The Roaring Twenties were coming to a disastrous conclusion.

A new school would rise in East San Diego honoring future president Herbert Hoover, who promised a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage, and San Diego High football was on a bumpy ride  that began with John Perry’s departure as coach after the 1926 season.

The 1927-28 school year had concluded John Aseltine’s first as principal in June and the Stanford University graduate was looking forward to a leisurely summer.

But things got busy for Aseltine a few weeks later, after a seemingly innocent meeting at the City Schools’ office by a visitor from Central California.

Charlie Church, coach at a junior high  in Fresno, applied for a position in San Diego’s physical education department, possibly in basketball or gym classes.

Church, who had coached at Santa Monica and as recently as 1926 at Alhambra, among other stops, was told that no change in coaching personnel was anticipated at the high school.

“Keep my name in case anything comes up,” said Church, perhaps smiling to himself.

Church was connected.

The superintendent of the San Diego City Schools was Walter Hepner, who had hired Church years before when Hepner was boss in the Fresno school system.

8/28/28

The San Diego Union reported that John Hobbs, head football coach at San Diego since 1927,  had suddenly resigned, days before players were due to report.

Hobbs, 27, apparently was making a career change, accepting a position with a newly-organized “building and loan operation” in Tucson, Arizona.

A star athlete at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Hobbs had been hired as basketball coach at San Diego after his graduation in 1923.

Hobbs succeeded Perry as football coach when Perry took a leave from coaching following the 1926 season.

The departing Hobbs created a sour taste with staff at San Diego and with members of the school board when it was learned that Hobbs had accepted his new position at least six weeks before the announcement of his “building and loan operation” appointment came in the mail from Arizona.

LET’S HIRE TEX

9/2/28

The San Diego school board announced that it had accepted Hobbs’ resignation “without regret.”

Gerald (Tex) Oliver, head coach at Santa Ana High, was favored by members of the board.

Board member Claude Woolman declared that it had been a mistake to let Oliver go to Santa Ana, where Oliver was hired in 1926.

”He developed a team  that won the state Class B football championship,” said Woolman.

Oliver, who had been elevated from Memorial Junior High, actually coached the Hilltoppers’ lightweights to the Southern California title in 1925.  There was no state championship for B’s.

9/3/28

Football practice began with interim coach John Perry, now the head of the physical education department, and assistant coach Dewey (Mike) Morrow welcoming about 80 candidates.

MANY NAMES SURFACE

—Billy Gutteron, a former Hilltopper athlete and University of Nevada player, seemed to be the favorite to replace Hobbs if Oliver was unavailable.

Grossmont’s Jack Mashin, Point Loma’s Clarence Cartwright, Monrovia coach and ex-Hilltopper Hobbs Adams, and Walter Davis, late of the University of Arizona, also were mentioned, along with Roy Richert, coach at an Oakland high school, and Bernard Nichols of Oceanside.

Gutteron and Adams attended the first day of practice.  Adams claimed he was there hoping to schedule a game with the Hilltoppers in the last week of September or first week in October.

Nelson Fisher of The San Diego Sun declared that  athletics director John Perry would recommend Gutteron at the school board’s meeting the following day.

Gutteron played on Perry’s first Hilltoppers team in 1920 and, after a collegiate career at Nevada, was an assistant coach at Alhambra.

Mashin, Davis, Richert, and Nichols reportedly withdrew from consideration.  Neither apparently liked the projected salary.

LOUSY PAY?

9/4/28

Oliver’s name was withdrawn.

A story that did not cite sources said Oliver “has no intention of returning to the Hilltop.”

“Oliver coached here two years ago and left because of the low salary paid to coaches in San Diego, reported to be the lowest of any section in the state,” the story continued.

Oliver could make only $2,100 at San Diego because he had not taught for at least 10 years in the local school system.  San Diego coaches with 10 years’ tenure usually were paid $2,400 per school year, although there was a ceiling of $2,600.

“Evidently the board didn’t approve of Perry’s recommendation of Billy Gutteron, for no mention of the former Hilltop player was made at the meeting, according to George Crawford, secretary to the superintendent of schools,” wrote Nelson Fisher.

SAME CHURCH, DIFFERENT PEW

9/8/28

Charlie Church was announced as the new head coach by principal John Aseltine.

Aseltine went public following a conference with superintendent Hepner and W.A. (Bud) Kearns, supervisor of physical education for the City Schools.

“We have talked to Church and studied his record carefully,” said Aseltine, following the lead of Hepner. “He is a top-notch coach and we think we have made a real find.”

Church “realizes he faces a big task in building up a strong team at this late stage,” Aseltine said.  “He said he is ready to pitch in and do his utmost to put the team in the running for the Coast League championship.”

9/10/28

Church arrived on campus but would not take part in actual coaching until Sept. 14.

SHORT RETIREMENT

John Hobbs was not long for a three-piece suit.

9/24/28

An announcement from the desert said  Hobbs was joining J.P. McKale’s University of Arizona staff as backfield coach.

Hobbs eventually returned to San Diego and worked several years as a game official.  He passed away at age 61 in 1962.

SHORT TENURE

9/29/28

Church coached  a 6-2 victory over St. Augustine.

Church stunningly resigned after the game. He urged Aseltine to name Mike Morrow as his replacement.

The departing coach explained  that Morrow was better suited for the job because Morrow was versed in the system used by Perry and Hobbs and that the players, also familiar, could adapt more quickly.

Those close to the program felt that Church took the football job only to ensure a position at the school.

9/30/28

Aseltine, getting used to praising a man he hardly knew and who likely was not Aseltine’s choice, was forced to make another public statement.

“We feel that Church would enjoy a successful season at the helm of the Hilltop gridiron crew but he believes his lack of knowledge of the material…would retard the squad’s progress,” the principal said.

Aseltine pointed out that Church’s “first love” was basketball.

The native of Lowell, Massachusetts, became the Hilltoppers’ basketball coach for the next three seasons (and handled junior varsity football), then gave way to Morrow, who coached the 1935-36 team to the school’s only Southern California championship.

Church remained on staff in charge of intramural sports but eventually moved to Long Beach Poly and won championships in basketball in 1939, ’41, and ’42.

10/1/28

Morrow officially took over as head coach. He was an assistant to Hobbs in 1927 but would be better known as the coach of 10 Southern California baseball championship squads at San Diego until he moved to San Diego College in 1950-51.

SPY IN THE HOUSE?

It was Standard Operating Procedure for the Coast League.

Class B players were to be weighed, measured, and required to show birth certificates for the establishment of exponents.

The procedure took place at each league entity and was conducted by a member of an opposing school.  Walter Bell, head of physical education at Long Beach Poly, did the honors at San Diego.

One of the rules was that a player attempting to play Class B for a second season could not weigh less than in the previous year.

Bell didn’t know it, but he was in the company of several future prominent San Diegans.

B squad members included Irvine (Cotton) Warburton, who’d go on to an all-America career at USC, enter the film industry, and earn an Academy award for cinematography in 1964 for the movie Mary Poppins.

Lineman Christy Gregovich was known a generation later as sports columnist Christy Gregg for The San Diego Union.

Raconteur Bob MacDonald owned the renowned Palace Buffet downtown and was a prominent sports figure.

Art Jacobs built his business, San Diego Periodicals, into a leading distributor of magazines and printed material.

WHERE’S THE BEEF?

Point Loma listed seven linemen whose weight ranged from 125 pounds to 272.

Tackle Jim Derrick actually weighed 292 when fully dressed out.

The Pointers said  the 16-year-old, 6 foot, 1-1/2-inch  Derrick may have been  the heaviest football player in the country. Documentation was not forthcoming.

Point Loma also boasted a 115-pound receiver, Lorne Shirtin.

