El Camino was 58-81 through 2015 after Herb Meyer took his 339 career victories and walked into the coaching sunset in 2001.

Jerry Ralph is the Oceanside school’s fourth coach since Meyer stepped down and may have the Warriors positioned to end a run of mediocrity.

El Camino has had 4 winning seasons following Meyer, whose brilliant career started at Oceanside in 1958.

The Wildcats last week led Rancho Bernardo, the defending state Division III-A champion, 10-0, in the third quarter and 17-14 in the fourth, but a couple disastrous turnovers opened the door.

The Broncos of coach Tristan McCoy, playing at home before 5,000 blue-clad and logo-appareled loyalists, snatched the opportunity and pulled out a 28-17 victory.

HEAD COACH OF 5 TEAMS

Ralph was 16-17 in three seasons at Santana, 78-32-2 in nine at St. Augustine, 2-8 in a startup program at Del Norte, and 27-19 at long-dormant Hoover.

Can he do it at El Camino, where the tide rolled back to neighborhood rival Oceanside after the millennium?

Ralph, who holds the San Diego County record with five different head-coaching appointments, obviously learned as he moved along his coaching track.

Go where you can win.

Ralph’s best move may have been exiting Del Norte after one season (the Nighthawks have an all-time record of 24-44).

Legendary mentor Ed Burke, 243-95 at King City, Taft Union, San Dieguito, and Torrey Pines, may have said it best when he spoke with Ralph of the pain that usually accompanies a first-year school playing a varsity schedule:

“It’s something you will never forget and something you will never do again,” Burke said.

El Camino is a place where Ralph can win.

MILESTONES

Poway’s 43-19 win over Mount Miguel was the 100^th of coach Damian Gonzalez’ career.  Gonzalez is the 42^nd locally to earn that many victories.

Valley Center defeated Brawley for the 198^th victory in Rob Gilster’s coaching career.

Gilster was 63-43-3 from 1989-97 at Orange Glen, then opened Valley Center in 1998, and is 135-74-2 with the Jaguars.

Gonzalez, is 82-60-1 since 2004 at Poway, following a stint at Army-Navy, where Gonzalez was 18-22-2 from 1997-00.

Calipatria defeated visiting Maranatha for coach Mike Swearingen’s first win in 12 seasons.

Swearingen was 55-50-1 at Imperial and El Centro Southwest before going on hiatus after the 2005 campaign.

OUT OF TOWNERS, CON’T.

San Diego Section teams were 3-1 last week and are 7-6 overall in principal intersectional games.

Coronado dropped a 26-12 decision to Sun Valley Village Christian.  Cathedral topped Modesto Central Catholic, 28-25. Eastlake whipped Lake Forest El Toro, 41-21, and Helix beat Concord Clayton Valley, 13-0.

3 IN TOP 20

My weekly vote in the Union-Tribune Top 10 is different than the overall poll below, but is similar to that of  Cal-Hi Sports.

My No. 1 is Cathedral, followed by Helix, and St.Augustine.  Cal-Hi Sports  chose Cathedral No. 13 in its top 25, with Helix 19th, and St. Augustine 23rd.

Bubble teams include Rancho Bernardo, Oceanside, and Madison.

WEEK 3 TOP 10

First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points awarded on basis of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Rank	Team	W-L	Points	Last Week
1.	St. Augustine (14)	2-0	249	1
2.	Helix (6)	1-1	231	2
3.	Cathedral (4)	2-0	218	3
4.	Oceanside  (2)	2-0	189	4
5.	Rancho Bernardo (1)	2-0	173	5
6.	Mission Hills	1-0	111	6
7.	Madison	1-1	95	7
8.	Mater Dei	2-0	80	9
9.	Poway	2-0	33	NR
10.	San Marcos	2-0	20	NR

Others receiving votes: Mt. Carmel (2-0, 15); Grossmont (2-0), El Camino (1-1), 11 each; La Costa Canyon (1-1, 10); Carlsbad (1-1), Eastlake (1-1), 4 each; Olympian (2-0), Valhalla (2-0), Santa Fe Christian (1-1), 1 each.

