2016: Coaches’ Revolving Door: 19 Changes
At least 19 schools in the San Diego Section changed football coaches this season and probably that many reasons could be offered for this arguably massive turnover. In no particular order, a few possible explanations:: — Pressure to win — Long hours and low stipend pay — Player eligibility — Transfer headaches — Meddling administrators — […]
Read More1919: Coronado Flexes, Hilltoppers Up, Down
San Diego High continued to transition to mediocrity from the championship squad of three seasons before and tiny Coronado mixed with the big boys. Bryan (Pesky) Sprott and five members of the Hilltoppers’ nationally-acclaimed 1916 team now were leading the University of California’s powerful squad and coach Clarence (Nibs) Price was on the Bears’ football […]
Read More1925:Â Santa Ana Ploy Almost Derailed Saunders and Hilltoppers
Competition and controversy were different words with different meanings, but they blurred in the far-flung Coast League, whose fratricidal members regularly accused their brethren of academic or residential mischief. San Diego High was on the receiving end of a far-out allegation that threatened to stop one of the best teams in school history. Senior Captain Russ Saunders, […]
Read More1933: Cavers ‘Couldn’t Lose’; Metropolitan League Makes Bow
“Power, deception, speed, coordination, all wrapped in 11 (blue and) white packages from the Border City.” Such was the observation of a Los Angeles Times reporter who witnessed San Diego High’s 27-0 victory over host Santa Barbara along with 5,000 others at Peabody Stadium in the Southern California playoff semifinals. “Either Santa Barbara had a […]
Read More1926: John Perry Steps Away From Hilltop Sideline
San Diego High represented one of the best football coaching jobs in the state, but was John Perry all in? Perry ruminated that the 1925 season, which ended in a bitter, 13-6 loss to Covina in the CIF championship game, was too long, ending Dec. 12, and a reason his club had let down in […]
Read More1923: Writer Takes Shots at San Diego Coach
John Perry was 29-10-2 with a winning percentage of .738 in four seasons as San Diego High coach. But that wasn’t good enough for one sportswriter on San Diego’s largest daily newspaper. A crushing midseason, 26-0 loss to Long Beach Poly was followed by a “disinterested”, 13-0 victory over Coast League doormat Whittier. “The wreck […]
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