The world is Torrey Pines’ oyster, for now.

Coach John Olive’s Falcons completed an 8-0 January and have a 10-game winning streak as they visit Rancho Bernardo tonight.

The 21-2 Falcons have six remaining regular-season games against teams with a combined record of 61-65.

None of those  opponents, Rancho Bernardo, twice (11-9), Mt. Carmel (12-10), Poway (13-9), Westview (8-14), and Canyon rest (6-14), will  be favored.

The Falcons had  December losses of 64-47 to Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson and 51-49 to El Camino. The Del Mar school has a 46.30 power rating in Division I, with El Camino (17-4)  at 46.24 and San Marcos (20-1) at 46.14.

Win out and Torrey Pines should claim a No. 1 seed.

There are no San Diego teams in Cal-Hi Sports’ state top 20  this week.  The Falcons are 24th as selected by Max Preps.

UT-San Diego poll #7:

#	Team (1st place votes)	W-L	Points*	Previous
1	Torrey Pines (8)	21-2	107	1
2	Foothills Christian (3)	15-7*	99	2
3	La Costa Canyon	15-6	84	3
4	San Marcos	20-1	81	4
5	Army-Navy	18-4	56	5
6	El Camino	17-4	54	6
7	Mission Bay	16-1	37	7
8	Francis Parker	14-5	36	8
9	Morse	18-5	26	9
10	St. Augustine	17-6	17	`0

*Awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.  *Includes two forfeits.

Others receiving votes: Cathedral (12-7), 6; Escondido (13-7), 2; The Bishop’s (13-6), Grossmont (17-3), 1 each.

Eleven San Diego County sportswriters and broadcasters, and a CIF San Diego Section representative vote each week. The panel includes John Maffei and Kirk Kenney (UT-San Diego), Terry Monahan (UT-San Diego correspondent), Bill Dickens (eastcountysports.com), Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Aaron Burgin (fulltimeshoops.com), Rick Willis (KUSI Chl. 51), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Drew Willis (sdcoastalsports.com).

Helix’  San Diego Section Division II title represented what may have been the finest coaching performance in Jim Arnaiz’s 27-season career.

The Highlanders had won only 4 of their first 9 games but three ties had made them 4-2-3  when they began a five-week run to the championship.

–They improved to 5-2-3 and clinched second place in the Grossmont South League with a 27-7 victory over Granite Hills, the victim of Arnaiz’ 200th career win.

–The Highlanders won their first playoff game but not before they trailed by 13 points in the first half and had to overcome a 328-yard, 3-touchdown passing performance by Scripps Ranch’s Corey Kroviak.

Jason (Moving) Van bailed out the Scots in the 29-26 triumph with second-half touchdown runs of 12, 4, and 79 yards.

“Number 201 was not easy,” said Arnaiz, “but we’re not worried about how many wins coach Arnaiz has anymore.  Right now we’re on a mission, a mission to get to the Q (Qualcomm Stadium, site of the finals).”

–Helix improved to 7-2-3 in the  quarterfinals with a 27-24, double overtime  win over tough Monte Vista, which had beaten the Highlanders, 15-7, in the regular season.

PLAYERS ALL IN

Arnaiz made a risky but defining decision in the second overtime.  Go for a tying field goal on fourth down or go for the victory.

The coach let his players make the call and Van pounded in the winning touchdown from the four-yard line.

“It’s what they (his players) wanted to do,” said Arnaiz, adding that “you could  play overtime all night against those guys.”

After a regulation-game tie of 14-14, the teams traded touchdowns, necessitating a second overtime. Monte Vista went ahead, 24-21, kicking a field goal after coming up short on fourth down at the 2.

“I had to get it in,” said Van of his game-winner.  “That was all I was thinking.  I just had to get it in.”

–The road appeared to get a little easier but still ahead were hard-fought, successive victories of 14-7 over Castle Park in the semifinals and 19-7  over Chula Vista in the championship as  Van drove the Highlanders to the title.

The 9-2-3 record was not  the best but maybe it represented the most satisfying in Arnaiz’ career.

“We started the season as a medium-ranked team in San Diego County,” said Arnaiz.  “We followed our mantra of “good, better, best”, and sure enough we got better each week.”

“Jason Van was a solid running back for us and our quarterback was a good athlete.  We had a good defense and our kicking game was solid.”

Arnaiz, not one for hyperbole, was revealing the DNA of one of his typical Helix squads.

2-8 AND PROUD OF IT

Playoff meetings, almost always controversial and usually rancorous, drew perspective from opposite ends of the philosophy scale.