THE THIRD TEAM

Members of San Diego’s Junior B squad were promised ice cream by coach Fred Klicka if they scored 20 points against Mountain Empire.  Klicka’s youngsters defeated the Mountain Empire varsity, 20-0.

The Juniors served as a development eleven for the B team, as several players taxied back and forth.

B TEAM GETS A

Forfeit victories over Pasadena and Long Beach Poly, teams to which it had been outscored, gave coach Glenn Broderick’s B squad a perfect, 7-0 record.

Since 1924, when B competition was inaugurated, the Hilltoppers were 27-4-1, including 7-1 versus Southern California teams.  Most of the games were against local varsities and reserves.

The Bees were scheduled to play Santa Monica for the Southern California championship but an influenza strike in early November forced cancelation.

MORE FORFEITS

San Diego’s varsity forfeited its final game to Santa Ana but was the recipient of a forfeit victory although on the short end of a 13-6 score against Pasadena.

CIF officials made the Bullpups forfeit when it was discovered that 5 varsity and B players belonged to outlawed school fraternities.  The anti-fraternity rule was statewide.

Forfeitures also struck Santa Ana. The Saints were penalized after their 18-0 win over Glendale and following an 0-0 tie with Long Beach Poly.

Santa Ana had been using a player who had transferred from Bakersfield but lived with his father in Whittier, about 25 miles and at least an hour away.

Tex Oliver appealed the forfeits and the Saints won one appeal, rescinding the forfeit to Glendale.

San Diego was on the receiving end of a unique ruling at the start of practice.  Lineman Tom Salisbury was declared ineligible because Salisbury had attended  a business college in Los Angeles over the summer.

The CIF ruled that the “college” was not accredited.

FLU STRIKES AGAIN

Compared to  the world pandemic of 1918, a flu epidemic this year was not nearly as deadly but still hit with force.  About 50,000 Americans were said to perish from the virus and it struck teams in Southern California.

San Diego forfeited its final game to Santa Ana when coach Mike Morrow reported that 16 players were confined at home.

Santa Ana coach Tex Oliver said the Saints would postpone the game for a week, or until the Hilltoppers were fit, but San Diego officials declined.

They’d had enough.

SIGNS OF THE TIME

The police “dry squad” raided a house at 3736 Tennyson Street in Loma Portal, where it arrested nine men and five women, and seized 500 quarts of beer and bottles of gin and whisky.

When police arrived, those arrested were seated around a large living room, enjoying their libations.  A search of the house, near Chatsworth Blvd., and blocks from Point Loma High, also revealed a large quantity of grape wine being made.

Because of the large number of persons arrested, it was necessary for the police patrol wagon to make two trips to the jail.

Also popped was a taxi-cab driver for providing information on where intoxicants could be purchased.

All were released on bail.

UP IN THE AIR

Edward Schlee and William Brock set an American flight endurance record of 59 hours, 30 minutes, 1 second, after takeoff from Rockwell Field, which eventually became North Island Naval Air Station.

The flight followed a route that repeatedly covered the area up and down the Coronado Silver Strand.

The pair extended their travel during daytime, flying as far as Jacumba, 65 miles east.   Several planes would accompany the Bellanca monoplane. Pilots of those craft notified Schlee and Brock of news bulletins announcing their progress.

The aviators realized during the trip that their attempt at the world record was in jeopardy. They had discovered a leaky fuel valve.

On the final day a note was dropped to the ground crew.

“If we have not landed by dark turn the lights on, as the gas is running low,” was the message.

Schlee and Brock were seven hours short of the global mark.

SHORTER POSTSEASON

The postseason was being shortened.   A “Tri-League Champion”  would come from the Southern, Imperial or Orange County circuits.

Coronado, the Southern League champion, was eliminated in the first round by Calexico, 7-0.

Long seasons in which some teams played and practiced well into December were a continual headache for the CIF, according to president Harry Moore of Long Beach Poly.

Many solutions were tried until a consistent format was adopted in the years following World War II.

BEAUTIFUL HOME

For basketball.

San Diego architect Frank Allen’s plans were approved for a new gymnasium on the North edge of campus.  The facility would have room for about 800 persons on expansive bleacher seating.

Two regulation courts, the first in the city,  were to be side by side, allowing room for additional seating that would bring capacity to 2,000.  The gym would be ready for the 1930-31 season.

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

The game story for the 6-6 tie between Escondido and Grossmont declared that Escondido completed 24 of 25 attempted passes.

INVENTIVE VIKINGS

Following an example coach George Dotson said was introduced by Stanford University and the U.S. Military Academy, La Jolla replaced the traditional water boy with a rolling water tank, capable of holding more H2-o and able to dispense at a faster pace.

The machine was made by students in one of the school’s industrial arts classes.

The water boy still was needed to hustle the tank onto the field when players were injured or play was stopped.

TRUE GRID

The San Diego County Football Officials’ Association was founded on Sept. 23 in a meeting of coaches and officials at San Diego State…Army-Navy’s 25-0 win over Los Angeles Loyola represented the Cubs’ first loss in two seasons…they were 9-0 in 1927…Grossmont players wore black armbands in honor of school trustee A.B. Foster, who passed the week of a game with Point Loma…San Diego was  the largest school in the area, and one of  the largest in the state, with 3,022 students in three grades…second largest in the County was Roosevelt Junior High with 1,550…Coronado was passing on the last play against Sweetwater…Frank Green’s pass to Eric Afferson was in the air as the gun sounded…Afferson scored on the 30-yard play as the Islanders won, 32-7…Green missed an earlier game because he had cut his hand on a band saw…Sweetwater band director Jimmy Seebold took his group downtown and it serenaded the offices of The San Diego Union and Evening Tribune…Bill Schutte, San Diego’s 172-pound lineman, was named to the all-Coast League squad and went on to a long football career, eventually serving as San Diego State’s head coach from 1948-55…Schutte’s younger brother George was on the 1941 and ’42 Hilltoppers teams and later was head coach at San Diego Junior College…Coronado represented football heaven…coach Amos Schaffer’s team had recently dedicated a new, turf field, which observers said would do credit to a college, and a field house with lockers  were under construction…a big one who got away was Santa Ana’s Alva Reboin, one of the top runners in Southern California and a former Roosevelt  star…senior class president at Escondido was William (Bill) Bailey, destined to coach outstanding teams at San Diego…”The most discouraging prospects in my six years at Grossmont,” said Jack Mashin, whose 1927 team was 8-0-3 and won the Southern California minor division crown but fell to 2-5-1 this season….

 

A 27-0 loss to the Muir Technical Mustangs of Pasadena in the first round of the Southern California playoffs did not dim the luster of one of the greatest seasons in the history of Hoover High football.

John Perry, who guided the Cardinals’ program from its beginning in 1930, directed the Eastside club to its first victory over San Diego, won the new Bay League championship, and led the Redbirds to a 7-1-1 record.

Hoover has had few teams equal that kind of success.

Only the Cardinals squads of 1949 (8-1), 1954 (8-2), 1956 (8-2), 1962 (7-2), 1963 (7-2-1), 1986 (8-4), 1998 (8-4), 1999 (10-2), 2006 (9-3), and 2014 (10-3) won as many.

Walt Harvey, 92 years young and residing in El Cajon, spoke in the summer of 2010 and remembered the Muir squad.

“We knew nothing about them, probably that they were this small, technical school,” said Harvey, a Cardinals halfback in the fall and sprinter on the track team in the spring. “They came down here and just ran up and down the field.”

The visitors were not a collection of future electricians or mechanics.

One of the Mustangs’ touchdowns, before the largely Hoover evening gathering of 4,000 persons (almost 1,000 came south from Pasadena), was on a 16-yard halfback-option pass from Jackie Robinson (yes, that Jackie Robinson) to Mickey Anderson.

