San Diego County was “free” of the giant Southern Section and on its own, twenty-eight schools strong.

The formation of the local CIF section pleased administrators and assorted education honchos who wielded the sharp end of the stick.

Coaches and most fans were ambivalent.

The great competition against Northern schools and the building excitement of playoffs at foreign sites against largely unknown opponents was gone, replaced by two divisions and two weeks of watered-down postseason play.

Champion of 28 schools was not like champion of more than 300.

3  STAY PUT

Three County affiliates did not join the new section. Mountain Empire and Rancho del Campo remained in the Southern Section and usually played more easily accessed Imperial Valley squads.

Fallbrook, 0-8 in 1957 and 0-9 in ’58 as a member of the Avocado League, was not considered strong enough to compete against schools from the North County circuit.

The Warriors had joined the DeAnza League in Riverside County in 1959 and stayed there through this football season.  Their opponents were schools such as Hemet, Perris, San Jacinto, and Beaumont.

The alignment agreed with coach Al Waibel’s club, which was 3-1 in the league and 6-3 overall.

Fallbrook dropped a 32-0 decision to San Pedro Mary Star of the Sea in the first round of the Southern Section small schools playoffs.

Football at Julian still was seven years away, making 27 the actual count of football-playing schools in the San Diego Section.

San Diego fans were happy, as long as their teams were winning.

That meant that virtually every week was a celebration at Escondido High, where coach Bob (Chick) Embrey built a small school power into a major force in the new order.

The game of the year matched San Diego, at 6-2 the Eastern League champion and, by reputation, the favorite, against the 7-1-1 Cougars in the AA semifinal.

MAESTRO, MUSIC!

Escondido fired a shot across the Cavers’ bow before the kickoff.

The North County school’s pep band struck up “The March of the Olympians,” which was written for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, as the Cougars  marched onto the field from the South end of Balboa Stadium, helmets tucked under their arms against their sides.

They could have been matadors entering the ring.

The novel approach clearly one-upped the Cavemen, who for years cowed visiting teams with their traditional entrance down the steps from the top of Balboa Stadium’s North end zone.

COUGARS IN CONTROL

Escondido’s 19-13 victory was not as close as the final score.  The Cougars outgained San Diego, 293-246, and led, 19-7, in the third quarter.

“We could have scored more, don’t you think?” enthused the jubilant Embrey.

Embrey could not have been blamed for gloating, although that was not his intention. He was Escondido’s star player in 1944, when the Cavers beat the Cougars, 20-0, in a Southern Section playoff.

Quarterback Doug Bennett completed 6 of 9 passes for 161 yards against San Diego and, as further evidence of a changing of the guard, had the fastest man on the field.

Wingback Dave Blunt was on the receiving end of a 66-yard pass play which gave the Cougars a two- touchdown lead.

Blunt also became the first San Diego Section sprint champion the following spring, running :09.7 in the 100-yard dash and 21 seconds in the 220.

POINTERS WIN TIE

Point Loma tied Helix, 6-6, in the other semifinal and advanced because of their 13-8 advantage in first downs.

Mount Miguel, winner of five in a row since it had gone to a power ground game, in coach Harry Johnston’s words, defeated La Jolla, 7-6, and Vista beat University, 32-20, to reach the Class A, small-schools championship.

The championship games went to form.

Escondido defeated Point Loma, 20-13, before an estimated overflow crowd of 9,000 at the Cougars’ field.

Doug Bennett passed 42 yards to Dave Blunt and 4 yards to Pete Schouten and Blunt returned an intercepted pass 40 yards to give the Cougars three touchdowns and a 20-6 lead.

WHO’S A BULLY?

No one, but that was what several residents of Spring Valley thought I was calling Mount Miguel after the Matadors defeated Vista, 40-13, for the Class A title.

In my game story I made a comparison of the good big man always defeating the good little man.  And  I wrote, using a very trite and poor play on words, “Mount Miguel’s Matadors, a big, bullish Metropolitan League entry, overpowered Vista, a small tough Avocado Leaguer….”

I received telephone calls and letters from outraged Mount Miguel followers, saying I had called their team a bunch of bullies and most suggesting I should not show my face in Spring Valley, where the school was located.

Looking back, what was Mount Miguel doing in the small schools bracket?

With more than 2,500 students, Mount Miguel was the largest school in the County.  Vista had an enrollment of about 950.