St. Augustine’s Joe Medina, asked if his team probably was out of the postseason after a loss to University had left the Saints with a 1-5 record:

“Heck no, we’re going to the playoffs,” Medina posited to Steve Brand of the Union-Tribune.  “They always have a team with just three wins in our division.”

The Saints finished the regular season with a 2-8 record.

St. Augustine “earned” a Division III postseason berth after Medina successfully argued at the seedings meeting  that losses to D-I Morse, D-II second seed Chula Vista, and D-III second seed University meant the Saints deserved inclusion.

Left out in D-II was El Camino (3-6-1), denying coach Herb Meyer a chance to win his 300^th game and ending the Wildcats’ streak of 17 consecutive postseason appearances.

HERB CALLS IT AS HE SEES IT

Meyer later revealed to Brand what he said at this year’s seedings meeting.
His team played one of the more difficult schedules but Meyer told a stunned group of peers that his squad had no business participating in the playoffs.

“I argued in favor of (only) eight-team divisions in 1993,” said Meyer, recalling that the decision was made that year to include 12 teams.

“My opinion hasn’t changed,” Meyer told Brand.  “If you’re upright and can take a breath  you’re in the playoffs these days.  It’s a joke.”

“The playoffs,” Meyer added, “should be the reward for having a good season and I certainly didn’t consider 3-6-1 a good season.”

But playoff dye, more like bleach, had been cast years before.

BONITA VISTA FIRST TO BREAK THROUGH

Losing teams in the playoffs had been increasing since Bonita Vista, 3-7 in 1984, became the first loser to gain the postseason.

Medina, 56-38-1 with the Saints since 1991 and with three championship appearances, did not apologize.

“Surprised? No,” Medina replied to Steve Brand.  “The way the system is set up, with 12 teams making the playoffs, we deserved to go, because I believe we are one of the 12 best teams (in D-III).”

Medina would no longer have to campaign.  He stepped down after the season.

And 12 teams eventually would become 16, with more divisions, more losing teams, and more blowouts.

THIRD BEST FEELING

“Except for when I asked my wife to marry me and she said yes and when my kids were born, there’s no better feeling in the world,” said Vista coach Steve Silberman.

The Panthers had just beaten beat Torrey Pines, 24-14, for the D-I title after tying the Falcons, 21-21, in 1997.

Leading by 10, Vista intercepted a pass with less than two minutes remaining and Torrey Pines out of timeouts.

“They’re dead!” Silberman could be heard exclaiming into his headset.  “I’m coming down.”

The coach jubilantly exited the San Diego Jack Murphy press box, from which he coached the game, and headed for the elevator to the field.

BURKE’S LAW

Torrey Pines had come a long way despite the loss to Vista.  The Falcons were 12-0-1 in 1997 but returned only one D-I prospect, wideout-defensive back John Donohue, and head coach Ed Burke was faced with a challenge.

Go with his honed and successful Wing-T offense or adjust.  Burke adjusted

The veteran mentor continued to employ the Wing-T with success, but also adopted an aerial offense behind quarterback David Bradley, who passed for 18 touchdowns.

BURKE’S LAW, CONT.

It was a special year for Burke, who coached a California team to a 10-5 victory over a Texas squad in a summer game that originally was the California North-South Shrine game.

Burke also was nominated by the Chicago Bears’ John Allred, one of Burke’s former players, as the NFL’s High School Coach of the Year.  He was one of five finalists and was part of a television commercial that played throughout the country.

Burke was 154-40 (.791) in sixteen seasons at Torrey Pines before he retired after the 2008 season.   He won 215 games with San Diego Section teams.

GOOD AS IT GETS IN SOUTH BAY

Tom Shanahan’s lead in Union-Tribune said it all:  “They closed the gates and stopped selling at 5,600 tickets.  By then the stands at Chula Vista High were filled and fans lined the fences….”

The host Spartans dressed up Joe Rindone Stadium not only for homecoming. The Hollywood-like halftime program featured a light show, fireworks, and an illuminated stage on the darkened field.

NFL-style Chula Vista and Castle Park helmets were painted at midfield and both end zones were painted “Spartans”.

Flying above the concrete retaining walls were 20 blue-and-white banners, 17 for league titles and three for CIF titles (1953 and ’54 in the Southern Section and 1983 in the San Diego Section).

That was the stage for No. 8 Castle Park’s 13-9 victory over No. 2 Chula Vista.  The Trojans (8-1) clinched the Metropolitan League with a 6-0 record and ended the unbeaten season of the Spartans (7-1-1).