Robinson, whose older brother Mack would be a medal-winning sprinter on the U.S.’ 1936 Olympics team, and Anderson, whose brother George was a world-class sprinter at California-Berkeley, were just part of a fleet stable of Mustangs that also included sprinters Bill Sangster, Brainard Worrill, and Preston Clipper.

The San Diego Union sportswriter Harry Hache described the visitors as “streamlined, like the Burlington Zephyr… class wrapped up in a pigskin whirlwind.”

Hache and other observers were not happy that Hoover and Muir were to meet in the quarterfinals (first round). According to the scribe, “It had been a foregone conclusion that these were the two best teams in Southern California and were destined to meet in December for the championship.”

SCRIBE KNOCKS CIF BOSSES

“CIF officials, apparently having a case of blind staggers, threw facts to the wind,” Hache declared, pointing out that Hoover came into the contest with a  7-0-1 record and had outscored its opponents 196-14. Muir was 8-1, with only a 7-6 loss to Santa Ana and with a 202-32 scoring advantage.

This may have been a matchup of the top two but there was a wide gap between 1 and 2. Muir led 7-0 at halftime, then turned the game into a rout in the fourth quarter. Hoover never was in it. The Cardinals were on the Mustangs’ five-yard line at the end of the game but only after recovering a fumble.

First downs favored the visitors, 19-2.

The Northern team had not heard the last of Hoover, however. The Mustangs were poised to take on Santa Barbara for the championship two weeks later after a 14-6, semifinals victory over Monrovia, then suddenly were ruled out after discovery of an ineligible player.

DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH

Tony Beebe, a Muir backup quarterback who had transferred from Army and Navy Academy in San Diego’s Pacific Beach suburb, was scholastically deficient, having failed to pass in one of three classes at the military school.

Beebe’s status was first questioned by Hoover principal Floyd Johnson,  a ubiquitous and omnipotent figure in all things Hoover and the surrounding Talmadge Park. Johnson resided in that upper middle class enclave, virtually within walking distance of the campus, where he held sway from 1930-56.

Although Johnson is said not to have lodged a  formal protest (Johnson said he notified the Muir principal) or reveal how the information came to light, word began to circulate.

The Pasadena school honcho and Army-Navy’s commandant confirmed that Beebe had flunked Spanish.  Col. Thomas Davis also declared that Beebe’s scholastic woes were noted when the student’s transcript was mailed to the Northern school.

When Muir was eliminated, Floyd Johnson suggested that Monrovia and Hoover meet for the right to play Santa Barbara but CIF boss Seth Van Patten ruled out the idea of an extra game and selected Monrovia as the opponent for the Golden Tornado.

GO TO YOUR RESPECTIVE CORNERS AND…

Hoover-Muir was just half of a huge prep weekend in San Diego. Long Beach Poly came South Saturday afternoon and took on San Diego High for the Coast League championship.

Poly’s hard-fought, 7-6 victory and 18^th win in a row before more than 7,000 persons in City Stadium was the highlight of a spectacular show that included card stunts by the Hilltoppers’ cheering section and halftime entertainment by more than 100 students of the visiting Jackrabbits’ girls drill team and 50-member band.

The game was followed by an event even more spectacular, a 30-minute, uninterrupted brawl. “Boys and Girls in Wild Riot at San Diego!” was the headline on the front sports page of the Los Angeles Times.

Emboldened by the defeat of their arch rivals, Poly students and “non-students” charged the gridiron and knocked down a set of goal posts after the teams and game officials left the field.

“Aroused San Diego students then launched an offensive of their own,” wrote Harry Hache. “In short order massed fights and individual bouts started all over the field, the most prominent being a hair-pulling, punch-tossing, and scratching duel between two girl students who went at it when one attempted to snatch the other’s pom pom.”

The Associated Press reported that “Harry Smock, 21, of Long Beach, received treatment for a possible broken jaw, face cuts, and severe bruises. A girl, whose name was not learned, was severely burned about the neck when someone lit a match to a pom-pom she was carrying.”

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Harmony and campfire songs were not in abundance at other venues.

Former San Diego High coach Clarence (Nibs) Price, an assistant  at California, sustained a black eye when mysteriously sucker-punched by an irate St. Mary’s booster following the game between UCLA and St. Mary’s in San Francisco.

Price, who was scouting for California, was attacked as he left the field. The assailant fled after game referee Jim Blewett came to Price’s aid.

Meanwhile, a self-styled vice investigator of alleged corrupt San Diego public officials was punched several times by the San Diego district attorney during a secret session of the County Grand Jury. D.A. Thomas Whelan was unrepentant. “He called me a liar,” said Whelan.

SOMETHING NEW

While the CIF created an age limit of 20, boss Seth Van Patten, okayed a pigeon race as the first event at the 1935 Southern Section track championships.

Public schools in Los Angeles broke from the Southern Section to form their own section.  The four private schools in Los Angeles, Cathedral, Loyola, Mt. Carmel, and St. Agnes, would be released in 1937 and return to the Southern Section.

The Southern Section’s largest high school wasn’t in California.  Phoenix Union, a provisional member, had 4,145 students.  Smallest school was Big Pine with 20.

LIGHTS OUT AT LA JOLLA

La Jolla principal Clarence Johnson, concerned about hooliganism and other undesirable night-time activity in the surrounding neighborhood, switched the Metropolitan League showdown with Point Loma to the afternoon.

The game ended at dusk, so lights installed one month before at Scripps Field were put to use. La Jolla (5-0) and Point Loma (5-1) came into the game with a combined 10-1 record.

The Vikings, who touted their “Four Norsemen”, Bill Mayne, Ray Penwarden, Monte Soule, and Johnny Bancroft, defeated the Pointers,14-0, and went on to a 9-0 season. La Jolla would wait 58 years for another undefeated team. Dick Huddleston’s 1993 squad was 13-0 and won the San Diego Section III title.

ARE YOU SERIOUS, COACH?

Grossmont coach Jack Mashin, who visited Japan and China during the summer, was prepared to make another long trip, by foot.

In a moment of weakness, or insanity, Mashin promised his squad that he would walk back to school if the Foothillers won the season’s final game at La Jolla.

A Grossmont victory would have meant a tie for the Metropolitan League title with the Vikings but the 20-12 loss took Mashin off the hook. The coach rode the bus with his players and averted a 23-mile hike through the chill November air.

La Jolla turned the game with three pass interceptions that led to touchdowns.

COAST LEAGUE TO CIF: DROP DEAD!

The  Coast League withdrew from the CIF playoffs, opting instead for a financially successful carnival before 12,000 persons at Long Beach Poly, proceeds going to the Parent-Teachers’ Association milk fund.

The league said the playoffs made the season too long but  principals also were unhappy with the CIF, particularly because the ruling body had ignored the four-school Coast League’s request for additional members.

Long Beach Wilson and San Diego Hoover would leave the Bay League and join the Coast League in 1936.

The Coast “diss”  was a blow image-wise and  financially to the  struggling CIF, which derived income from the playoffs and was losing its most prestigious affiliate.

San Diego, Santa Ana, Alhambra, and Poly each played two 16-minute quarters in the carnival. The South, comprised of the Hillers and Santa Ana, won 12-8. The Hillers defeated Alhambra 6-2 in the second quarter but lost to Poly 6-0 in the fourth.

Santa Barbara topped Monrovia 14-12 for the  championship, although the Dons’ 9-2 season was marked by losses to  Poly (20-13) and Santa Ana (13-7).

ALWAYS A CARDINAL

In 1955 Roy Engle became Hoover’s head coach and served in that position for 23 seasons, but his legacy began years before as the hero of the Cardinals’ first victory, 7-6 over San Diego.