Mount Miguel and La Jolla were the two at-large teams invited to the small school playoffs after finishing second in their large school leagues and with the best second-place records.

“They were just too big and too strong,” said Vista coach Pat Mongoven.  “Maybe they’ll do something next year about those pairings.”

MATADORS’ 1-2  PUNCH

“Torge and Freeman, then comes the screamin’!” That was how Tribune writer Roger Conlee described the Mount Miguel attack.

Russ Torge gained 146 yards in 11 carries and scored two touchdowns, including one from 71 yards.

Duane Freeman had 74 yards in 14 carries, scored once, and blocked a punt which Matador John Rea returned 19 yards for a touchdown.

DOUG VS. EZELL

Doug Bennett, who played behind Steve Thurlow at Escondido in 1959, completed 98 of 155 passing attempts for 1,577 yards and 17 touchdowns in 11 games.

San Diego’s Ezell Singleton had a sizeable advantage with 28 touchdown passes in 1958, but wasn’t that far ahead with 111 completions in 179 attempts for 1,711 yards.

Bennett averaged 10.2 yards per passing attempt and Singleton 9.6.  Singleton averaged 15.4 yards per completion and Bennett 16.1.

HONORS

Bennett made the all-Southern California first team.  End Doug Agatep of Escondido and Helix lineman Dennis Michalenko were  on the second team and Crawford running back Jim (Corky) McCorquodale was on the third team.

There were no San Diego Section players on any of the three, all-Southern Caliifornia lower division teams.

EXPANDING

The alignment would be for only one season, but the 10-team Metropolitan League was halved into Northern and Southern Divisions, geography be damned.

El Cajon, El Capitan, Escondido, Granite Hills and Hilltop formed the Northern Division. A Southern Division embraced Helix, Grossmont, Chula Vista, Mount Miguel, and Sweetwater.

The distance between division rivals Escondido and Hilltop was 36 miles.  The distance between Hilltop and city neighbor and non-division opponent Chula Vista was 3 miles.

The six schools in the Grossmont League would have their own circuit in 1961, plus the new Monte Vista High in Spring Valley.

PERSISTENCE PAYS

St. Augustine’s defense braced and stopped Point Loma on the Saints’ 19, 22, 37, 24, and one-yard lines, but the Pointers finally put the 12-6 game away with a touchdown by Curtis Mosley that ended a five-play, 27-yard drive with 1:36 remaining.

It was St. Augustine’s first loss in 14 games.

ALL-STAR GAMES AND CARNIVALS

They were abundant and they were popular.

San Diego scored its first victory in five tries over the Los Angeles City aggregation in the 12th annual Breitbard College Prep All-Star game.

The 27-12 victory, fueled by the performance of Escondido’s Steve Thurlow and San Diego High’s Richard (Prime) McClendon, came before an Aztec Bowl record turnout of 13,700.

Thurlow passed for two touchdowns and ran for another.  McClendon rushed for 151 yards and ran 66 yards for a score. The local squad trailed 12-0 at halftime but wore down the Los Angeles stars with a rushing attack that netted 333 yards.

The San Diego-L.A. format replaced the Southern California-L.A. game in 1956.  The series started in 1949.

CAVERS TAKE TO AIR

Passes by the Cavers’ Lou White resulted in carnival scoring plays of 88 yards to Thomas Phillips, 22 yards to David Ortman, and 68 yards to Eddie Frost.

The Metropolitan League carnival featured only Grossmont District squads and drew a capacity crowd of 12,000 to Aztec Bowl.

Six teams played three, 20-minute quarters.

Mount Miguel, Granite Hills, and Helix of the West won, 25-6.

Mount Miguel beat El Cajon Valley, 19-0, in the second quarter after Granite Hills, teeing up for the first time, battled to a 6-6 standoff with El Capitan. Helix and Grossmont played to a scoreless deadlock in the final quarter.

START-UP INCONVENIENCES

Granite Hills opened its doors for the first time, minus some of the usual necessities.

The Eagles’ one “luxury” was cold showers, but was an improvement over the initial conditions.

Coach Glenn Otterson’s team originally was forced to use hoses to wash off practice sweat and dirt. The players then had to take their uniforms home for a more complete cleaning and bring their own towels to school.

Lockers became available midway into the season.  Until then, the Eagles’ used a “dressing room.” As Roger Conlee wrote in the Evening Tribune, the players piled their clothes in a bare, four-walled enclosure that was locked during practice.