Mike Frazier ran 59 yards for a touchdown with 5:30 remaining in the game to give the Trojans a 13-3 lead.  Ball game.

NEW SCHOOL, NEW LEAGUE

Valley Center High opened for about 950 students in grades 9-11, setting off a chain reaction that shook up two vintage leagues and meant formation of another.

1–Valley Center became part of the new Valley League, also including Escondido, Orange Glen, Ramona, and San Pasqual.

2–Escondido, Ramona, and San Pasqual left the Avocado League.

3–Orange Glen and Fallbrook moved away from the Palomar.

4–The Avocado League now numbered Fallbrook, Carlsbad, Oceanside, El Camino, La Costa Canyon, and Torrey Pines.

5–The Palomar was aligned with Poway, Rancho Bernardo, Mt. Carmel, Vista, Rancho Buena Vista, and San Marcos.

FIELD OF DREAMS

Bob Wilson played football at Escondido in 1946 but when Wilson and wife Marion declared their intention donate $1 million to the school they weren’t sure where the money should go.

After considering several options the Wilsons decided on the football facility.

“I couldn’t believe they were playing any games there,” said Wilson.  “The field looked awful and the wooden benches in the stands were splintering.”

The Wilsons’ contribution grew to $2.2 million and the result was that this year there was a 5,111-seat concrete structure.

The edifice was dedicated when Escondido and San Diego played in the 100^th anniversary of their history-making game.

Chick Embrey Field remained the name of the gridiron and the stadium was named after the Wilsons.

100 YEARS FOR 100 YARDS

San Diego High had a football team.  Escondido also had a team, but was it a collection of high school students or various young men who represented a “town” team?

Newspaper accounts of the day didn’t dwell on such mundane matters, so over the years that game came to symbolize the beginning of high school football in the County, although San Diego had played local military squads and such since 1891.

On Dec. 16, 1898, San Diego players and others rode tally ho stage coaches to Escondido, where the Hilltoppers scored a 6-0 victory.

On Sept. 11, 1998, the schools played again in the new Escondido Bob Wilson Stadium.  The Cougars won, 36-13.

Maybe just as significant the host school reintroduced a rite that had been abandoned many years before.

The Cougars held a bonfire before the game.

“We are reenacting a tradition,” said principal Ed Nelson.  “The whole idea is to relive the past.”

The Cavemen and Cougars had not met since 1971.  The biggest victory in school history had been Escondido’s 19-13 win over San Diego in the first year of the San Diego Section playoffs in 1960.

RUNS IN THE GENES

Vista’s Pisa Tinoisamoa dedicated his high school career to his uncle, Sal Aunese, the brilliant quarterback of the Panthers’  1985 team, which was named No. 1 in the state by Cal-Hi Sports.

Aunese died of stomach cancer at age 21 after becoming the starting quarterback at Colorado.

Tinoisamoa would go on to play at Hawaii and was a second-round draft choice of the St. Louis Rams in 2002 and played nine seasons in the NFL.

MOUNTAIN HIGH

Chad Cox of Mountain Empire set a section record with 50 points on seven touchdowns and eight points after in a 62-6, first-round D-IV playoff victory over Salton City West Shores.

Santa Fe Christian ended the Redskins’ season with an 18-0, quarterfinals victory the next week, but Cox retired with a record 262 points, topping the 222 by Rancho Buena Vista’s Scott Garcia in 1988.

Forty-four miles west, West Hills’ Monty Duke was operating with Cox-like results, leading host West Hills past Bonita Vista, 39-14.

Duke passed for five touchdowns and ran for another as the Wolf Pack’s no-huddle offense overwhelmed the Barons.

UNIQUE RECRUITING 

First-year coach Dan Leaf, saying he was hopeful of getting more candidates out for practice at Montgomery, was telling prospective players that he was related to Chargers quarterback Ryan Leaf.

Montgomery returned 12 starters and Wardell MacNeal, one of the section’s top short racers in spring track.

The Aztecs, 1-9 in 1997, improved to 3-7.

BUT YOUR TEAM LOST!

“It was a great time,” said Army-Navy coach Damian Gonzalez after the 41-13 playoff loss to The Bishop’s.

Let’s try that again.

“It was a great time,” said Army-Navy coach Damian Gonzalez after the 41-13 playoff loss to The Bishop’s.

The loss was no fun, but Gonzalez was looking at a bigger picture.

The coach was proud that the team was so well represented in the stands at La Jolla High.  The entire battalion of students was bused to the game from the Carlsbad campus.