Engle gained 64 yards in 17 carries and rushed  the final 25 yards in three carries in the fourth-quarter, 17-play,  80-yard, winning touchdown drive that took more than seven minutes off the field clock.

The Cavers’ “Dancing Jack” Hoxie was the game’s leading rusher with 86 yards in 16 carries as more than 17,000 looked on in City Stadium.

PERRY’S X’s AND O’s

Coach John Perry on Hoover’s defense: “We use what is commonly called a 6-3-2. My boys are taught man for man and zone defense when our opponents are passing.  A high school coach, if he is smart, will make his defensive system fit his players and his opponents’ styles of play.”

Cardinals foes completed seven passes in 50 attempts in the first five games, including San Diego’s 1 for 8.

DEE-FENSE

Hoover had acquired a defensive reputation with five shutouts to start the season in 1934, a record that was equaled only by Ramona, against a largely junior varsity schedule, in 1954 and Lincoln in 1977 (the Hornets’ streak lasted  six games).

“I don’t remember being that good on defense as a junior,” said Engle in 1977 as he wound down his coaching career at Hoover.  “We always played the top eleven players, whether they played offense or not.  We’d get mad if the coach took us out.”

One play remained with Engle.  “We went through the league without allowing a point until the last game and even then it wasn’t a safety,” he said to Steve Brand of The San Diego Union.

Hoover defeated El Segundo, 13-2, for the Bay League title.  Engle was back to punt  and tackled in the end zone for two points.  The coach swore he was down on the two-yard line and was pushed into the end zone.

CARDINALS HANGOUT

The “Hoover Drug Store”, which opened to popular review across the street from campus, at 45th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, offered sandwiches, homemade pies, and hot chocolate at a nickel each, malted milks and “Hoover Specials” for a dime.

QUICK KICKS

Escondido defeated Coronado 12-7 for the Cougars’ first victory ever over the Islanders…Coronado had a 17-0-3 record against the Grape City entry, dating to the first game in 1914…San Diego’s Glenn Broderick and other area coaches were hosted at the U.S. Grant Hotel and spoke of their visions for the 1935 season…ex-Grossmont gridder Dinon Busch moved South from Hemet High to replace Vance Clymer at Sweetwater…Point Loma, under new coach Joe Beerkle, unveiled a grass field after years on dirt and rocks…Beerkle welcomed 40 candidates on the first day of practice and 30 more when school started…Hoover greeted 18 lettermen, San Diego 11…the Hilltoppers’ Ben Sohn and Mike Sisto still were working summer jobs and missed the first week of practice…to avoid conflict with San Diego State’s Nov. 8 game in the Stadium, Hoover switched dates with Beverly Hills so that it could meet the Hillers on Oct. 26… San Diego scrambled to fill a date when Santa Monica backed out… the Cavers signed Long Beach Wilson, a school named after former Democrat President Woodrow Wilson… coincidentally President Franklin Roosevelt, another Democrat, was scheduled to appear at San Diego’s California-Pacific Exposition in Balboa Park the same weekend…thirty-four San Diego players worked out under the lights at Arizona’s Phoenix Union High after an all-day bus ride that began at 7 a.m., the same script as followed in the 1934 game… the Hillers tied the Coyotes 12-12 the following night, then bused back the next morning… San Diego visited Santa Ana a week later in the 25th renewal of a rivalry that began in 1905… the 10-7 victory gave the Hillers a 13-12 lead in the series… Santa Ana dropped out of the Coast League after the 1936 season and the teams did not meet again until the 1959 playoffs…a 14-13 loss to arch-rival  Sweetwater in Week 5 ended a Grossmont streak of 23 victories and 1 tie without defeat dating to 1932… the Foothillers held sole possession of the County record until Kearny went 23-0-1 from 1963-65… The San Diego Union sports editor Ted Steinmann, complained about the “outdated”, manually-operated City Stadium scoreboard and suggested “one of those new (electric) timing clocks Western Union has”… Wallace Slattery of Hoover and Charlie Adair of San Diego, both starting centers, saw their careers end in mid-season because of high school age limits… Adair still made the all-Southern California second team…Roy Engle was on the third team and San Diego sophomore tackle Ed Becker on the fourth team….

 

That refrain was heard early and often in the CIF Southern Section.  It is heard today, a century later.

Coaches, players, administrators, fans, even the media, want to see their teams positioned to win or at least able to compete evenly.

That’s the way it was when the interscholastic federation was formed in 1913, as about 30 high schools from Santa Barbara south actually were playing football, in 5 or 6 very loosely formed “leagues”.

The latest attempt to find competitive balance resulted this year.  Schools of substantial enrollment tried something radically different.

According to Southern Section historian John Dahlem, commissioner Seth Van Patten on May 18, 1940, appointed a committee to study re-leaguing, specifically as it was related to the CIF’s larger entities, i.e., San Diego, Hoover, Long Beach Poly, and others.

Van Patten named four administrators to the group, including the No. 2 man at San Diego High, vice principal Edward Taylor.

Excerpted from the CIF Annual Report for 1940-41:

–The “reorganization committee” was charged with addressing the “problems of releaguing.”

–The group met four times during the first semester of the 1940-41 school year and presented its recommendations to the section’s Executive Council on Feb. 1, 1941:

“(a) That all leagues except the Coast League (which included San Diego, Poly, and Hoover) remain as set up at that time.

“(b) That the Coast League be disbanded.

“(c) That for Class A football only a “Major Conference” of seventeen large schools be set up and a schedule for a two-year period be adopted.”

(The seventeen large schools were Alhambra, Alhambra Mark Keppel, Beverly Hills, Compton, Glendale, Glendale Hoover, San Diego Hoover, Inglewood, Long Beach Poly, Lawndale Leuzinger, Pasadena, Redondo Beach Redondo, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, Whittier, and Long Beach Wilson).

“(d) That in all sports except Class A football, San Diego Hoover, Poly, Pasadena, San Diego, and Santa Barbara compete as free-lance.

“(e) That the five schools named in paragraph (d) elect a representative to the Council.”

LOOKS GOOD TO US

The Council approved the recommendation in paragraph (c) and a schedule was drawn  for 1941 with the understanding that for 1942 the same schedule would be followed with sites of games being reversed.

The events in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, changed everything.

The Major Conference lasted one year as the CIF retreated and struggled through World War II, but the conference served as another example of the unending difficulty of scheduling and  finding balance.

Putting all of the big schools together seemingly gave those with fewer enrollment numbers a more level field on which to compete for league championships.

“It was the problem of individual schools wanting to determine where they were re-leagued and what gave them their best possible chance of winning,” said Dahlem.   “Same problem today.

“The schools which hadn’t done well wanted into an ‘easier competitive league’ and were tired of never winning a big championship.

“The seventeen-school conference,” Dahlem added, “was the temporary answer to age-old questions of re-leaguing, meaning,  ‘I want to play someone I can beat.’”

The top three finishers in the Major Conference qualified for the playoffs.  The winner of the San Gabriel Valley League would provide a fourth postseason qualifier.

Talk of disbanding the playoffs often was on the table.  The playoffs would continue this season and a four-team bracket would take care of the postseason in two weeks.

FIX THE COAST LEAGUE

San Diego was a charter member with Long Beach Poly, Whittier, Santa Ana, Pasadena, and Fullerton when the Coast League was re-constituted in 1923-24, but schools came and went as travel and competition was problematic.

Glendale and South Pasadena joined in 1925-26 as Fullerton dropped out.  Whittier and South Pas bailed in 1929-30.  Long Beach Wilson came aboard in 1930-31.

Wilson left the League and Fullerton returned in 1931-32. Fullerton was out again in 1933-34.  Pasadena and Glendale said sayonara after the 1934-35 school year.