“SHOWERS,” CON’T.

Four seconds remained at Mount Miguel, where Granite Hills and Sweetwater were completing a nonleague game which Sweetwater won, 20-6.

As Granite Hills quarterback Tom Roth was about the accept the snap from center, Roth and his teammates heard a hissing noise behind them.

Sprinklers went on all over the field.  Scrambling officials were unable to find the automatic timing device which controlled the system, so the teams went ahead with the last play in a shower.

“Both benches (then) emptied fast,” said Otterson.  “They scattered like it  was a fire drill.”

UNIVERSITY OF…PENALTIES?

Coach Robert (Bull) Trometter’s University of San Diego High Dons dropped a 30-6 decision to Fallbrook.

Nothing out of the ordinary about the score but the Dons had five touchdowns erased by penalties, including 4 in the game’s first six minutes.

Uni, playing a full varsity schedule for the first time, was eager to please Trometter, the highly successful former Marine Corps Recruit Depot mentor.

“I wouldn’t say it was the officials’ fault,” tactfully noted Trometter, a decorated, retired Marine Corps officer. The coach said his players essentially were “over-eager and inexperienced,” leading to a flood of off-sides, holding, and other violations.

The Dons dropped their first three games, won their final three and earned a first-round Class A playoff berth.

NIGHT AND DAY

Rowdism, which provoked a move of the city football carnival from evening to afternoon in 1959, was a continuing problem.

Police Chief Elmer Jansen addressed several concerns for his department, including staffing and expense, and suggested switching games to daylight.

Very Rev. John Aherne, principal at St. Augustine, was spokesman for the pro-night-games group and said crowds would be down at day games and that there was no guarantee that rowdyism would not continue.

Night games continued in the city during the playoffs  after much rhetoric.

PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM

An  Oceanside-Carlsbad school district trustee suggested that Oceanside and Carlsbad replay their 0-0 tie.

John Prenzel proposed an investigation to determine if such a game “would be in accord with California Interscholastic Federation rulings.”

Prenzel thought a rematch under auspices of the Oceanside Lions Club could be played on Thanksgiving Day, with proceeds going to the rival schools’ student body funds.

The game wouldn’t affect league standings, said Prenzel.

It was an idea whose time had not come. No action and no game took place.

PLACEMENTS POPULAR

Field goals were making a comeback, or rather they were being discovered.

After years in which no placements were made or attempted, at least four attempts were successful this year.  Soccer-style kicking still was a few years away.

Coronado lost to La Jolla, 21-10, but the Islanders’ Bob West kicked a 21-yard field goal.  San Dieguito’s Randy Simpson made a 34-yard placement in a 3-0 victory over El Centro Central.

Not to be outdone, Helix’ Bill Burnett was good from 25 yards in a 36-0 win over Grossmont and Fallbrook’s Jim Martin converted from 22 yards in a 24-14 win over Elsinore Military Academy.

SCHOLASTIC STUMBLES

City schools quarterly grades during the season meant academic casualties.

Clairemont, the consensus preseason favorite, would not win a league game and lost fullback Ron Power, one of the area’s better offensive players, to grade deficiencies.

Mission Bay was down to 24 players after first teamers Jeff Moran, Martin Brown, and Gene Scales were beaten by the books.

Lincoln lost halfback Vernus Ragsdale.  San Diego halfback George Mahaffey and tackle Billy Tyus also received the academic rubber key.

In another, unexpected move, Robert Nelson, a promising halfback at Point Loma, suddenly transferred to Lincoln.

HELP FOR JEFF

A practice injury left Crawford’s Jeff Greenleaf paralyzed from the waist down.  To help incur Greenleaf’s hospital bills donations were sought and the Colts met Sweetwater in a Thanksgiving Day, postseason contest at Hoover.

More than 6,000 persons were on hand as Crawford, giving an indication of what to expect in 1961, ran past the Red Devils, 33-9.

The Red Devils’ Ron Miller was held scoreless but still led the County with 13 touchdowns and 78 points. Sweetwater coach Tom Parker donated the game films to Greenleaf’s family.

IT’S SIMPLE, JUST WIN

Army-Navy coach John Maffucci described life at the Carlsbad military academy:

“We’re a boarding school and there is an advantage to having the players on campus  most of the time. When we lose, they stay in; when we win, they can go out.”

SIGN OF THE TIME

The frontage road serving hotels in Mission Valley was renamed Hotel Circle by the San Diego City Council.