Twenty-seven sportswriters, sportscasters, and other representatives comprise the voting panel:

John Maffei, Union-Tribune. Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren,  Union-Tribune contributors. Michael Bower, Pomerado News. Lisa Lane, Fox 5 News. Montell Allen, MBA Sports-SDFNL Magazine. Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI, Channel 51. Adam Clark, Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090.Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Radio 107.9 FM. Bob Petinak, 1360 Radio. Bill Dickens, Adam Paul, Chris Davis, eastcountysports.com. Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com. Drew Smith, sdcoastalsports.com. Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net. Rick Smith, partletonsports.com. Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions. Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, CIF San Diego Section. John (Coach) Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator.

 

 Grossmont School District superintendent Lewis Smith was one of the most ardent advocates of what could have been termed the “Free San Diego” movement in the late 1950s.

Smith and other educational and school board associates wanted out of the vast Southern Section and were instrumental in formation of the tiny, 28-school San Diego Section in 1960.

The mere mention of “Grossmont” was music to Smith’s ears.  The former Grossmont administrator naturally found no confusion in the name he selected for the league in which district schools would participate.

The circuit was known as the Grossmont League and, beginning in 1961, was the largest in the fledgling section.

EXPANDING

Two decades later the original seven-school alignment had grown to nine, having added Santana in 1965 and Valhalla in 1974.

Nine teams and eight league games were migraine-causing headaches for athletic directors and coaches charged with scheduling.

–A 10-week season allowed for only one pre-league game and one bye week.

–A mid- or late-season bye made it difficult and sometimes impossible to find opponents (Helix had to go on a long road trip to Dana Hills in the last week of the regular season).

–Grossmont basketball teams were forced to start league play ahead of the Christmas vacation, before the traditional start on the first Friday night in January.

But most nettlesome was a system that allowed the Grossmont only two berths in the San Diego Section playoffs, especially when compared to their County counterpart.

METRO REALIGNED

The Metropolitan League also had experienced growing pains, but in 1981 split into Mesa (large) and South Bay (small) leagues of five teams each under the Metropolitan Conference umbrella.

The move guaranteed the Metro four playoff berths in the 3-A and 2-A divisions, which were created to best address fluctuating school enrollment numbers and athletic performance.

The two Metros were getting 25 per cent of the 16 San Diego Section 3-A and 2-A entries. The Grossmont, competing only in 3-A, received 12.5 percent.

“We have the longest league season in the County,” said Granite Hills coach Paul Wargo.  “Every game counts. There are other schools who only have to worry about four league games.”

“We need a 2A-3A situation,” said Grossmont coach Lynn Cole on the eve of the first league game.

The Grossmont might have gone to 10 teams and separated into two, five-squad alignments had Christian joined in 1978, but a proposal did not pass.

“There are real inequities in our league (in enrollment and in athletic success),“said Helix coach Jim Arnaiz.  “But back a few years ago, when there was discussion, the straw vote always came out 5-4 against splitting. It’ll take some real concern to get the interest up again and I don’t hear that concern.”

FIRST LOSER IN POSTSEASON

The level of concern heightened for the Helix mentor and others in the Grossmont hierarchy when they saw that Bonita Vista, with a 3-7 record, but second in the Mesa League, was going to the postseason.

Something needed to be done.

Helix and Granite Hills, each with an 8-2 record, were not in the playoffs.

Mount Miguel, 9-1, and Monte Vista, 8-2 with wins over Helix and Granite  Hills, were the Grossmont representatives.

Bonita Vista meanwhile became the first losing team so anointed in the section’s 25-season history.

With cooperation of the CIF board of managers, the East County schools were able to solve the problem after addressing the issue for the first time in three years.

The nine schools divided in 1985 and managed to not change names, becoming the Grossmont 3-A and Grossmont 2-A leagues.

Lewis Smith smiled from high above.

 

 

 

 

Two things learned in Week 1:

Helix might be less and St. Augustine might be more.

The No. 1 Highlanders, ranked ninth in the state in Cal-Hi Sports’ preseason Top 25, was surprised, 28-21, by Timpview of Provo, Utah, in a home game that marked the debut of coach Robbie Owens.

Timpview is no chump, with a flock of state championships and a 115-18 record the last 10 seasons, but Helix, 102-22-2, in the last decade, figured to get the measure of a travel-weary squad that had come more than 700 miles.

The Scots are out of the top position in the San Diego Union–Tribune ratings and St. Augustine, No. 2 last week, moved to No. 1 after scoring a touchdown on every possession until taking a knee in the final minute of a running-clock, 62-13 rout of usually representative Ramona.