Had Army-Navy won, the school would have had to keep a dormitory open and none of the football players and ancillary personnel would have been able to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday.

And the season was a success.

The Cadets finished with an 8-2-1 record, their best since the 1990 squad was 8-1.

ONCE A ‘DEVIL ALWAYS A ‘DEVIL

Eastlake’s nine-day, two-game Northwest tour included a Seattle Seahawks game.

Twelve-year NFL veteran Dan Saleaumua, who played for Eastlake  coach Gene Alim  at Sweetwater, purchased 65 tickets to a Seahawks game and arranged for the squad to watch practice.

Eastlake defeated Terry Fox, a school in suburban Vancouver, British Columbia, 55-20, and South Kitsap of Poulsbo, Washington, 28-23.

WIN ONE FOR THE BENNIE

Point Loma drove 75 yards in 15 plays and scored with 33 seconds left to defeat El Camino, 7-6, in the season opener for both teams.

More significant was the Pointers’ first victory since 1955 while being led by a coach other than Bennie Edens.

Mike Hastings, who played for Edens in the 1980s, succeeded Bennie after the 1997 season, which was a 0-10 finale for Edens.

“I hated to see him go out like that, but tonight we beat Herb (Meyer), his longtime friend, and that’s really a compliment to him and all he’s taught me and this team,” said Hastings.

Edens in retirement coached for a former friend at Willamette College in Oregon for one year, and then returned to San Diego.

RANKINGS

Vista, Torrey Pines, University, and Helix were Nos. 1 through 4 in the final Union-Tribune poll.

Vista was ninth in the state,  ninth in D-I, and sixth in Southern California as selected by Cal-Hi Sports.  Torrey Pines was No. 8 in the state D-II, University third in D-III, Marian fourth in D-IV, and Francis Parker ninth in D-V.

QUICK KICKS

Hoover beat La Jolla, 23-7, in the third postseason game ever played on the Cardinals field and the first since 1986…the first was in 1935, when the Cardinals bowed to Jackie Robinson and Pasadena Muir, 27-0…Coronado coach Walter (Bud) Mayfield was on crutches for half the season after sustaining a broken leg in an accident at home…Morse and Lincoln did not play each other for the first time since 1981…Dave Ponsford was only the third La Jolla head coach since Harry West gave way to Gene Edwards after the 1961 season…Edwards was followed by Dick Huddleston in 1990…San Diego was back in the Central League, where it was a member from 1981-92…the Cavemen were in the Eastern League from 1993-96, and Western League in 1997…Warner Springs Warner played its first season of 11-man football…Ramona, after years of playing home games on a junior high field a mile away, christened a new stadium…permanent seating and a press box were added at Valhalla, which has had lights since 1994…The Bishop’s 31-game winning streak came to an end in a 31-24 loss to Santa Fe Christian…Omar Shaheed, the former Chuck Benbow, brought his Compton High team South to play his alma mater, Kearny…the Komets beat the Tarbabes, 34-6.

 

 

John Kovac, the first head  football coach at Mesa College and coach of Coronado’s 1955-56 Southern California basketball championship team, passed away at age 89.

Services for Kovac, who moved from San Diego to Palm Springs in October, will be Jan. 20 at St. Brigit’s Parish, Pacific Beach, on Jan. 20 at 11 a.m.

Kovac opened the Mesa program in 1964 and posted a 30-14-2 record until he stepped down to become the college’s athletic director after the 1968 season.

The 1966 Olympians squad posted a 9-1 record and scored a 12-0 victory over San Bernardino Valley in the Elks Bowl game in the Northern city.

Kovac succeeded George Schutte as head coach at San Diego Junior College and his teams were 11-15-1 from 1961-63.

Kovac was a graduate of Penn State University and was the freshman coach at Penn State for future NFL Hall of Famer Lennie Moore and future Pro Bowl defensive lineman Roosevelt Grier.

Kovac’s first coaching position was as  basketball coach at Coronado High.  From 1953-56 his teams posted a record of 63 wins and 15 losses, going 15-8, 21-4, and 27-1, respectively.

The Islanders were the first County team to score at least 100 points in a game when they routed Rancho del Campo, 103-34, in 1953.

Coronado reached the Southern California small schools finals in 1954-55 but was beaten, by Azusa Citrus, 63-58, in front of more than 2,000 persons at Point Loma High.

Kovac’s small, quick Islanders won a championship rematch, 60-54, before another turnaway crowd of 2,300 at Azusa in the 1955-56 season.

