14 ½ miles from South Pas to El Monte was in contrast to the 120 miles that Hoover had traveled to get to the final four site.
Ernie Mallory (top) and Bill Patterson propelled Hilltoppers’ attack.
OH, OH!
The dispatch from El Monte following the semifinals was curious: “Some doubt remains as to where the final game will be played, although Coach Bruce Maxwell has been advised to report to the El Monte gym here tomorrow afternoon with his Hoover team for the finale.”
Maxwell and his team arrived on time and the team was on the court and waited more than an hour, but South Pasadena didn’t show, announcing that it would play only on its home court, apparently because the Tigers were the visiting team at Hoover in the 1934-35 title game.
No forfeit.
The CIF bulletin of April, 1936, announced that the executive committee unanimously voted that no champion be declared since “a disagreement had developed over the place of playing the final game in Class B basketball.”
The committee also passed a resolution ending existing playoff arrangements in Classes B, C, and D and allowing league champions to host at least one interleague championship game.
HILLTOP BEES ALSO STUNG
Competing as an independent team and holding wins over Long Beach Poly and Santa Ana, Coach Ed Ruffa’s San Diego High B team was rebuffed in its attempt to gain a playoff berth.
CIF boss Seth Van Patten suggested that the Hillers’ B squad take on Hoover’s super team in a best, two-of-three series, with the winners being admitted to the postseason. Since Hoover already had won its league and was in the playoffs, the idea died a quiet death.
FAVORED FLOOR
The San Diego High gymnasium, when not used for practice by the Hilltoppers’ teams, was in use virtually every day of the week.
Point Loma and Sweetwater moved their Metropolitan League opener up one day in order to play on the San Diego court. The teams didn’t want to use Sweetwater’s outdoor court.
San Diego’s playoff with Point Loma was rescheduled for the afternoon. Hoover had requested the San Diego gym for that night.
Metropolitan League teams came from long distances to play games at San Diego High. Army-Navy, Coronado, and Escondido were the only other schools to have gyms. Oceanside’s building was almost complete.
SET SHOTS
Ernie Mallory, one of the top players of the first half-century in the County, and Vance Randolph of San Diego were on the all-Southern California first team…a second-team guard was Pasadena Muir Technical’s Jackie Robinson…Point Loma coach Joe Beerkle, short of players, moved varsity standout Joaquin Qualin to Class B and Qualin scored 12 points in a 40-12 win over Army-Navy…Ramona won the Southern Prep League championship by defeating runner-up Julian, 43-8…Hoover fielded five teams, Varsity, Class B and C, junior varsity and junior varsity B…Hoover’s Class C squad nosed out Memorial Junior High,15-13…after players had dressed and departed for home it was discovered that Memorial had scored an additional two points…the teams agreed to play another game the next week…Dickie Tazlear scored 16 as Hoover prevailed, 30-24….
2017 Week 16: Helix Faces Hostile Environment on Neutral Field
The San Diego Section has four chances to win at least one of the six state championships this week. Last year the Section was 2-3, with victories by Cathedral in Division I-AA and Madison in D-3.
Most of this week’s games appear tossups, but no team has a challenge like that facing the Helix Highlanders, who will be a decidedly visiting team at Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State campus.
Helix’ opponent is the Sac-Joaquin Section’s 15-0 Folsom, painfully remembered as the team that clobbered Oceanside, 68-7, in Pirates coach John Carroll’s final game in 2014.
Sacramento is the hub of the Sac-Joaquin Section and Folsom, for which Johnny Cash brought some notoriety when he wrote “Folsom Prison Blues” in 1957, is its heartbeat, about 17 miles and 20 minutes from Hornet Stadium.
The Bulldogs were 16-0 in 2014, 14-1 in 2015, and 12-2 in 2016.
The Highlanders had success against another tough team from that area, defeating Loomis Del Oro, 35-24, for the Division II championship in 2011, but that game was played at the Carson Stub Hub in Southern California.