Always strong with from six to eight schools, the Coast was down to four, San Diego, Alhambra, Poly, and Santa Ana, in 1935-36. The number returned to six in 1936-37, when San Diego Hoover and Long Beach Wilson were added.

Charter member Santa Ana dropped out in 1937-38.  Wilson was gone again in 1938-39 as only Alhambra, Hoover, San Diego, and Poly remained.

Alhambra exited after 1938-39. The Coast was down to San Diego, Hoover, and Poly.

John Dahlem said there was a general consensus before the 1941 re-leaguing process that “if the Coast League could be settled for football  re-leaguing problems would be settled.”

It never was settled.

The Major Conference may have been a good idea, but W.W. II ended that option.

The war was over in 1945, promising prosperity and the G.I. Bill,  but the Coast League never regained its early form.

By 1947-48 there was a shaky alliance of San Diego, Hoover, Pasadena, Compton, Pasadena Muir, Grossmont (except football) and Bakersfield (football only).

In 1950, San Diego, Grossmont, and Hoover helped form the San Diego City Prep League.

WARY EYE ON TEAMS IN SOUTH

“Not many schools wanted to play San Diego because of its prowess and the distance to travel,” said John Dahlem.

Other factors were in play.

“There were many complaints against Oceanside High School and its lack of control over eligibility, and the Metropolitan League (of which Oceanside was a member) was under constant scrutiny,” said Dahlem.

Van Patten had suspended two Oceanside players in 1940 after determining they were illegally recruited and forced the Pirates to forfeit two victories.

CALL HIM BIFF

Cletis Gardner, also known as “Biff”, was a  former Villanova fullback who enjoyed 35-year career in San Diego as coach, game official (several years in the NFL), and master of ceremonies, and guided Sweetwater to an 8-0 record and the school’s first undefeated season.

It wasn’t until 1972, when Dave Lay led the Red Devils to a 12-0 record, that Sweetwater repeated an all-victorious season.

Freeman Moeser led the Red Devils and the Metropolitan League with 8 touchdowns in league play.

AVAILABLE REAL ESTATE

Escondido had a new coach, Bill Duncan, who came South from El Monte to replace Charlie McEuen, who replaced Marvin Clark at La Jolla, where McEuen was joined by assistant  coach Don Clarkson.

Duncan moved into the house in Escondido that McEuen vacated.

The Cougars’ boss had a history with San Diego.  He was an assistant coach to Wallace (Chief) Newman at Covina, which defeated San Diego, 13-6, in an infamous Southern Section championship game  in 1925.

Covina was found guilty of using players from the Riverside Sherman Institute, but the Colts never gave up the title or the championship trophy.

ENGLE BACK AT HOOVER

Roy Engle, the star of Hoover’s first victory over San Diego in 1935, returned to his alma mater and was an assistant coach to Pete Walker.

The 23-year-old Engle took over for Walker early the week of the San Diego game when Walker was down with the flu.

Engle the following spring coached Hoover to the Southern California baseball championship.  Among Cardinals standouts on the baseball team was future major leaguer Ray Boone, whose two sons, Bob and Bret had long careers in the majors, as did grandson Aaron.

LONGEST EVER?

Hoover’s Ben Chase, who did not attend school in 1939-40, returned as Hoover’s quarterback and threw perhaps the longest pass in area history, 63 yards in the air.

From his 45-yard line Chase reared back and flung a towering spiral that end Eldon Johnson caught 8 yards deep in the end zone, according to writer Bob Angus of The San Diego Union.

Pasadena weathered Chase’s shot and went home with an 18-13 victory.

Chase’s throw bettered the 57-yards-in-the-air completion by San Diego High alum Harold (Brick) Muller, who connected with teammate Brodie Stephens in the 1921 Rose Bowl.

Some reports disagreed on Muller’s distance.  His Wikipedia profile says 53 yards.  Another says his pass was 70 yards.

LOCKOUT

San Diego coach Joe Beerkle padlocked gates to Balboa Stadium on the first day of practice before the Hoover game and issued a terse statement to the media following practice:  “We worked on offense and defense.”

Beerkle the next day held relay races, seniors against underclassmen, on the upper practice field, then took the team into the stadium for another closed workout.

San Diego defeated Hoover in the big game, 19-7, before about 12,000 persons.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

Parking meters were being installed downtown, necessitating a need for taxi stands, hotel manager H. A. Williams argued before the city council.

Williams said that unless there were cab stands hundreds of hacks would be forced to “cruise” for fares.

Traffic congestion was growing, accelerated  by private and public vehicles used by thousands of new residents  working in the suddenly critical defense industry.

SIGN OF THE TIME, CONT.

On Oct. 3, 1941,  Jim Londos defended his share of the world heavyweight wrestling championship by pinning Juan Umberto in the 43rd minute of a one-hour, one-fall match in the Coliseum, 15^th and E Streets.

Danno O’Mahoney won over LaVerne Baxter by a disqualification.  Myron Cox pinned Manuel Rodriguez via a Japanese headlock.  Chris Zaharias defeated Pete Peterson and Hardboiled Hardy Kruiskamp took the measure of Vic Hill.

HONORS

Hoover end Eldon Johnson was named to the all-Southern California third team, the only local athlete honored.

QUICK KICKS

St. Augustine was a member of the Southern Prep League but its games did not count in league standings…the Saints’ 6-1 record was bolstered when Brown Military and Fallbrook forfeited in the last two weeks of the season…About 100 boys and girls from Hoover took part in “Ice Activities” at Glacier Gardens on Harbor Drive…Ice skating as a CIF sport?…The battle between Army-Navy and Brown Military academies was postponed a week as cadets were released to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday…the teams battled to a 6-6 tie when they got together days later…Hoover and Grossmont kicked off at 3:45 p.m. for a day-night single header…first half was played under the sun, second half under the lights at Hoover…San Diego and Hoover defeated Point Loma and La Jolla, 21-7, in the third annual City Schools carnival before about 7,000 in Balboa Stadium…San Diego High vice principal Edward Taylor became principal of the new, Kearny Junior-Senior high on Kearny Mesa…rained out on Friday night, Hoover and Santa Barbara met the next afternoon on the Cardinals’ gridiron…the visiting Dons, destined to win the Major Conference and CIF titles, coasted to a 27-0 win…it was a strange year at Fallbrook…the Warriors finished with a 4-0-1 record to win the Southern League, then forfeited their final game to St. Augustine…along the way, head coach Forrest Lindsay stepped down after three games and was replaced by Lloyd Dever and Charles Coutts….

Track standout Bob Fortin, 68, and Vista and Chula Vista head coach Morris Shepherd, 95, passed.

Fortin was one of top hurdlers in the San Diego Section and had a best time of :14.7 in the 120-yard high hurdles as a senior at Crawford in 1964.

“Snortin” Fortin, as he was affectionately known because of the guttural sounds Fortin made exerting himself over the barriers, had the fourth best time in the area.

Morrie Shepherd was head coach at Vista in 1948 and Chula Vista in 1949 and ‘50, with an overall record of 13-12-1.

The 1948 Vista Panthers were 7-2, 4-0 in the Southern League, and outscored league opponents, 148-0.

Vista defeated San Dieguito, 20-0, for the league championship on Armistice Day but were beaten, 20-13, by Tustin in the Southern California lower division championship game.

Shepherd was on the staff at Sir Francis Drake High in San Anselmo and was head of driver training for the Tamalpais School District for many years before retiring in 1981 and returning to the San Diego area.

Escondido was penalized 15 yards before it participated in the kickoff or took a snap at the beginning of the second half of a Metropolitan League game at Grossmont.