My only quibble with voting colleagues was their giving too much cred to Mission Hills, which defeated middling Los Angeles Crenshaw, 21-20, on the road.  The Grizzlies, perhaps living on their strong reputation, jumped from ninth to sixth.

Mission Hills’ rise bumped Madison from sixth to seventh, but the Warhawks on the road played tough Vista Murrieta, the Los Angeles’ Times‘ No. 7 team, 12-2 in 2015, to a 20-9 loss in a game tied, 6-6 at the half.

First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points awarded on basis of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Rank	Team	W-L	Points	Last Week
1.	St. Augustine (11)	1-0	246	2
2.	Helix (9)	0-1	228	1
3.	Cathedral (3)	1-0	213	3
4.	Oceanside  (3)	1-0	196	4
5.	Rancho Bernardo (1)	1-0	168	5
6.	Mission Hills	1-0	98	9
7.	Madison	0-1	94	6
8.	La Costa Canyon	1-0	90	7
9.	Mater Dei	1-0	80	8
10.	Carlsbad	1-0	17	NR

Others receiving votes: Poway, 1-0, 15; 10, Grossmont, 1-0, 11; El Camino, 1-0, 8;  San Marcos, 1-0, 7; Torrey Pines, 1-0, 4;  El Capitan, 0-0, 1.

Twenty-seven sportswriters, sportscasters, and other representatives comprise the voting panel:

John Maffei, Union-Tribune. Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren,  Union-Tribune contributors. Michael Bower, Pomerado News. Lisa Lane, Fox 5 News. Montell Allen, MBA Sports-SDFNL Magazine. Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI, Channel 51. Adam Clark, Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090.Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Radio 107.9 FM. Bob Petinak, 1360 Radio. Bill Dickens, Adam Paul, Chris Davis, eastcountysports.com. Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com. Drew Smith, sdcoastalsports.com. Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net. Rick Smith, partletonsports.com. Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions. Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, CIF San Diego Section. John (Coach) Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator.

OUT OF TOWNERS

Including the Helix and Madison defeats and Mission Hills’ victory, San Diego Section squads were 4-3 in major intersectional games.

Oceanside won, 51-42, at L.A. Times No. 25 San Clemente; La Costa Canyon topped visiting Whittier La Serna, 30-21;  Menifee Paloma Valley clobbered Rancho Buena Vista, 55-3, and Cathedral topped Nevada’s Reno Damonte, 49-12.

PLEASED TO MEET YOU

Visiting athletic directors and travel honchos may have resorted to Triple-A or a Global Positioning System last week.

Granite Hills’ 13-12, home-game victory over San Pasqual did not move the coyotes on nearby El Capitan to howl at the moon  but  provided an interesting footnote in the schools’ histories.

The game at Valley Stadium was the first between the squads, separated by 38 miles and 44 years.

Granite Hills and San Pasqual, both known as the Eagles, together had played more than 950 contests since San Pasqual first kicked off in 1972,  but they’d never met, in the regular season or playoffs.

The opening week exercise was the North County Eagles’ 496th game and the 456th in the same time frame for the East County Eagles.

OTHERS, TOO

Grossmont had never been to Morse before the Foothillers’ 31-12 victory, and they’d met only once in the previous 46 years, a 49-17 Grossmont victory in Aztec Bowl in quarterfinals of the 1970 playoffs.

La Jolla had not rolled with Montgomery since 1999 and Eastlake, around since 1993, finally played Rancho Bernardo.  Valhalla got acquainted with Scripps Ranch, which opened in 1994 and took on the Norsemen for the first time.

QUICK KICKS

Poway’s 33-14 victory over Bonita Vista marked the 99^th career victory for Titans coach Damian Gonzalez…41 area coaches have won at least 100 since Grossmont’s Jack Mashin became the first in 1947 (follow the “Football” drop down menu to “Coach 100 Wins”)…Cathedral was  23^rd and St. Augustine and Madison were teams on the bubble in Cal-Hi Sports’ Week 1 rankings….

Helix and St. Augustine are 1-2 in the first Union-Tribune football poll and that’s how they finished in 2015.

The Highlanders  and most of the rest of the San Diego Section open the season this week,  marking one the earliest starts in County history, probably preceded only by the Hawaii preseason trips that were popular a couple decades ago.

Helix, 13-1 at season ago, will waste no time getting into the thick of the intersectional spirit, taking on visiting Provo Timpview,  a Utah power that was 11-2 in 2015, and 12-2 Concord Clayton Valley at Mission Viejo in Week 2.