Cathedral topped Stockton St. Mary’s of the Sac-Joaquin Section, 38-31, for the 1-AA championship in 2016. That game also could have been considered a home engagement for St. Mary’s, which is located about 45 miles from Hornet Stadium.
As a prognosticator, I’ve been a shade above average, nothing to brag about. I’m 13-9 in the last three weeks, falling from 8-3 in Week 12 to 2-3 and 3-3. Here’s another shot trying to pick the winners:
DIVISION 1-AA
The moons seemed to be aligned for Folsom, realistically the home team at this “neutral” facility. The Bulldogs have scored 721 points and average 48 points a game. No team has come closer than Carmichael Jesuit, which bowed, 27-14, in the Sac-Joaquin playoffs.
Helix’ outstanding defenders Isaac Stuart-Taylor and Rashad Scott will be tested by Folsom wide outs Elijah Badger and Joe Ngata. Joe and his brother Daniyel combined for five touchdowns last week in the Bulldogs’ 54-35 win over 12-2 Fresno Central.
Helix, 13-1 after an opening loss to Paraclete, was tough and resourceful last week, hiking 165 miles through the Los Angeles and Ventura County fire areas, overcoming an early deficit, and walking away from Cal-Hi Sports’ No. 8 team, Westlake Village Oaks Christian, 28-13.
Scott’s 27-yard touchdown interception return put the Highlanders ahead for good, 14-13.
The win elevated Helix from 13th to seventh in Cal-Hi’s top 50. Folsom now stands fifth.
The Pick: Folsom 28, Helix 21, @Sacramento State.
D3-A
Rancho San Diego and areas around Mt. San Miguel are agog. The Cougars’ game with Half Moon Bay has been moved from Steele Canyon (11-4) to Southwestern College in response to an anticipated crowd that would swamp Steele facilities.
Steele, under Coach Scott Longerbone, has come all the way from being a No. 7 seed in the San Diego Section playoffs to knock off unbeaten Ramona in the San Diego finale and top Orange El Modena last week. Those wins came after blowout losses to Helix and Grossmont in the middle of the season.
Half Moon Bay (14-0), from the Central Coast Section, overlooks the Pacific and sits 57 miles South of San Francisco on Highway 1. The also-named Cougars represent one of the oldest schools in the area, opening in 1909, and are members of the Peninsula Bay League.
The Central Coast is not regarded as one of the upper-echelon sections in California football, although the West Catholic League of San Mateo Serra, San Jose Village Christian, Mountain View St. Francis, and San Jose Bellarmine have solid, state-wide reputations.
The Half Moon Cougars received a 46.0 score from Cal Preps.com, while the Steele Cougars’ score is 42.8.
The Pick: Steele Canyon 24, Half Moon Bay 20, @Southwestern College.
D4-A
The Pick: Milpitas 31, @El Centro Southwest 35.
D-6A
The Pick: San Francisco Galileo 30, @Calexico Vincent Memorial 45.
TRUE GRID
Folsom’s Cal Preps.com score is 73.6, Helix’ 67.5……Helix’ Cal Preps.com score dipped from 68.4 after Paraclete was shocked by Harbor City Narbonne, 50-14…San Diego teams came close to sweeping all six Southern California playoff games last week…Monte Vista was edged by Anaheim Katella, 36-35, after leading, 35-7, and El Camino was upset by Los Angeles Crenshaw, 13-10…Cathedral lost to Loomis Del Oro of the Sierra Foothill League, 22-12, in the season opener…Del Oro, 8-6 overall, was on the short end of a 54-10 score against Folsom…the Folsom state prison is 3.3 miles from the high school campus, opened in 1880, and was the first California lockup to have electricity…Milpitas (12-2) won its Northern championship, 52-38, over Moraga Campolindo, the team that overcame a three-touchdown deficit in the final seven minutes to top El Capitan, 35-28, in the state final in 2014…Milpitas has a 38.7 Cal Preps.com score to 14-0 El Centro Southwest’s 38.2…San Francisco Galileo (10-2) is the alma mater of O.J. Simpson…the Imperial Valley is hosting two championship games within five miles…El Centro Southwest is at home and Calexico Vincent Memorial (12-2) is playing at Calexico High….