Coronado, whose tallest player was 6-foot, 1-inch Roger Nix,  held Citrus star Billy Kilmer to 19 points, several points below his school-record average, and outplayed the Cougars’ starting five, which averaged 6-foot-3.

The Islanders’ only defeat that season was an early December decision, 49-45, to Hoover, which posted a 25-5 record and was the third-place finisher in the Southern California large-school playoffs.

CHULA VISTA STAR

Bob Lusky, who played on Chula Vista’s 1953 and ’54 Southern California small schools champions that had a combined, 23-1 record.

Lusky was all-Metropolitan League in football and baseball for the Spartans and pitched for San Diego State’s 1958 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship squad.

Lusky taught and coached many years in the South Bay and at Palomar College in San Marcos.

SET CARLSBAD SCORING RECORD

Bob Wueste held the Carlsbad High single-game scoring record of 40 points for several years and was a standout on coach Dimitri Poradowski’s 1961-62 squad that posted a 15-4 record and tied for first in the Palomar League.

An error in compilation of our list of coaches with at least 100 career victories omitted a 40th member of that club.

Monte Vista’s Ed Carberry posted a 100-59-3 record in 14 seasons, with a .626 winning percentage.

Carberry became the Monarchs’ coach in 1989 and was 72-51-2 through 1999.  Page Culver coached the Spring Valley team in 2000. Carberry returned in 2001 and closed with a 28-8-1 mark through 2003 and then moved on to Southwestern College.

Carberry’s teams won seven league championships and two San Diego Section titles in three appearances.  He is the fifth coach from the East County to win 100 games.

Helix’ Jim Arnaiz was 213-77-11 (.726) from 1973-99,  Steve Sutton, 131-91-1 (.587) from 1989-2010 at West Hills and Valhalla, Matt Oliver, 128-56-3 (.693) from 1999-02 and 2004-14 at Christian, and Ladimir (Jack) Mashin, 125-66-19 (.640) from 1923-47 at Grossmont.

Oliver is the only coach from the East County group still active.

Jason Bott of the Union-Tribune said it best: “Sometimes the best man for the job is a woman.”

Her name is Andy Wharton and she hammered a 29-yard field goal with nine seconds left in the game to give West Hills a 31-28 victory over Serra.

“I thought the play was stopped,” said Wharton, “but when I saw it wasn’t I just hoped it went through.”

Wharton split the uprights.  No surprise to Wolf Pack coach Steve Sutton.

“She’s a pressure player and has been in situations like this before (in other sports), but not like this with a football game on the line,” said Sutton.

Quarterback Lon Sheriff also helped, throwing for 311 yards and two touchdowns.

UNHAPPY DEADLOCK

The 21-21 Division I title tie did not sit well with Torrey Pines coach Ed Burke or Vista’s Steve Silberman. “I feel bad for the kids,” Burke said to writer Steve Brand, “because this hasn’t been resolved.”

“Nobody likes a tie–they don’t and we don’t,” said Silberman.

San Diego Section rules are that ties cannot be broken in championship games. Overtime tie-breakers are only for elimination purposes in the earlier rounds.

Point Loma and El Camino tied, 6-6, in 1982 and no one was happy with that either.

EL NINO BOWL

Rain-soaked fields turned to mush in the playoff semifinals, highlighted by driving rainstorms in various County locales.

Desert visitor Imperial couldn’t handle the conditions in a 41-14, D-IV loss to Marian Catholic, whose Mike Davies returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score, rushed for touchdowns of 66, and 70 yards, and accounted for more than 300 yards.

The mud also was just fine for Vista, which defeated Chula Vista, 25-0, as the Panthers’ Pisa Tinoisamoa rushed for 208 yards and sidekick Adrian Waddy added 85.

LOUSY SPORTSMANSHIP

Running up the Score, a.k.a, piling on.

It’s unpleasant and old as the game itself, from peewees to the pros.

What happened this season was remindful of a San Diego Chargers game against Denver in 1963.

The Chargers led, 56-20, after scoring a touchdown in the game’s final minutes.

Instead of maintaining and kicking for the extra point, Chargers coach Sid Gillman instructed quarterback John Hadl to pursue a two-point conversion.

Hadl passed complete to Earl Faison, a defensive end lined up as a blocker and eligible receiver on the special teams unit.

FAULKNER VENTS

Denver’s Jack Faulkner seethed as he approached Gillman at the traditional, postgame, midfield meeting of head coaches and uttered, “Thanks a lot, Sid, you son of a bitch!”