St. Augustine, 10-3 last year, eases in with a home game at Mesa College against Ramona (4-7).

Other Top 10 teams also have early opportunity against out-of-area opponents.

No. 3 Cathedral takes on visiting Reno Damonte (4-7).  No. 4 Oceanside visits San Clemente (11-3).  No. 6 Madison is at Vista Murrieta (12-2), and No. 7 La Costa Canyon plays host to Whittier La Serna (11-3). Los Angeles Crenshaw (9-5) goes to No. 9 Mission Hills.

MORE COACH MOVEMENT

Ar least five other San Diego Section schools have new coaches, bringing the total to 24 that have changed field bosses since the end of the 2015 season.

Mike Swearingen is back for a third stint in the Imperial Valley, taking over at Calipatria. Swearingen was 55-50-1 at Imperial from 1994-01 and El Centro Southwest from 2004-05.

Others stepping in  are Chris Bonta, Escondido Charter; Anthony Johnson, Horizon; Kyle Duggin, Maranatha, and Mark Dederian, San Pasqual Academy.

Stay tuned for possibly others.

First-place votes in parenthesis.
Points awarded on basis of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

Rank	Team	2015	Points	2015 Final
1.	Helix (23)	13-2	265	1
2.	St. Augustine (2)	10-3	203	2
3.	Cathedral (2)	7-5	197	8
4.	Oceanside	9-5	171	5
5.	Rancho Bernardo	13-2	164	4
6.	Madison	8-3	144	6
7.	La Costa Canyon	7-4	88	NR
8.	Master Dei	14-1	78	9
9.	Mission Hills	11-1	62	3
10.	Bonita Vista	12-3	43	7

Others receiving votes: Carlsbad (7-4, 10 points), Point Loma, 8-4, 10 points), El Camino (7-6), Grossmont (7-4), nine each; Eastlake (5-6, eight), Torrey Pines (4-8, seven), Poway (6-6, five), San Marcos (8-4, 3), Steele Canyon (8-5, two), El Capitan (2-9, one).

Twenty-seven sportswriters, sportscasters, and other representatives comprise the voting panel:

John Maffei, Union-Tribune.

Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff, Jim Lindgren,  Union-Tribune contributors.

Michael Bower, Pomerado News.

Lisa Lane, Fox 5 News.

Montell Allen, MBA Sports-SDFNL Magazine.

Brandon Stone, Rick Willis, KUSI, Channel 51.

Adam Clark, Ted Mendenhall, Taylor Quellman, The Mighty 1090.

Steve (Biff) Dolan, Mountain Radio 107.9 FM.

Bob Petinak, 1360 Radio.

Bill Dickens, Adam Paul, Chris Davis, eastcountysports.com.

Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com.

Drew Smith, sdcoastalsports.com.

Raymond Brown, sdfootball.net.

Rick Smith, partletonsports.com.

Steve Brand, San Diego Hall of Champions.

Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta, CIF San Diego Section.

John Kentera, Prep Talent Evaluator.

“City” Stadium, a horseshoe-shaped edifice with a declared  23,312 concrete seats, opened the previous spring in the back yard of San Diego High.

Coincidentally, football fortunes improved on the Hilltop.

Coach Clarence (Nibs) Price, 2-3-1 in his inaugural 1914 season, guided the school to its best record in the 23 years since the game was introduced here.

Price, from Iowa and the University of California, was more familiar with rugby when he was appointed coach but was learning fast.

The Hilltoppers finished with a 6-1-1 record, the best since 1891, and boasted a roster of underclassmen who would make 1916 one of the greatest in school history.

The stadium, built at the same time as many of the historic buildings in Balboa Park, was part of the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1914, and gave San Diego High the advantage of playing at home.

Just not for the first game.

 

MONEY FORCES VENUE CHANGE

A San Diego-Coronado contest was scheduled, but the teams were forced to play on the island community’s polo grounds, later to become Coronado Country Club.

A dispute had arisen between the high school and the Park board, which demanded a $25 deposit and one-third of the gate receipts.

Meetings between the park entity and the school board resulted in compromise.

An agreement was made before the Hilltoppers’ next game against a Park Exposition Marine Corps team.

As reported in The San Diego Union:

“In the future the high school students will have the use of the grounds for their games by giving the park board due notice of their schedule of games. They will not be charged for use of the stadium, as (an agreement of) $60 per month will cover rental for contests where an admission fee would be charged.”