2017: Week 15: Helix Game Site in Question
Note: Westlake Village Oaks Christian closed school today because of smoke and ash from the nearby wildfires. Helix is scheduled to play there Friday night, Dec. 7.
The field at Southwestern faces south to North but the football moved east.
Helix, Steele Canyon, and Monte Vista, from the two Grossmont leagues in the foothills of San Diego County, won championships and El Centro Southwest and Calexico Vincent Memorial from the Far East in Imperial Valley also took home hardware.
El Camino, from the oft-ballyhooed Avocado League, provided a break in the trend.
All five division winners will move on to the Southern California championship “bowl series” games this week, prelude to the state championships Dec. 15-16. Five qualifiers from Open through D-1A will play at Hornet Stadium on the Sacramento State campus.
The winner between Helix and Westlake Village Oaks Christian will go to Sacto for a game on Dec. 15. Other division winners will compete Dec. 16 at sites to be determined.
The five other San Diego Section champions have been slotted in D-3A through D-6AA.
DIVISION I-AA
Placed in the highest alignment behind the Open Division, which will be settled by Santa Ana Mater Dei and Concord De La Salle on Dec. 16, Helix (12-1) is presented with another daunting challenge on the road, 165 miles away, unless evacuations and continual fire danger force a change of venue.
The Highlanders led favored Mission Viejo, 28-25, with two minutes remaining and had the ball, but a fumble recovered by the Diablos in Helix territory led to a 32-28 Mission Viejo victory in 2015. The Orange County team went on to defeat San Jose Bellarmine, 24-0, and wrap a 16-0 season.
Oaks Christian is 12-2 and winner of its last nine after an uneven start in which the Lions lost their opener to West Hills Chaminade, 47-10, and a game 5, 38-20 decision to Murrieta Valley. They’ve outscored their opponents by an average of 36-11 since and are No. 8 in Cal-Hi Sports’ Top 50.
Helix, which jumped from 20th to Cal-HI’s 13th this week, has solid quarterbacking in Carson Baker and can pound the ball with sophomore running back Elelyon Noa. The Scots will face the exponential need to protect the ball and play their game in what would be a hostile setting, much like 2015.
Their Cal-Hi rankings fairly close, both teams are closer in the analytics department. Oaks has a computer score of 66.5, according to Cal Preps.com, Helix 65.5.
A nagging, Week 2 loss of 23-6 to Lancaster Paraclete, which lost to Oaks Christian, 30-21, seems to have cost Helix more in the ratings.
The Pick: Helix 34, @Oaks Christian 28.
Winner meets Northern champion Fresno Central or Folsom.
D-3A
Steele Canyon (10-4), the seventh seed in the San Diego Section Open Division, won its last six after blowout losses of 41-7 to Helix and 51-14 to Grossmont, and knocked off top seed Ramona, 33-29, in the finals. Orange El Modena (12-2) played in a softer North Hills League of Orange County. Steele has a 41.4 Cal-Preps score, El Modena 40.
The Pick: Steele Canyon 24, @El Modena 20.
Winner meets Northern champion Sutter or Half Moon Bay.
D-4AA
El Camino (8-5) overcame the loss of suspended coach Jerry Ralph, who had put the Wildcats in position for a run this season, and rallied behind Mike Hobbs, the former El Centro Central mentor, with strong play through the playoffs. Crenshaw, a member of the weak Los Angeles Coliseum League, was beaten by Harbor City Narbonne, 48-7, in the L.A. City finals.
The Pick: @El Camino, 35, Crenshaw 21.
Winner meets Northern champion Placer or Salinas.
D-4A
El Centro Southwest (13-0) won its first championship since joining the San Diego Section in 2000 and was one of the three unbeaten finalists to survive last weekend at Southwestern (Ramona and San Diego, the two others, each went down).