Faulkner had been an assistant coach with Gillman for more than 20 years in college and pro football before becoming Denver’s head coach in 1962.

Fast forward 34 years.

Friday night high school football.  Week 2, Sweetwater versus Scripps Ranch.

Twenty seconds remained, Sweetwater in front, 26-11, Red Devils in possession, second and nine on Scripps’ 19-yard line.

Take a knee? Run out the clock, get on the bus,  head home happy?

Sweetwater coach Tony Garcia called time out.

When play resumed, Sweetwater quarterback Hakeem Hunter found Brian Guthrie in the end zone with a touchdown pass.

Final score, Sweetwater 33, Scripps Ranch 11.

YOU DID IT FIRST!

When asked about the pass play, Garcia defensively responded by saying Sweetwater’s JV team lost a one-sided contest that preceded the varsity game and that Scripps Ranch was passing when the game ended.

“It works both ways,” Garcia told Tom Shanahan of the Union-Tribune. “I don’t want to run up the score, but I didn’t like what they did in the JV game.  They were throwing long passes.  And their coaches were jumping up and down.”

 JV STUNT

While Garcia’s response was not as pungent as Jack Faulkner’s to Sid Gillman, Scripps Ranch coach David Drake made it plain that he thought Garcia’s action was bush league.  “Then he made a JV call,” said  Drake said, restraining himself.

“I don’t know what happened in the JV game,” said Drake, “but that’s not good for anybody.  The kids aren’t dumb and they know what’s going on. It’s a small world and things like that come back around.”

TO TOP IT OFF

Sweetwater had the last word.

Host Scripps Ranch officials  held a 50-50 raffle fund-raiser, common in area high schools.  A lucky fan whose name was drawn could keep half of the raffle money.

The wife of a Sweetwater assistant coach came forth with the winning raffle ticket.

She took home $179.

DICK HAINES’ GIFT

Only three seasons removed from coaching, Dick Haines resided in a nursing home in San Diego’s North County, the victim of Alzheimer’s.

But Haines’s 194 victories from 1970-94 and the school stadium that bears his name ensured the old coach’s legacy and was  honored by his successor, Steve Silberman.

Silberman, who took over in 1995, retained coaches Andy Crouch and Chris Hauser, who had played for and were members of Haines’ staff.

Hauser would become head coach in  2000, after Silberman posted a 46-16-3 record, which the included the championship tie  with Torrey Pines this season, plus another title in 1998.

When Silberman was named head coach there were some who suggested that Panthers uniforms revert to black and white, since those were Vista’s official school colors.

Upon inheriting an 0-9 team in 1970, Haines immediately sought a cultural change and dressed his team in red.

“That didn’t make much sense to me (changing),” said Silberman.  “Every envelope that is mailed out of this school has ‘Go Big Red’ on it.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Dick Haines’ Stadium is just one of many in the area that have official designations.

At least 18 venues of the 82 San Diego section schools that play football were named after administrative or coaching leaders.

SCHOOL	NAME	HISTORY
Army-Navy	John Maffucci Field	Longtime coach-athletic director.
Carlsbad	Swede Krcmar  Field	First football coach.
Castle Park	Mike Swift Stadium	Taught at school many years.
Chula Vista	Joseph Rindone Stadium	First principal, 1947.
Coronado	Blumenthal Complex (1)	District superintendent.
Escondido	Chick Embrey Field	Star player and coach for Cougars.
Patrick Henry	Don Giddings Stadium	First principal, 1968.
Helix	Benton Hart Stadium	First principal, 1951.
Hilltop	Bob Dodds Stadium	Longtime administrator.
La Jolla	Gene Edwards Stadium (2)	Head coach, 1962-88
Madison	George Hoagland Stadium	First football coach, 1963.
Marian	Egger Stadium	Robert Egger donated land for school construction.
Mar Vista	Myron L. Smull Stadium	Early school principal.
Oceanside	John Simcox Field	1950s Coach.
Point Loma	Pete Ross Field	First school principal, 1926.
San Diego	Glenn R. Broderick (3)	Football or track coach, 1926-38.
Sweetwater	Gail Devers Stadium (4)	Twice Olympic track champion.
Vista	Dick Haines Stadium	Football coach, 1970-94.

• 1) Until 1995, Coronado played on field named for J. Leslie Cutler, former school principal and superintendent.
• 2) Field is named after Ellen Browning Scripps.
• 3) Broderick Field is part of Balboa Stadium.
• 4) Field is named after Guy Hudgins, first school principal.