Referee Charlie Smith, also the San Diego State baseball coach, penalized the Cougars for not being on the field and ready for kickoff after the 15-minute halftime.

Escondido coach Harry Wexler at first was dumbfounded and then angry.

After pleading with the uncompromising Smith, the Cougars’ coach likely suggested the referee do something that was physically impossible and offer Smith a middle-finger salute.

Wexler then pulled his team off the field.

Writer Charlie Byrne of The San Diego Union pointed out  that the Spaulding Official Rules of Football stated that teams should be ready and on the field after the break. Game officials, the rule book pointed out, were not required to notify the teams.

TIMING OFF?
“I even told the team I thought halftime was a little long,” explained Wexler, who expected the usual, three-minute heads up from one of the flag throwers.

Grossmont coach Jack Mashin seem to side with Wexler but reluctantly accepted the penalty  before the start of the third quarter when Smith informed the Grossmont captain, who looked for direction to Mashin on the sideline.

“If I didn’t have my team’s back in a situation like that I would lose support of the team and the student body,” said Mashin.

King Kaufman, president of the Grossmont School Board, was at the game and tried to convince Wexler to continue. Wexler refused. Meanwhile, several hundred spectators milled about the officials, although there was no disorder, reported Byrne.

Escondido players appeared shocked at their coach’s decision and stayed on the field for several minutes before heading to their buses and the trip home.

Referee Smith was unavailable for comment. Grossmont the winner by forfeit, 1-0.

WOE IS US

Joe Beerkle was 6-4 and 6-0-1 in his first two seasons at Point Loma but offered a gloomy outlook for 1937.

“Everybody is going to be gunning for us,” said Beerkle of Point Loma’s defending Metropolitan League champion, “but the sad part of it is we’re not going to have anything worth gunning for.”

The Pointers didn’t get the memo.

Point Loma rolled to an 8-0 record. Beerkle moved on to become head coach at San Diego the following year and was there through 1942, when he became principal at Memorial Junior High.

The Hilltoppers were 18-14-2 under Beerkle.

Beerkle’s record does not include the split squads of  Cavemen and Hillers that were a combined 13-2-2 in 1942.  San Diego was 1-0 as a complete squad that season.

GOLF OVER FOOTBALL

The Pointers had seven returning lettermen  but had lost 11 and returned only one starter. Two other letter winners moved away and three more either were nursing injuries, ineligible, or in the case of one, recovering from an appendectomy.

Harry LeBarron, a strapping, 175-pound end, contributed to Beerkle’s woe by announcing that he was retiring.

LeBarron was giving up football to concentrate on golf.  He had qualified for the 1936 Southern California Junior finals.

But LeBarron returned in Week 2 and made the all-Metropolitan League second team.

Paul (Red) Isom was a threat every time he touched the ball and the rising power on the peninsula raced to an undefeated season, punctuated by a 64-13 rout of Oceanside in the final game.

Keeping with tradition, the Pointers declined to participate in the Southern California minor division playoffs.

IN THE BLACK

The highlight of Glenn Broderick’s last season as head coach at San Diego was a 14-13 win over Coast League rival Alhambra.

Leonard Black ran 96 yards with an intercepted pass for a touchdown and Bob Bridgeman kicked two points after touchdowns as the Cavemen  took a 14-7 lead into the final minutes.

Alhambra scored a touchdown but its try for point hit the crossbar, leaving San Diego in front, 14-13.

Problem.  The Cavemen were off-side.  The Moors lined up for another try, this time attempting a running play, but Black stuffed the runner at the goal line.

FRUSTRATION AND INJURY

The season record was the poorest since 1914 and the Hilltoppers were last in the Coast League for the first time since the circuit was formed in 1923.

“Wish they had that fight all the time,” Broderick remarked to Charlie Byrne, after a particularly spirited practice before the annual intersectional battle at Phoenix.

“If the fellows were like that all the time we’d win all our games,” said Broderick.

The Hillmen offered little at Phoenix, outgained, 280-91, out-downed, 14-5, and outscored, 19-0.

The team returned home but Broderick had to remain in the Arizona city, arranging for hospital care for lineman Dick Butler, stricken an hour after the game and operated on for a hernia.

Butler would be hospitalized for two weeks, but Broderick made sure a radio was placed in his room and Phoenix officials agreed after San Diego complaints that they would not use local officials for future games in Arizona.

It was that kind of trip.

HILLERS WIN STATE TRACK

Broderick, who joined the faculty in 1926,  left San Diego at the end of the school year and went out a winner.

The Cavers were beaten by Hoover, 63 1/2-58 1/2, and finished in a tie for the Coast League track and field title with the Cardinals and Long Beach Wilson.

But the Cavers scored 24 points to beat the runner-up Cardinals in the Southern California finals and outscored 88 other teams with 18 points and won the state team title.

Broderick left teaching and worked at Convair for many years.  He eventually returned to a first love, track and field, and was a finish judge and timer for many years at area events.

MANY COME BUT ONLY ONE CALLED

From an original group of at least 15, San Diego High officials whittled the list of candidates to replace Broderick to six.

Joe Beerkle of Point Loma eventually would be appointed.

Others considered for the job included Frank Ribbel, coach at Richmond High in the East Bay area of San Francisco and a San Diego High alum; Bob Erkine, Brawley High; Dean Johnson, coach of the high school in Freeport, Il., and Gil Kuhn and Gaius (Gus) Shaver, former USC grid stars.

HOOVER ASCENDS

Hoover was 6-2 and defeated San Diego, 13-6, for its second victory in three years over the Cavers.

Ernie McNulty led all rushers in the San Diego game with 50 yards in 12 carries and punted with amazing power, averaging 43 yards on  eight attempts.

Hoover had a 104-yard advantage in the kicking game.  San Diego averaged only 29 yards a punt.

McNulty also boomed a 50-yard, coffin-corner kick that expired on El Monte’s six-yard line.  The Cardinals’ 19-6 win over the visiting Bears in the final game was a season highlight. El Monte was champion of the Pacific League in the San Gabriel Valley.

Hoover’s Leon Carver caught pass from Bob Beckus after slipping behind San Diego defense and scored go-ahead touchdown on 63-yard play that was sent in from Cardinals’ sideline in 13-6 victory. San Diego’s Ervie Davis trails.

CARDINALS’ BLING
So impressed was the Hoover booster club that the group, made up of area businessmen, presented 25 players with engraved gold footballs.
The Cardinals also were celebrated as city champions, although they didn’t play unbeaten Point Loma. St. Augustine claimed the city private school championship with a 25-0 victory over Brown Military Academy.

3 TEAMS, 2 GAMES

Sweetwater’s Dinon Bush scheduled two opponents in one day.  The Red Devils played to a scoreless tie with San Juan Capistrano and defeated San Dieguito, 18-6.

Bush, an  ex-San Diego State gridder who most recently coached at Hemet, divided a squad of 50 players into three units.  Quarters were 10 minutes instead of the standard 12.

Non-lettermen with experience played Capistrano. Sweetwater players who lost to El Centro Central the previous week took on San Dieguito.

The triumvirate was complete when sophomores played in both games, relieving the first two groups.

HORACE GREELEY, I HEAR YOU

First-Year La Jolla coach Marvin Clark followed the road west.

Clark played at the University of Arizona in Tucson and then accepted a position  240 miles away, on the Arizona-California border, where he was head coach for nine years  at Yuma.

Clark moved  west another 73 miles when he was head coach for two seasons at Brawley in California’s Imperial Valley, and finished his voyage next to  the shores of the Pacific Ocean when Clark moved to La Jolla, 134 miles from Brawley.