San Joaquin Memorial (11-2) lost to Fresno Edison and Fresno Bullard, which finished a combined 13-12, in league play but got hot with four playoff wins and will have to overcome an expected seven-hour trip of 430 miles down U.S. 99, through Los Angeles, east to Palm Springs and South to the Imperial County.
The Pick: San Joaquin Memorial 30, @El Centro Southwest 27.
Winner meets Northern champion Milpitas or Moraga Campolindo.
D-5AA
Monte Vista (8-5) and coming hard, will play at an interesting venue, Anaheim’s Western High, better known as the alma-mater of Tiger Woods. Coach Ron Hamamoto, with 218 career victories, will send big running back Jahmon McClendon against Anaheim Katella (12-1).
The Pick: Katella 41, Monte Vista 28.
Winner meets Northern champion Oakland McClymonds or East Nicolaus.
D-6AA
Huntington Park (11-3) won the Los Angeles City Section after finishing third in the Eastern League. Calexico Vincent Memorial (11-2) will be at home at nearby Calexico High.
The Pick: Huntington Park, 27, Calexico Vincent Memorial 20.
Winner meets Northern champion San Francisco Gallileo or Rio Vista.
TRUE GRID
The dream season of San Diego High ended with a 71-48 loss in D-IV to Monte Vista..Monte Vista coach Ron Hamamoto, believe it or not, coached a 71-48 Rancho Bernardo victory over West Hills in a 1999 playoff…the Monarchs’ Jahmon McClendon, a tall, upright runner in the mold of pro football Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, wore down the Cavers with 8 touchdowns…San Diego, which led, 22-21, in the second quarter, finished with a 12-1 record and tied the 1916 Hilltoppers team for most wins…Helix’ 26-19 victory over Mission Hills attracted a standing-room crowd of 9,304 to Southwestern College, not an easy place to get to on a Friday or Saturday night, but the best locale in the area, by far…Helix thus earned the No. 1 ranking in the final Union-Tribune poll….
Rank
Team
2017
Points
Week 11
1.
Helix (28)
12-1
280
2
2.
Mission Hills
12-1
251
1
3.
San Marcos
9-3
174
5
4.
Torrey Pines
7-5
173
9
5.
El Camino
8-5
157
NR
6.
Steele Canyon
10-4
129
NR
7.
Ramona
12-1
104
3
8.
Madison
8-3
86
8
9.
El Centro Southwest
13-0
47
NR
10.
Eastlake
10-3
42
NR
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
NR: Not Ranked.
Others receiving votes: La Costa Canyon (7-4, 39 points), St. Augustine (7-4, 23), Monte Vista (8-5, 10), The Bishop’s (9-1, 8), Oceanside (6-7, 4), Grossmont (7-4, 3).
Voters (28 sportswriters, sportscasters, officials): John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Paul Rudy, Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI Chl. 51; Adam Paul, East County Preps.com; Ramon Scott, East County Sports.com; Bodie DeSilva, San Diego Preps.com; Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090; Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions; Troy Hirsch, Fox 5 San Diego; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Jerry Schniepp, John LaBeta, Carlton Hoggard, CIF San Diego; Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net; Montell Allen, MBASports-SDFNL Magazine; Bob Petinak, 1360AM; John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator; Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Country 107.9FM; Jim Arnaiz, Mike Dolan, John Carroll, CIF Football Tournament Directors.
1945-46: “We Got (Expletive)!”
“Elevator! Elevator! We Got The Shaft!” The shout is almost as old as the game. Visiting teams’ supporters furious that the referees or the timekeeper were unjust, a polite term for being “homered”.
The Huntington Beach Oilers felt that way when the Oilers, 4-0 on the season and a reported 20-1 in 1944-45, were on the short end of a 38-37 score at San Diego in a game punctuated by a wild finish and “pandemonium, with fans spilling onto the floor,” according to The San Diego Union.