TRUE GRID

Crawford coach Walt Harvey on running back Jim (Corky) McCorquodale:  “He can run, pass, punt, play defense, and block”…Corky was among the County leaders in scoring with 55 points…“We played better in the carnival (21-6 loss in one quarter to San Diego) than we did tonight (7-0 victory over Crawford),” said Kearny coach Birt Slater….Mission Bay outrushed Pomona Catholic, 258-104, and lost, 27-7…obscure name of the year: Vista halfback Joe Picchiottino (pitch-ee-oh-teen-oh)…Point Loma’s Robert Nelson scored on a 48-yard run on his first attempt as a varsity player…Glenn Forsythe returned to Ramona as head coach after one year as a journalism professor at Reedley Junior College near Fresno…defenders of San Diego’s move away from the Southern Section reminded that the AAAA finale between Compton Centennial and Santa Barbara drew only 8,619 persons to the Los Angeles Coliseum… …St. Augustine’s 14-6 victory over San Diego was the Saints’ first ever against the Cavemen…they were 0-8-1 against Cavers teams of  different levels dating to 1926…the Saints’ Mickey Frank, 6-foot-3 and 292 pounds, was credited for an outstanding defensive performance…Helix’ defense called itself the “Untouchables”…so did San Diego’s offensive backfield…Vista coach Pat Mongoven had another job, president of the North County community’s American Little League….

The 12-0 season, Southern California championship, and declaration as national champions was just the beginning for coach Clarence (Nibs) Price and many of the San Diego High Hilltoppers.

Price left the school after the 1917-18 school year and made his way back to Price’s alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley, joining the staff of head coach Andy Smith in 1920.

Price was the Bears’ head coach following Smith’s death and guided the Bears to a 27-17-3 record from 1926-30, including the 1929 Rose Bowl, made famous by the wrong-way run of California’s Roy Riegels.

Price was head coach of the Bears’ basketball team from 1924-54.  His teams won 453 games, seven conference championships, and went to the Final Four of the 1945 NCAA tournament.

Perhaps most significant, seven members of the 1916 Hilltoppers were recruited by Price and played on the 1920 California squad that was 9-0, outscored opponents, 510-14, and defeated Ohio State, 28-0, in the Rose Bowl.

The Bears were known as the “Wonder Team”. In 1953 the Helms Athletic Foundation in Los Angeles named the 1920 squad the greatest in collegiate history.

–Bryan (Pesky) Sprott was known more in college as Albert, his given name, and was the offensive catalyst for the Bears in the Rose Bowl, gaining 92 yards in 20 carries and scoring two touchdowns.

Karl Deeds, another former Hilltopper, raced 61 yards with an interception for the Bears’ final touchdown.

Sprott scored seven touchdowns against Stanford in 1918.

A star runner in high school, Sprott was fifth in the 800-meter run at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium.

–Harold (Brick) Muller won the state high jump championship in 1918.

Muller won the state high jump and broad jump in 1919 after transferring to Oakland Technical  and was a silver medalist at 6 feet, 2 ¾ inches, in the 1920 Olympics.

Muller  threw a pass a reported 57 yards in the air for a touchdown in the 1921 Rose Bowl. It was said to be the longest pass in football history. The future orthopedic surgeon was the first West Coast player to be a collegiate all-America and won several all-time all-America honors.

Having graduated from medical school, Muller signed with a professional team, the Los Angeles Buccaneers of the fledgling American Football League, then became the team’s head coach in 1926.

For many years Muller served as the team doctor for the university’s  athletic teams.

Walter (Dutch) Eells, “Klean Kut” Karl Engebretsen, Stan Barnes, and Olin (Cort) Majors also played for the 1920 Bears.

Barnes became a federal judge and Majors was a special assistant to the University of California chancellor.

The esteem with which the 1920 teammates were held was such that Sprott’s death in 1951 resulted in giant headlines in Bay Area newspapers.

Sprott, who was hard of hearing, did not see an oncoming freight train.  He  dodged the train at the last moment but hit his head on the iron step of an stationary box car nearby.

Sprott  was on his lunch break from his workplace in nearby Antioch and enjoying a favorite hobby, counting and comparing numerals on passing trains.

WHAT IS “FOOTBALL”?
Nibs Price may have asked that question when he became coach at San Diego High in 1914.