More fields and stadiums names would recognize the accomplishments of various coaches in ensuing years (John Shacklett, Herb Myers, Ed Burke, Jim Arnaiz, John Carroll, to name some), but Bennie Edens, in his 41^st season at Point Loma, ruled  out a name change at his school.

“The field already has a name,” Edens told Steve Brand of the Union-Tribune.

“It’s Pete Ross Field, the first principal,” said Edens.  “If people of that era felt that strongly, who are we to change things now?

“No,” Bennie added,  “I wouldn’t  want  them to change the name at Point Loma or even make it Bennie Edens Stadium.  It takes away from the person after whom the facility is already named.”

P.S.:  The school didn’t hear Bennie.  Ross Field eventually shared marquis with Bennie Edens Stadium.

DOUBLE PUNCH

Marian was beaten in the D-IV finals but Mike Davies and Domonic Cruz formed the County’s best scoring duo.

Davies was second in the Section with 32 touchdowns and 192 points and Cruz was seventh with 19 touchdowns and 120 points

HAIL TO THE KNIGHTS

State playoffs still were years away, but so what?  The Bishop’s could wait.

The Knights could sit around their roundtables in decades to come, safe in the knowledge that they were the No. 1 team in the state, so anointed by Cal-Hi Sports.

Coach Bill Lekvold’s team was declared No. 1 in Division V, although it played in D-IV in the San Diego Section. Cal-Hi-Sports follows the state format, based on enrollment.

IT’S WINNING TIME

The Knights ended the season with a 26-game winning streak, including a 28-20 win over Marian in the D-IV final (the Crusaders were ninth in Cal-Hi’s final ranking).

The Bishop’s School opened in 1909, but didn’t field a football team until 1983. First-season coach Lekvold is the Knights’ seventh in the 15 football seasons.

The Bishop’s would run its winning streak to 31 games before a loss to Santa Fe Christian in 1998.  The streak, including eight-man games in the early years, was second in the San Diego Section to the 36 in a row won by Sweetwater from 1983-85.

OTHERS RATE WITH CAL-HI

Torrey Pines was 17^th in the state in all divisions, tenth in Southern California, and sixth in D-II.

Other rankings included Vista, 26^th overall, San Pasqual, 12^th in D-II, and St. Augustine, 12^th in D-III.

‘PINES GETS EDGE

Torrey Pines (12-0-1) and Vista (10-1-2) tied for the D-I title, 21-21, but Ed Burke’s Falcons were No. 1 in the final Union-Tribune poll.

Torrey Pines defeated  division winners San Pasqual (II) and Oceanside (III), and Marian, the D-IV finalist,  during the season.

NORTH COUNTY TRAFFIC

Helix coach Jim Arnaiz allowed one hour and 17 minutes for the 44-mile bus ride to El Camino in east Oceanside.

Normally a 51-minute commute, Arnaiz was playing it safe.

However, a crash in Del Mar backed up the I-5 for miles.  The Highlanders arrived 30 minutes late.

An additional delay was caused when El Camino had to retreat to its locker room to change jerseys.  Both teams were wearing white.

Visiting teams almost always wear white. Home teams wear the predominant school color.

For Helix, it was all good.  The Highlanders defeated the Wildcats, 28-15.

BEAR IS MISSED

“The coach’s office is going to be lonely,” said San Pasqual’s Mike Dolan.  “We’re going to miss him.”

Dolan was lamenting that the “Bear” would be moving to the Orange Glen campus.

The Golden Eagles lost a 7-0 decision to Orange Glen in the Battle of Bear Valley Parkway and gave up the Bear trophy that goes to the winner.

The schools are located a very long walk from each other on the same Escondido roadway.

The Bear had resided in Dolan’s office since 1992. San Pasqual won the Escondido teams’ five previous rivalry games.

With pile-driving Tom Kirovski again leading the Golden Eagles, San Pasqual got over loss of the Bear, reaching the D-III finals, and hammering Castle Park, 47-13, for the championship..

SAY, AREN’T  YOU…?

Gene Alim, who was 74-9-1, .887, from 1981-87 and 26-20-1 from 1991-94 at Sweetwater, was back in the arena,  succeeding Alan Duke as head coach at Eastlake.

Alim retired from coaching after an auto accident in 1994, but “you start to miss being around the other coaches, the camaraderie.  I’m excited.  This is very challenging position.”

Alim redux was such that he was 14-10 in two seasons at Eastlake, then retired again after the 1999 campaign.

But not for good.

Alim opened Otay Ranch in 2004 and went back to the sidelines, posting a 25-8 record in three years.