Huntington Beach had taken a 37-36 lead on a free throw after Hilltopper Ben Cendali drew a personal foul with two minutes remaining in the game.
Cendali got back into his team’s good graces when he converted a free throw to tie the score, and then, in the final seconds, scored on another trip to the foul line for a 38-37 Hilltoppers advantage.
As time was running out, or ran out, depending on whose side you were on, the Oilers’ Elmer Coombs launched a desperation shot from behind the half-court line that drained the basket, but was disallowed.
Neither the Union or Evening Tribune game storiescarried a byline, indicating that the sports desk probably received a telephone call from Cavers coach John Brose or from a student representative.
The Huntington Beach coach apparently claimed that there was no moment that declared the game was over, charging that the starter pistol used to signal the ends of periods of play was faulty and never went off.
And no one heard the timer blowing a whistle that the game was over, according to the newspaper reports.
It also was reported that the game timer was Amerigo Dini, a Cavers football letterman who had to be filling in for a faculty member or coach.
And that’s the way it was on the cool, overcast evening of Dec. 16, 1945, as the city, relieved that war was over, prepared for the most joyous Christmas in years.
John Brose (left) was going into administration and Dewey (Mike) Morrow was returning from the military, as was Merrill Douglas.
CAPS AND GOWNS BECKON
Midterm graduates, the bane of coaches, left school around the first of February since the early days of the CIF.
Southern Section historian John Dahlem pointed out that the practice of students accumulating credits and graduating early probably began to diminish in the 1950s. Dahlem was part of one of the final midterm graduations in Southern California when he and others got their diplomas early in 1961 at Santa Monica High.
San Diego High had lost players for years, even during the 1935-36 Southern Section championship season but that team was talented enough to overcome.
Pre-war coach Merrill Douglas had returned from the Army but would not take over again until the 1946-47 school year, leaving the wartime mentor, John Brose, to cope with the departure of four starters.
That’s four, as in a starting lineup of five. Wally Pietila, Norm Scudder, Bob Grant, and Lee Bowman all left early, along with Elfego Padilla and Joe Castagnola, six of the top seven.
Brose coached splendidly in Douglas’ absence, his teams posting a 48-12 record in Brose’s three seasons, including 19-5 this year, but the Hilltoppers flattened out with a 4-4 finish after a 15-1 start.
Grant, a three-year letterman at center, was the leading scorer in his Victory League games, averaging 15 points.
Midterm graduate Bob Grant still led the all-Victory League team.
An assembly honoring the mid-term graduates saw the team’s most-valuable player trophy go to Grant and Pietila received the Parents Teachers’ Association award after earning 20 grades of A. Pietila was scheduled to enroll at the University of California at Berkeley.
The players’ last game was a 49-30 victory over Point Loma as Grant led the way with 18 points.
Brose pointed out that “Pietila, Castagnola, and Bowman actually were Bees, but their play elevated them. It is unusual for a B exponent (height, weight, age) player starting on varsity.”
The 5-foot-5, 128-pound Pietila, one of the Hilltoppers’ starting forwards, just missed qualifying for Class C.
NEW LINEUP
Brose began his team’s second season by inserting reserves Bob McCommins, Jerry Dahms, John Holloway, Charlie Coffey, and Clyde Barnes into the rotation with junior Ben Cendali, who became the team’s leading scorer, averaging nine points in seven league games.
The Hilltoppers had no time to ease into the transition. Their next opponent was Grossmont, like San Diego, with a 4-0 record.
San Diego led, 26-25, late in the game, but the Foothillers’ Ish Herrera made a 30-foot set shot and Ralph Lamp added a basket for a 29-26 victory.
A 48-36 loss to Hoover dropped San Diego into third place tie with Coronado at 5-2 in the final standings, while Grossmont and Hoover, each 6-1, tied for first.
BEVERLY OR PLAYOFFS?
San Diego, with an invitation from the Beverly Hills Tournament, had switched its final Victory League game with Hoover from Feb. 22 to Feb. 12.