Clark found his niche in the seaside community.  He eventually became the Vikings’ principal before retiring in the early ‘sixties.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Seventeen players from Carlsbad High in Southeast New Mexico marched into the city room of the Carlsbad Current-Argus and announced they were boycotting the next day’s Thanksgiving Day game with hated rival Artesia.

According to the Associated Press, school officials had refused the players permission to watch the USC football team practice.  The Trojans, as is custom, stopped in Carlsbad on their railroad trip to South Bend, Indiana, to play Notre Dame.

Insult, according to the AP, was added to injury when the Carlsbad players also were denied permission to accept an  invitation to accompany the USC squad on a sight-seeing tour through Carlsbad Caverns.

School officials somewhat condescendingly said, “They’ll play tomorrow.”

VAN PATTEN REWARDED

Southern Section commissioner Seth Van Patten was elected for another term that would pay him $2,400 annually.  The CIF budget was approved at $4,500.  A 19-year-old age minimum was established and schools in the city of San Francisco formed the sixth CIF Section.

Van Patten moved the CIF office to South Pasadena High and Bill Schroeder of the Helms Athletic Foundation in Los Angeles created the first, recognized All-CIF Southern Section team.

NATURAL STRIKE

More than 170 firefighters battled a blaze on the west slope of  Mount San Miguel, which overlooked the Southeast corner of the County.  The fire was started by a bolt of lightning and fueled by Santa Ana winds and hot, late-summer temperatures.

TRUE GRID

Two changes in the football rule book would stand the test of time…kickoffs were reduced to one attempt…if the ball went out of bounds, the receiving team automatically started on its 35-yard line …numerals were required on the fronts and backs of game jerseys…Point Loma’s 64-13 victory over Oceanside represented the most points by a San Diego team since Coronado defeated La Jolla, 73-6, in 1929…Pomona claimed the biggest lineman in the country, 311-pound Bruce (Tiny) Twerill, who had pared from 317 pounds in 1936…Hoover coach John Perry locked gates around the Cardinals practice field before the San Diego game and had “husky” alumni and ROTC personnel keeping visitors away…actor Leo Carrillo owned a ranch in Vista and was said the be a sponsor of the first-year school’s football team…with Fallbrook playing football for the second season, only Ramona, Mountain Empire, and Julian did not field teams…Escondido’s Frank Thames kept it short, scoring on runs of 3, 3, 4, 2, and 1 yards and adding as point after in the Cougars’ 39-7 win over La Jolla…pinched financially as the Great Depression worn on, San Diego attempted to find another opponent after its season ended in a 7-0 loss to Long Beach Wilson, but there were no takers…San Diego standout Leonard Black also served as president of the senior class…when Sweetwater coach Dinon Bush announced that the Red Devils would field a “pony” backfield and big line, Coronado’s Hal Niedermeyer said, “We’re going to have a pony line and a midget backfield”….

Teams with losing records didn’t make the playoffs.  Neither did some with winning records, or even the undefeated.

Only league champions were invited.

Four large school and two small school squads would make up the 1965 San Diego Section postseason.

Bennie Edens wasn’t playing “one game at a time.”  He was looking a few weeks down the road and he feared some deja vu.

The Point Loma coach wasn’t the first to raise a voice in support of larger postseason brackets, but his may have been the most compelling.

The Bennie did not have 50 or 60 teams in mind, a number that would be routinely reached by the millennium.   Edens just rued the possibility of another good season going unrewarded.

The Pointers were 6-3 in 1964 and 4-1 for second place in the Western League but came up postseason empty.  This year’s group was unbeaten with two games remaining but could be left out again.

Edens took advantage of a unique forum when he was invited to address the Union-Tribune Quarterback Club at its weekly luncheon in Town and Country Hotel.

Bennie suggested that each winner from the section’s four major leagues, Eastern, Western, Grossmont, and Metropolitan, and the leagues’ runners-up be slotted into an eight-team bracket.

“It would add one week to the schedule, but it would be worth it,” said Edens.

“Some ties (in the standings) are shaping up…and a good way to resolve the situation would be to have both the first and second-place teams in the playoffs.”

Edens expanded on the subject when interviewed a day later by Wayne Lockwood of The San Diego Union:

“Usually the league finishes are so close that they really aren’t a definite indication of which is the best team,” said Edens.

“Being in the playoffs is important to a school—it creates a lot of pride in the student body—and I’ve never seen a school hurt by going into the playoffs.

“They already take the top two teams in basketball and baseball,” added the Bennie.

The peninsula school sage hadn’t gone all altruistic.  He also was looking out for his Pointers.

Two weeks remained in the regular season. Kearny, 2-0-1, was the Western League leader. Clairemont, 2-1, was tied for second with Point Loma, 1-0-2.

Edens’s club could win its last two games, finish with an undefeated league record and overall 6-0-3 but not make the postseason.

KOMETS TAKE HIT

That’s because if Kearny won out, the Komets would be 4-0-1 and in the throne room, possessor of the circuit’s only playoff berth.

The question became academic when Clairemont, under first-year coach Leroy Dotson, upset Birt Slater’s Kearny club, 21-20, and opened the door for Point Loma.

Point Loma finished with a 3-0-2 league record, followed by La Jolla, 3-1-1. Kearny, 2-1-2, tied for third with Clairemont, 3-2. Madison, 1-3-1, and Mission Bay, 0-5, brought up the rear.

Don Clarkson, the executive secretary/commissioner of the San Diego Section, responded to Edens’ comments.

“The principal purpose of forming the San Diego Section in 1960 was to cut down on the length of the playoffs,” Clarkson told Lockwood.

The genial, old-school Clarkson was following the company line that was uttered by administrators and various school board suits in the late 1950s:  Football season was too long, playoffs were too long, and we’re going to have more say.

IT’S AN L.A. THING

The real reason for the departure from the Southern Section was because the small-thinking school honchos and their friends in local business leadership didn’t like the idea of San Diego’s being “bossed around” by someone in Los Angeles, in this instance Southern Section commissioner J. Kenneth Fagans.

So the locals took 28 area schools and moved to their own, tiny sand box.

The San Diego Section bosses would go so far as to ridiculously create one champion from the City and one from the County in 1967 and ’68 in order to keep the postseason at two weeks.

The suits finally bowed to media, fans, and coaches’ complaints  and added a third week in 1969.

Additional playoff divisions eventually became reality and a fourth week came about in 1986, equaling the number of weeks that had been status quo when San Diego schools were in the Southern Section.

By the turn of the century there was playoff frenzy.

Forty-four of the 76 schools playing football got postseason bids.  The number would continue to grow.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Rio Seco High, a new school in Santee, was introduced last year in anticipation of its opening in time for the 1965 football season.

But students and citizens requested that such name be tabled and leaving the school unnamed until others were offered, according to Harlon Bartlett of the Evening Tribune.                                                                                           

Grossmont School District officials waited and met again later in the year.

On the table were  “Rio Seco”, “Santee”,  “Santana”, and one other.

Santana won.

The school’s title was not intended to pay homage to Carlos Santana, who was 17 and still a few years from making his international mark in rock music.

Or to Pedro Santana, a dictator in Dominica in the mid-19^th century.

Nor has there always been agreement on definition of the word.

RIVALRY BLOSSOMS

Some say Santana is a derivative of Santa Ana, which also has been known as the “Devil Wind” and a potentially dangerous force of nature in Southern California.

Others say the Spanish word is meant to describe “holy” or “Saint”.  It also enjoys popular usage in identifying baby boys and girls.

Santana High, by any name, adopted “Sultans” as its purple, gold, and white mascot, and opened on Mast Blvd., in Santee with 1,200 students in four grades this year.

Coach Gordon Teaby guided the team to two wins and six losses.

Forget the record.  Of more import is what took place in the season’s third week.