The $60 would be paid to a grounds-supervising “caretaker”, or stadium manager.

KARL’S DEED(S)

Karl Deeds, who went on to an outstanding career for the high school and played with several of his 1916 teammates at the University of California, scored the Hilltoppers’ first stadium touchdown.

The Park Exposition Marines led, 10-0, at halftime on a touchdown by an unidentified ball carrier and on a drop-kicked field goal from the 33-yard line by (no first name) Herman.

Trailing, 10-7, after Deeds’ short run for a score, San Diego pulled out the victory when George Howard policed a Marines fumble and raced 50 yards for a touchdown in the final three minutes.

BOWL GAME ATMOSPHERE

Student manager Renwick Thompson arranged for a large platform to be built in the stadium on Thanksgiving Day morning, before the game with Santa Ana.

The platform was decorated in the Hillers’ blue and white.  A program followed featuring Hawaiian music, Ragtime, syncopation, yells, cheers, and speakers that included principal Arthur Gould, coach Price, student body prez Ralph Noisat, and Thompson.

The morning festivities were only part of the Thanksgiving celebration.  As historian Don King wrote in Caver Conquest,  an “ear-splitting serpentine was formed at Sixth and B, wound its way through the downtown area, and finished up at the high school for a huge bonfire.”

More than 100 automobiles, or “machines,” as they also were called,  were part of the serpentine walk by students.

Oh, yes, the game.

“Togo” Shaw’s 35-yard field goal with about three minutes remaining gave the Hillers a 3-0 victory.

EARLY IMPRESSION NOT IMPRESSIVE

San Diego was 4-0 as it began preparation for Long Beach Poly, which had won 5 of the first 6 meetings since 1910 and had become the Hilltoppers’ main rival, along with Santa Ana.

An unnamed newspaper observer compared Price’s unbeaten squad to the group he saw before they played a game:

“Those who came out to see the first week of practice smothered an impulse to laugh and turned away with a sad shake of the head.  No chance, they said, the high school is out of the running with that bunch of hicks to defend their honor.”

Many players never had played the game before lining up for first time on a hot August afternoon.

JUPITER PLUVIUS*

*God of rain…and “rain-giver”.

The mythical figure ordered precipitation, lots of it, for two other, important games.

The Hillers boarded a 12:45 train north on Friday afternoon and received a wet and soggy greeting when they arrived in Long Beach. The field at Long Beach Poly the next day was laden with “four inches of mud,” according to one newspaper report.

Poly and San Diego fought to a 0-0 standoff.

San Diego had a choice for its first-round playoff versus Whittier: Play the game at distant L.A. High or at closer Santa Ana.

The Orange County venue was selected and the Hilltoppers and Cardinals went at it ankle deep in mud.  San Diego slipped and slid the most. Whittier won, 7-0.

(The Cardinals reward was a championship game against Pasadena, which prevailed, 50-0).

RULES AND REGULATIONS

The CIF Southern Section was created on March 29, 1913.

San Diego was a member  but, outside of local county entries Coronado, National City, Escondido, and Army-Navy, the Hilltoppers were about 90 miles from the closest possible opponent, in Orange or Riverside County.

“Machine” and train travel to Los Angeles was at least 4 hours.

Principal Gould and football manger Thompson attended a late afternoon meeting at Los Angeles High, at which officials for interscholastic games were selected and to settle dates and sites for proposed, upcoming games.

Gould and Thompson returned after learning that San Diego would not be invited to join the Southern California Football Conference.

Travel, as always, was an issue.

L.A. High had played the Hilltoppers at Bay View Park  in South San Diego on Christmas Day in each of the 1898 and 1899 seasons, but pulled out of a contest this season.

Romans officials stated that a game with the Hilltoppers was unattractive since it would not be a league encounter and that the gate wouldn’t cover expenses for an overnight trip from the Northern city.

SLOW START

The Southern Section struggled to gain traction.

Seth Van Patten, a former Escondido football and baseball coach, was the unofficial commissioner.  Van Patten worked with a budget of exactly $212.38 in the school year that ended in June.

Gaining the support of principals in the membership of 30-plus schools in five leagues was a challenge.

Van Patten and Los Angeles High principal E.W. Oliver spent much of their time trying to convince schools of the educational value of athletics and the CIF Southern Section.

Eligibility rules seemed simple, but….