The 5-foot, 6-inch Price had been a star high school footballer in Iowa but discovered that rugby was the prevailing sport when he enrolled at the University of California.

Price had to re-learn the difference between football and rugby.  Rules of the gridiron game had changed dramatically.

Walt Harvey, whose firm and folksy touch resonated with generations of San Diego-area athletes and future coaches, passed away Feb. 7 at age 95.

A memorial will be held at noon Saturday, Feb. 22, at La Vida Real, where Harvey resided the last several years.

La Vida Real is located at 11588 Via Rancho San Diego, El Cajon Ca., 92019.

Samuel Walter Harvey was born in San Diego and attended John Adams elementary, Wilson Junior High, and graduated from Hoover in 1936.

“He never forgot a name, a face, or a particular play in a game,” said Tom Whelan, quarterback of Crawford’s 1961 championship team .  “He was amazing.  Even when he developed health issues we got to see him and it was a special time.”

Harvey was so admired that former students and  players from La Jolla, Lincoln, and Crawford regularly joined the coach for lunch several times a year at Harvey’s retirement residence.

Harvey was a starting end on the 1935 Hoover Cardinals team coached by John Perry that won the Bay League championship, posted a 7-1-1 record, and defeated rival San Diego for the first time.

A loss to Pasadena Muir in the first round of the playoffs didn’t diminish Hoover’s only unbeaten regular season in the school’s 85-season history.

Harvey was a starting member of the 1938 San Diego State  football team that won the conference title and he was a standout in track with a best time of :09.8 for 100 yards.

Walt’s first coaching position came after World War II at Holtville, where he “coached everything and drove the school bus.”

Harvey moved to La Jolla in 1948 and became the Vikings’ head coach in 1950. His 1951 and ’52 teams were a combined 15-4 and the 1952 squad reached the semifinals of the Southern California playoffs.

A 7-6 victory over San Diego in 1951 was one of four victories by San Diego County squads in the 12 seasons Duane Maley coached at San Diego high.

Harvey’s 1953 baseball team went to the Southern California finals before bowing, 2-1, to Compton.

Harvey took over the start-up Lincoln program the following September and guided it to varsity status in 1954. Lincoln’s 1956 team was 5-2-1 and battled San Diego and Hoover for City Prep League supremacy.

Lincoln tied with Hoover and San Diego for the CPL dual-meet championship in track in 1957 and Harvey coached Lincoln’s first state track champion, Luther Hayes, who won the broad jump at Berkeley in 1957.

Harvey moved on from Lincoln and began another construction project when Crawford opened in September, 1957.

His 1961 Colts team was 8-0-2 and won the San Diego Section championship. Harvey was named he area’s Coach of the Year at the annual St. Augustine Appreciation Night.

Walt retired from coaching after the 1961 season, then returned to coach the Colts from 1966-68.

It was a moot point for 97 years.

But when Bakersfield defeated Loomis Del Oro, 56-26, in the State Division I championship  this season an old dispute surfaced.

Officially the title was Bakersfield’s seventh, along with years of 1920, ’21, ’22, ’23, ’25, and ’27. State championships were not played from 1928-2005.

Bakersfield historians claim the win over Del Oro was the Drillers’ eighth championship, because San Diego High refused to play then-named Kern County Union in 1916.

But did the Hilltoppers’ default, or worse, forfeit?

San Diego coach Clarence (Nibs) Price apparently never agreed to or intended to play the unscheduled game.

Student manager Ralph Noisat is reported to have offered Bakersfield a $300 guarantee days before the Hilltoppers’ Southern California final against Los Angeles Manual Arts.

Noisat, probably acting at the behest of the school’s executive committee, apparently issued a challenge, the Hilltoppers to meet Kern County Union in San Diego on New Year’s Day.

Price said no, not now. He would think about it and decide after the Southern California championship game.

Hours after the 9-0 win over Manual Arts Price said his team was “fatigued” and that the Hilltoppers would call it a day, their season complete.

The coach made plans to take advantage of the school Christmas vacation and headed to Catalina. Many players visited friends or relatives in the Los Angeles area before eventually making their way back home.

Noisat possibly did not consult Price, who may not have wanted to continue the season because his star player, Bryan (Pesky) Sprott, was nursing late-season injuries and his team had endured a fierce championship game for an unprecedented 12th consecutive victory.

Or Price was weary of having a student representing school honchos making decisions that should have been in Price’s purview. The coach is said to not have been informed before a contract was negotiated with Santa Ana earlier in the season.