The Sultans won their  first-ever game, 23-13, defeating their immediate archrival, El Capitan, located in Lakeside 4 1/2 miles and maybe 10 minutes away by automobile.

From that beginning, Santana and El Cap played every year until 2014, when a releaguing took place in the Grossmont Valley League.  El Cap led the series with 31 victories against 16 losses and two ties through 2013.

SHAN AND BENNIE

Glib Shan Deniston and  dour, less quotable Edens were rival coaches in the San Diego Section finals.

Deniston: “At the start of the season we didn’t think we’d win a game.  After we lost the opener (14-12 to University) we were sure of it.”

Edens:  “This is a real surprise.  We were more or less resigned to a rebuilding season.”

The animated Deniston’s team defeated the reserved Edens’ team, 21-14, before about 12,000 persons in Balboa Stadium.

Point Loma’s conservative and often challenged offense operated behind Bill Settles, a solid quarterback.

Lincoln won its last 10 games, behind a flock of future Division I players, including fullback Humphrey Covington and linebacker James Gunn, bound for USC, and tackle Gregory Allison, headed for Iowa.

“He’s been with me three years and before the Crawford game (in Week 5) I finally decided to let him call all the plays,” Deniston said of quarterback Melvin Jackson. “I told him that way I could blame him if we lost.”

Deniston was kidding, sort of.  “We won, 35-6,” said the coach.  “Of course, I took all the credit.”

Jackson’s favorite target was future pro baseballer Marvin Galliher, who caught 8 touchdown passes.  Galliher manned one receiver position and Phillip Shelley an outstanding, two-way player was the other end.

POINTERS HAVE SCENT

Point Loma took a 14-0, second-quarter lead against Lincoln on a four-yard run by John Cervinsky and Settles’ only completed pass, a 67-yard touchdown strike to Roger Wagar.

Lincoln  eventually pulled in front in the third quarter as Jackson passed (8×14 for 154 yards) and ran (10-yard, tying touchdown) the Hornets to victory.

REMEMBER THE NAME

Chris Chambliss, a converted end, rushed for 153 yards in 22 carries as Oceanside defeated San Dieguito, 21-7, before an overflow turnout of 7,500 Simcox Field for the 1-A title.

Chambliss became better known 11 years later, when his home run won the 1976 American League pennant for the New York Yankees.

Crowds of at least 6,500 were on hand in Aztec Bowl (Point Loma, 20, El Cajon Valley 7) and at Balboa Stadium (Lincoln, 19, Escondido 6) in the playoff semifinals.

CLASSIC REVAMPED

After 16 years, the annual San Diego College Prep All-Star Football Classic was moving from Aztec Bowl.

“We’re laying the groundwork for what should be the largest crowd in the history of the series–twenty thousand,” said Syd Russell, the game’s executive director of the sponsoring Breitbard Athletic Foundation, who added that a crowd that size would be impossible at the 12,000-seat capacity college facility.

Quarters also would be expanded from 12 to 15 minutes and the collegiate-favored two-point conversion would be introduced,

CITY DEFEATS COUNTY

A Balboa Stadium turnout of 12,242 persons watched stars from San Diego city schools defeat a squad picked from County schools, 19-0.

The City, coached by Robert (Bull) Trometter of University High, outgained the suburban team, 335-149, and recorded a second consecutive shutout.

The Breitbard game’s format from 1949-55 matched Southern California stars against players from the Los Angeles City Section.  It was L.A. City versus San Diego from 1956-63.

TOUGH MATCHUP

Escondido had Dan Hustead, the player of the year and author of 20 touchdowns, but the Cougars couldn’t get past Lincoln.

“I don’t know how we do it,” said Escondido coach Bob (Chick) Embrey. “We’ve been in the playoffs four years (out of six) and have drawn the best team in the first round every time.”

The champion Cougars defeated San Diego, 19-13, in 1960, beat Hoover, 28-26, in 1962, and lost to champion Kearny, 27-14 in 1963.

STREAKS

Grossmont’s 1932-34, 23-game winning streak and 24-game unbeaten run was on the line.

Kearny came into the season with 21 straight wins and was a heavy favorite to repeat its Western League and San Diego Section titles.

With quarterback Billy Bolden, the 1964 Section player of the year, and halfback Bobby Johnson on hand plus a healthy list of lettermen, the Komets of coach Birt Slater seemed potentially dynastic.

But Johnson sustained a serious ankle injury in a 25-0 victory over Grossmont that pushed Kearny’s record to 23 straight.  He missed three games including the two most important.

The Komets led Morse, 13-0, the following week before the Tigers scored two touchdowns in the final nine minutes for a 13-13 tie.

Kearny still could tie Grossmont’s 24-game mark but was beaten, 21-12, by Lincoln the next week. The Komets fumbled on the first play of the game and Phillip Shelley policed the ball and ran 25 yards for a touchdown.

Another tie and two more losses short-circuited the potential dynasty.

STREAKS, CONT.

–Grossmont’s 20-12 win over Helix was its first since 1959 against the Foothillers’ younger, neighborhood brother and eliminated the Highlanders’ from contention.

Helix had won or tied for the title in all four years of the Grossmont League.

–Football continued to be a stranger to Monte Vista, which had not won a league game since it opened in 1961 with the streak now at 31 games.

The Monarchs had ended a 15-game nonleague stretch by defeating Mission Bay, 13-0, in the season opener.

–El Cajon Valley’s 7-0 win over Helix was the Scots’ first loss at home since a 19-0 blanking by Grossmont in the 1959 opener.  Helix was 21-0-2 at home since and 9-0-1 all-time versus Valley.

WHAT TO REMEMBER?

For Hilltop’s Ward Lannom it will be his five-touchdown performance in a 53-20 victory over Vista.

Lannom scored on runs of 16, 61, and 6 yards, on a 13-yard pass from Mike Filson, and on a 90-yard kickoff return.  He also ran for a point after.

Lannom would rather forget his final game.  He was ejected after a sideline scuffle in the Lancers’ 35-6 loss to Castle Park.

LIGHTS, ACTION

Granite Hills opened Valley Stadium, a lighted facility on campus.  The stadium drive was led by Dr. George Brown, the Hoover star of the late 1930s; all-America lineman at Navy, and later a standout at San Diego State.

Brown’s son, George III, was a strapping 200-pound junior who would become one of the state’s leading shot putters in track and field and played on Don Coryell’s San Diego State squads.

QUICK KICKS—With a big hand from Bud Maloney of The San Diego Union I attempted to research and  log the score of every high school game in San Diego County from the beginning in 1895…my newspaper, the Evening Tribune, published the book…Nick Uglesich, 22-13-4 in four seasons at Sweetwater, resigned to become head coach at Anaheim Western (future golfer Tiger Woods’s alma mater years later)…the Red Devils won two Metropolitan League titles under Uglesich, who was taking assistant coach Don George to Western…before Sweetwater, Uglesich was at Huntington Beach…Matt Maslowski, a future Los Angeles Rams receiver from tiny University of San Diego, was out for football at Mission Bay…Gerry Spitler quit at Mission Bay after five games to become a  “teacher on special assignment” at San Diego High…Ken Bailey coached the Buccaneers in the final three games…rare coaching candor by Mount Miguel’s Perry Miller, whose team outrushed San Diego, 207-70, in a 14-6 victory:  “It could easily have been 35-0”…Hoover lineman Alan (Zeus) Dwyer went on to renown as a professional wrestler and was an owner of South Mission Beach’s renown “Beachcomber” watering hole…University, the defending San Diego Section A champion, was a 20-0 winner over Thermal Coachella, defending Southern Section A champion…Mountain Empire of the Southern Section was eliminated by Claremont-Webb, 34-27, in the first round of the small schools postseason…Morse followed Granite Hills when lights were delivered to its campus facility….