In order to compete an athlete had to be 21 years or younger and passing in nine units of class work.  Post-graduates could not play and athletes had to have been at their school at least one semester.

A school caught using an ineligible player forfeited a game.

Age and transfer disputes were common…and still are, more than 100 years later.

SMACK TALK

Dean Mitchell of Coronado and George Blount of National City engaged in some unusual pregame coaching banter.

“They will be easy,” Mitchell said of the Red Devils.

“I’ll make the boys keep the score down to fifty,” said Blount.

Coronado won, 30-0.

SIGNS OF THE TIME

Holloween tomfoolery had local constables busy, according to The San Diego Union.

–An 8-year-old lad escaped after throwing a lemon through a plate-glass window of a residence at 27^th and A streets.

–Vandals leveled a row of fence posts at 16^th and M streets.

–Teenagers commandeered a large wagon and let the  vehicle loose at 16^th and C.  It drifted downhill for two blocks before the wagon tongue crashed into a house.

–A group of “colored girls” were arrested and then released after dressing up as men.

GROWING

San Diego High enrollment was almost 2,000 students in four grades.  Population within the city limits had grown from 18,000 at the turn of the century to approximately 50,000 in a decade in which there would be an 88 per cent increase.

HONORS

San Diego end Bryan (Pesky) Sprott made the all-Southern first team. Guard Lawrence Hall and back Karl Deeds made the second team.  Future major league baseball manager Fred Haney of Los Angeles Poly also was on the first squad.

TRUE GRID

Probably seeking a warm-weather trip, bosses at Butte High in Montana suggested a postseason game…the Bulldogs wanted expenses and a percentage of the gate, but the Hilltoppers declined…Pasadena was the power school…the Bullpups’ 50-0 win over Whittier in the first Southern Section championship resulted in their being named the state’s No. 1 squad…Pasadena also won the state swimming title….

Uneasy rested the crown.

San Diego High, anointed the best high school team in the country by a New York publication after the 12-0 campaign of 1916, experienced a season of highs and lows, emphasis on the latter.

Coach Clarence (Nibs) Price, who started practice in September with news that his best player was “dangerously ill with fever”, missed a playoff game that was coached by one of his players, and the Hilltoppers ended the season with a 0-55 thud.

Karl Deeds, an integral part of the championship squad who was forced to drop out of school to work and then was reinstated, mentored a 28-0 victory over El Centro Central from the City Stadium sideline as Price was away in Los Angeles, attempting to join the aviation corps.

The Great War in Europe had a far-reaching effect.

MULLER BACK

The “dangerously ill” Brick Muller recovered from fever and was back in uniform about three weeks into practice, but his was an uneven season.

Muller sustained a broken collarbone against the Occidental University frosh, missed rivalry games versus Long Beach Poly and Santa Ana, and was in and out of action for the remainder of the year.

Muller was a star end on the 1916 squad, making all-Southern California, and was the centerpiece of what Price hoped would be another championship entry.

The player was held in such high regard on campus that Muller was elected to the school’s athletic “executive committee” for the second year in a row, while he was home sick in bed.

FAREWELL

Price was back at his post and on the field for the season and tenure-ending, 55-0 playoff semifinals loss to Los Angeles Manual Arts, which the Hilltoppers defeated for the 1916 championship.

Baseball would provide a valedictory for Price, who left the school at the end of the spring semester, as the Hilltoppers overcame a 5-5 start, won seven of their last eight games and claimed Southern California and state titles.

The diminutive (5 feet, 6 inches) mentor entered the military and then returned to alma mater University of California, where he was appointed assistant football coach in 1919 and began a legendary career in Berkeley.

Price became head basketball coach in 1924 and held that position for 30 years. He also served in the rare, dual role  as football and basketball head coach from 1926-30.

Price’s basketball teams won more than 453 games and his 1944-45 club reached the national collegiate Final Four, posting a 30-6 record. The 17-0 squad of 1926-27 was named national champion by one publication.

MULLER ALSO LEAVES

Price occupies a significant position in Hilltoppers lore, but Muller became an athlete for the ages.

Muller beat Price to the door, transferring to Oakland Technical in the Bay Area in the spring and eventually  joined the coach in Berkeley, along with six of Muller’s 1916 teammates.

While playing rugby, the sport of choice at Oakland High in 1918, Muller sustained a broken jaw.  He still hooked up with the former San Diego High footballers by occasionally practicing with the University of California squad.