The veteran mentor retired again, but….

He came back one more time at Otay Ranch before finally calling it a day.  Alim was 8-12-2 in 2008-09 and went out with a record of 147-59-4 and a .708 win percentage.

THE BISHOP’S CHECKMATE

Paul Stefani was The Bishop’s leading scorer with 140 points, but wide receiver, kick returner, and defensive back Shane Walton was their catalyst.

Walton, who caught seven passes and returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown in the championship, scored 80 points.  He chose Notre Dame over UCLA and eventually was a fourth-round draft choice of the St. Louis Rams.

“This one was for all those colleges that are not recruiting me,” Walton said to Kevin J. Farmer of the Union-Tribune.  “I can’t believe San Diego State hasn’t looked at me and I’m right here in their own back yard.”

Walton hadn’t played football until he turned out at The Bishop’s and was considered a future major soccer player, having  been a standout  for the Nomads, a nationally recognized San Diego junior team.

KICKERS SET RECORDS

Greg Pieratt’s 27-yard field goal in overtime gave Patrick Henry a 25-22 victory over Mira Mesa in the first round of the playoffs and was his fourth game winner of 9 successful placements this season.

St. Augustine’s John  Cortney set a San Diego Section record with 16 field goals and Torrey Pines’ Hayden Epstein set a Section record with a 58-yard field goal in the D-I championship.

I CAN’T HEAR YOU

There was no sound system when Madison and St. Augustine squared off in the first round of the D-III playoffs at Balboa Stadium.  Loud speakers reportedly were stolen and the city-governed field had no gridiron lines; someone forgot to paint them.

Not to worry for the Saints, who advanced with a 44-6 victory.

THE OFFICIALS’ WORLD

Crawford and San Diego Southwest almost were blinded by flying yellow flags in the first half of the Colts’ 24-7 victory.

Crawford was called for clipping, encroachment, holding, and unsportsmanlike conduct.

Southwest was fined for face mask, illegal block, holding, false start, and unsportsmanlike conduct.

“We’re still young, still learning,” said Raiders coach Ed Bajet.  “Penalties are part of the learning process.”

TRUE GRID

Rancho Bernardo’s 17-0 victory over Morse was the Tigers’ first shutout in 39 games, dating to ‘Bernardo’s 3-0 victory over Morse in the D-I finals in 1993…Granite Hills’ topped Orange Glen, 2-0, for its first playoff win since 1986, ending an 0-6 stretch…Hilltop won 2 playoff games after having not won  any since its first postseason appearance in 1967…the Lancers had lost seven in a row…all four divisional championship games were played in Qualcomm Stadium, games starting at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 4, and 7…total attendance was 16,752, almost 8,000 more than attended the 1996 finals, and the games were played under dry skies, ensuring a good field for the San Diego Chargers’ next game…West Hills, which opened in 1989, announced plans for 2,300 permanent concrete bleachers…Mt. Carmel, 6-4 overall and 5-2 in the Palomar League, was forced to forfeit its last eight regular-season games and bow out of the playoffs…belated internal investigation by school officials revealed an ineligible player in another example of the Dreaded Administrative Glitch….

Like mile markers on the interstate, coaching victories progress at their own pace and gradually add up.

Monte Vista’s Ron Hamamoto became the eighth  to win 200 games this season and Madison’s Rick Jackson was the 39th to reach 100.

Hamamoto (201-127-4), a 30-year veteran of San Diego high school wars, was at University (Cathedral), Rancho Bernardo, and Lincoln before moving to Monte Vista in 2012.

Jackson (100-31-3) has averaged 9.2 wins in 11 seasons at Madison and his .761 winning percentage is second only to John Carroll’s .765.  The late Birt Slater of Kearny had a .753 percentage for third.

Carroll moved past Bennie Edens this season and now has 248 victories, 91 less than all-time leader Herb Meyers.  Carroll could catch Meyers in nine seasons if he continued to average 9.5 victories a year as he has done in the 26 he’s been at Oceanside.,

See the complete “Coach 100 Club” list under the “Football” menu item.

CAL-HI  RANKINGS

Oceanside’s loss to Folsom in the State D-I championship resulted in the Pirates’ dropping from fifth to 10th in the final Cal-Hi Sports list of the state’s top 25 teams.

El Capitan fell from 16th to 22nd, Helix from 22nd to 23rd, and Cathedral remained 25th.

Concord De La Salle, which defeated Corona Centennial, 63-42, in the Open Division championship, was first and Folsom second.