The tournament invite undoubtedly came before the midterm graduations, when the Cavers were undefeated in league play and with one of the best records in Southern California.
Hoover, as winner of the first Beverly event in the 1941-42 season and in the resumed event in 1944-45, also was part of the field. Grossmont expected an at-large bid, but The San Diego Union cited a “misunderstanding” between Beverly Hills officials and the Southern Section. The Foothillers were out.
Hoover’s bid for a third consecutive Beverly Hills title stalled against Santa Barbara. The Cardinals led, 19-8, at the half, and 26-19 after three quarters but fell to the eventual tournament champion, 33-32. San Diego started fast, 43-13 over Lawndale Leuzinger, but went home after a 43-24 loss to Anaheim.
The Cavers finished the season with a 43-34 loss to the San Diego State B’s.
POSTSEASON
The Victory League campaign ended on Feb. 22. The Southern Section playoffs would not begin until March 1.
Hoover and Grossmont first engaged in a playoff in the 1,800-seat capacity Men’s Gymnasium at San Diego State to determine the league champion and drew an estimated 2,200 persons who “occupied everything but the backboards,” according to The San Diego Union writer Mitch Angus.
A 49-29 victory sent the Cardinals into the first round of the Southern Section tournament and they responded with a 54-44 win over Brawley. The season ended when South Pasadena, 27-2 coming into the game, defeated the Cardinals, 33-23, in the semifinals.
Hoover finished the season and Rickey Wilson’s tenure as coach with a 13-6 record, following seasons of 10-4, 16-5, 11-4, 14-5, and 16-1.
Wilson’s overall record of 80-25 and .762 winning percentage remained as the best in school history in a succession of mostly successful coaches through the turn of the century.
Hoover’s Jack Seiquist participated in the photo opportunity of the day.
SAY, AREN’T YOU…
…Herb Hoskins?
The man coaching the Brawley Wildcats in their first-round playoff game against Hoover looked familiar.
Hoskins had been the Sweetwater football coach two decades before, posting a 40-29-3 record from 1919 to 1928. He moved to the Imperial Valley after leaving the Red Devils and taught chemistry at Brawley, adding basketball to his resume before the 1943-44 campaign.
REDBIRDS’ RUN
Hoover won its 15th consecutive Victory League game by defeating Kearny, 39-21. The Cardinals had not lost in league play since 1943-44, but Kenny Tennison’s basket for Grossmont with five seconds remaining gave the Foothillers a 34-33 victory.
SET SHOTS
Play resumed in the Chino Invitational after the wartime hiatus following the 1941 tournament…defending champion Hoover dropped a 41-39 decision to Burbank in the semifinals…San Diego bowed, 32-24, to San Bernardino in the semifinals…lack of local competition annually forced Hoover and San Diego to the road…the Cardinals began their season with a U.S. 395 trip to San Bernardino (29-26 loss) and Ontario Chaffey (37-34 win)…Grossmont went East, through snow in the Laguna Mountains, and was beaten, 24-20, at El Centro Central…San Diego warmed for league games with 22-13 and 36-29 victories at Compton and Redondo Beach Redondo, respectively…the Cavers went North late in the season to defeat a group of prisoners at the Chino’s Men’s Institute, 37-34, and at Huntington Beach, 21-15…Coronado’s Dave Melton was the leading Victory League scorer, averaging 12.1 points with 85 in seven games…Melton played 13 years in baseball, mostly in the high minors, and had cups of coffee with the Kansas City A’s in 1956 and ’58…Melton hit .299 with 116 runs batted in and 19 home runs for San Francisco in the PCL in 1955…St. Augustine defeated Santa Monica St. Monica’s, 24-13, in a Southland Catholic League contest on an outdoor court at Navy Field…Grossmont took season high point honors in a 63-10 rout of San Diego Vocational…Bob Grant scored 20 points in San Diego’s 60-22 win over Kearny….