Muller won the state prep high jump championship in 1918 (5-11 ½) and 1919 (5-6) and was a silver medalist in the 1920 Olympics at Antwerp, Belgium, with a leap of 6-2 ¾.

The first Western player to earn all-America football honors, in 1921 and 1922, Muller  threw the longest pass in Rose Bowl history (reportedly 57 yards in the air, with the vintage, oblong ball), and was a point producer in track, finishing second in the broad jump, third in the high jump, and fourth in the discus at the IC4A championships.

The venerable Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletics of America, founded in 1879, was a predecessor to today’s National Collegiate Athletic Association.

Muller became an orthopedic surgeon and was team physician for years at California.   A little known fact, he likely was the first NFL player from San Diego.

Muller joined the one-season Los Angeles entry in 1926 and became the team’s coach later in a season in which the Buccaneers played all of their league games on the road, with headquarters in Chicago and players from California colleges.

IN OR OUT?

San Diego competed as an independent.  It was invited to join the Los Angeles County League.  Or was it?

Price and principal Arthur Gould attended a Los Angeles meeting and returned home saying the Hilltoppers would join, replacing Whittier, which dropped out, saying its team was “too light.”

Pasadena, Long Beach Poly, and Santa Ana were other members.

A few weeks later bosses at Whittier announced they wanted back in. Pasadena, saying San Diego never was a member, voted for Whittier.

The issue seemed nebulous, just another in what would be almost annual issues involving the distant Hilltoppers and what to do with them.

PLAYOFFS ANOTHER ISSUE

San Diego’s 14-game winning streak was snapped by Hollywood, 27-10, and the Hilltoppers were dropped from the postseason after a second loss, 27-3 to Long Beach.

Price and Gould traipsed to Los Angeles again, complaining to CIF manager Harry J. Moore that they had not been notified of the playoff meeting at which they were eighty-sixed.

Gould also reminded Moore that San Diego was the defending champion and that the Border City squad was in possession of the CIF championship cup.

Gould’s oblique reference to the bauble and its location seemed to have a desired affect.

CIF signals quickly were changed.  San Diego was slotted against Coronado, the County League titlist, for the right to meet El Centro Central in the playoff quarterfinals.

Coronado scored for the first time in three games against San Diego and led the Hilltoppers, 13-7, before bowing, 14-13.

The San Diego-Coronado contest, played before about 500 persons, would be very unique in later years.  The game consisted of four, 13 1/2-minute quarters.

SHORTER SEASON?

“I do not expect to play twelve games this year, six or possibility seven,”  Price told a local writer before the first practice.

“Last year the strain was entirely too hard on the players and I would not  care to take a team through such a late season as that of last year, which lasted until late December,” said Price.

With Del Beekley, an energetic student manager, daily contacting schools throughout Southern California in an attempt to book games, the Hilltoppers played 11 and posted a 5-4-2 record.

Media accounts never made clear how much say Price had regarding the number of games played or opponents and whether the decisions were made by student managers, who were involved in all aspects of the program except coaching.

Published accounts on scheduling usually referred to the efforts of the student manager, although the head coach and the school principal attended CIF and league meetings, which were held in the Los Angeles area.

PRICE NIXED ’16 STATE GAME

It was Price who made the decision to pass on Bakersfield’s challenge to a state championship contest in 1916.

There was some fallout with the claim from the Kern County school that the Hilltoppers forfeited the title to Bakersfield, but that was specious.

San Diego was not compelled to play another game after its Southern California  championship.

Price gained vindication of a sort when San Diego defeated the visiting Bakersfield Drillers, 18-7, on Thanksgiving Day.

MARKETEER BEEKLEY

The diminutive Beekley, who decades later was crew coach at San Diego State and was a founder of the San Diego Crew Classic in the 1970s, created one marketing promotion after another.

Students selling the most tickets to the Bakersfield game, which represented the first half of a doubleheader also featuring local service teams, would be given a number of free passes.

Four additional prizes would be awarded to students who created the most artistic, game-related poster illustration.

The prizes included a silver loving cup, two, 4-pound boxes of candies, one, 1-pound box of candies, and a box of stationary from Eastman-Kodak.

BANTAM-SIZED GIANT

Beekley, who stood 5 feet tall, passed in 2001 at age 102 after spending 77 years in or around a rowing shell, first as coxswain for San  Diego Rowing club.

Beekley sought a New Year’s Day extravaganza for the Hilltoppers. He said he had Price’s support (despite’s Price’s earlier stated desire to shorten the season) for a game with Arizona champion Phoenix Union.

“…I intend to take the matter before the student body executive committee to see if they will not grant permission for such a game,” Beekley said.

The manager made his remarks to a reporter from The San Diego Union.  A decision was made, by the student executive committee, principal Charles Gould, or Price, not to extend the season.

HUGE MILITARY EFFORT

Thousands of soldiers were in training at nearby Camp Kearny, where the government announced that 14 miles of roads, would be constructed in three weeks to meet the needs of the U.S. Army.

Camp Kearny had quickly risen on almost 13,000 acres of land that is known today as the site of the Marine Corps Naval Air Station.

The camp, named after a 19^th century officer and the mesa on which the land was located, was extant from 1917-46, operated first by the army, which turned the base over to the navy in 1932.

Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny served as California’s military governor before statehood in 1847 and has been called the father of the cavalry.

SIGNS OF THE TIME

The new military facility officially was Camp Kearny, after some disagreement on its spelling.

Contractor William E. Hampton had asked San Diego postmaster L.R. Barrow for clarification.  Barrow said, “Kearney,” but was overruled.

Adjutant general P.C. Harris officially ordered the name “Kearny” on July 18, 1917.

There was no mention of Stephen Kearny in the adjutant general’s  document.

(for more on Kearny, search:  “1944: The Temporary Suburbs”).

HIT THE ROAD

Standard Oil of California heralded one of its San Diego-based vehicles as being equipped with “the largest tire ever seen on  the Pacific Coast.”  The mass of rubber weighed 500 pounds, was 14 inches wide, and 42 inches high.

ANTI-BOOZE

Evangelist Billy Sunday spoke of the evil of Demon Rum when he addressed the City Stadium gathering before the Hilltoppers played Pomona.

Prohibition did not go into effect until 1920.

Manager Beekley had tags printed that allowed all who came to hear Sunday to stay for the game.

Sunday’s appearance apparently boosted the attendance.  The Hilltoppers announced a gate profit of $110.

ILLUMINATION

With no  lights in the stadium and the sun fading fast in December, Hilltoppers coach Nibs Price introduced a silver football for practice, which started later and lasted longer, according to the Union.

“ELEVATOR, ELEVATOR…

…we got the shaft!”

That was the feeling of the National City (Sweetwater) varsity when play was suspended after what passed for trash talk of the era escalated into a fist-swinging free-for-all with the  San Diego Seconds team.

Sweetwater, which lost an earlier game to the Hilltoppers Seconds, 18-0, and was trailing, 12-0, when fighting broke out, accused San Diego of using “illegal tactics”.

The two officials were connected to the big city school downtown.

Brick Muller was the umpire when San Diego had the ball.  Bill (Bull) Salyers, 1915 team captain, was umpire when Sweetwater was in possession.

QUICK KICKS

Reginald Sidney Gurling of La Mesa was the first San Diego soldier killed in the war…Ralph Noisat, student manager in 1916, quit his job at a local bank to take a position in the playground department, beginning at Golden Hill playground with Lee Waymire, who later was head coach at Coronado…Sammy Sampson, Walter (Dutch) Eels, and Clyde Randall, recent graduates and players on the 1916 squad, assisted Price during early practices, which accentuated “falling on the ball (fumble recoveries) and “learning how to pass”…Paul (Rat) Hyde, the Hilltoppers’ quarterback in 1910, also was a sideline observer…so determined to avenge the championship loss of a year earlier, Manual Arts students  lined school corridors with signs that said, “San  Diego or Bust”…principal  Arthur Gould suggested that all Hilltop athletes wear corduroy trousers to school…about 35 complied…winning the County League championship had currency in Coronado…the Islanders were honored at a school dance and would be guests of honor at 4 upcoming dinners…local media referred to the visiting Santa Ana Saints as the “celery growers.”…the Saints’ 12-0 victory was “for the championship of Orange and San Diego counties”…four quarters of 15 minutes was not the norm…many games were played to a convenience of time…San Diego’s 27-0 victory over Los Angeles Poly was achieved with 12-minute, 30-seconds quarters…playoff opponent El Centro Central came into the game with a 4-1 record, their five games against the only other schools in the Imperial Valley that played football, Calexico (1-1)  and Holtville (3-0)….