Bakersfield coach Dwight (Goldie) Griffith thought he had a game. So did his principal, A.J. Ludden, who challenged the state CIF to declare the Drillers champions because San Diego had forfeited.

According to published reports, the CIF declared Bakersfield the 1916 champion.

“Nonscheduled events (such as a state playoff) came down to ‘challenges’ from one school to another,” said San Diego High historian Don King.

“These challenges were made by team student managers, who had inflated responsibilities in those early years. The challenges often were accompanied by insults regarding cowardice, masculinity, or birth illegitimacy.”

Mark Tennis of Cal-Hi Sports, the bible of state high school records, pointed out that “the state CIF doesn’t have its own historian, because we have compiled and have copy-written all of the state records.”

Cal-Hi Sports is the accepted guardian of California high school records in virtually all sports.

Tennis said Cal-Hi Sports long ago recognized San Diego High as the best team in the state in 1916.

It also was reported that San Diego’s 12-game schedule possibly was the longest ever played by a high school team to that date. Price may have felt Bakersfield had the advantage of being rested after posting an undefeated season in only six games.

Mark Tennis recommended that Bakersfield’s historian and archivist contact the state CIF for a ruling.

If it wanted to get involved, the state CIF probably could recognize Kern Union as the champion, but it says here that the Drillers would be no more than “mythical” champions, not having won the title on the field, and thus protecting San Diego’s undefeated season.

How can you have a forfeit or default if you never agreed to play in the first place?

“I don’t think anyone around San Diego would object to a Bakersfield claim of another state title, since all directly involved are quite deceased,” concluded King.

MODE OF TRAVEL QUESTIONED

Bakersfield’s march to the state Division I title in 2013 included a 35-28 victory over Mission Hills in the Southern playoff leading to the state final.

The win over the Grizzlies marked Bakersfield’s first appearance in San Diego County since 1952 and its first state elimination game here since 1922.

The Drillers defeated San Diego, 17-6, before a crowd of about 6,000 in City Stadium in 1922 and they made the 230-mile trip in two motor coaches, arriving here the morning of the game after spending the night in Santa Ana.

Bakersfield’s athletic director had told Terry Monahan of UT-San Diego that the team in 1922 had arrived in San Diego after a 12-hour train ride.

Impossible.

There were no passenger trains in 1922 that went South from Bakersfield over the Grapevine and down into Los Angeles County.

And there aren’t any now.

A passenger would step off a train today in Bakersfield and then have to take a bus to Los Angeles before catching Amtrak to San Diego.

Follow the 12-0 San Diego High team, which won the Southern California title and was declared No. 1 in the U.S. by the National Sports News Service, as covered by Jack Darroch, “beat writer” for The San Diego Union who was a student at the school or recent graduate.

Darroch’s view took in the inner workings of the country’s outstanding high school program and was witness to some surprising (in 21st century football dynamics) and interesting intramural politics that were part of the Hilltoppers’ memorable season.

Darroch saw it all and wrote about most of it.

Virtually forgotten but noted here were the five other football-playing squads in the County: Escondido, National City (Sweetwater), Coronado, Army-Navy, and the  San Diego High reserves, known as the “Seconds.”

Fallbrook, Ramona, and Julian did not field teams.

8/28/16

On the first day of school and of practice (San Diego High opened two to three weeks ahead of other highs in Southern California) Hilltoppers coach Clarence (Nibs) Price revealed that he would “probably play in the style used by Harvard University” in 1915.

“Harvard’s offense began with the kicking formation, which forced the defense to draw back in preparation for the kick and that opened possibilities for the end run or forward pass,” Darroch wrote.

Price finished the initial workout by sending the team on a short run around the City Stadium field and then through a session of “falling on the ball”.  The runways and landing pits for track and field were full of sawdust and useful for this exercise.

The team will be much lighter than last year, but faster, said student manager Ralph Noisat.

9/4/16

Awaiting purchase of a tackling dummy, Price planned to work the team in “signal practice, calling of the plays, and falling on the ball.”

9/5/16

With graduates helping, five coaches were assisting Price.

Manager Noisat was awaiting approval by the school executive committee to purchase a blocking dummy and bucking machine.

9/6/16

Additional candidates brought the number at practice to 48.  Perhaps the increase in numbers was due to a rally in the auditorium yesterday.

9/7/16

Coronado’s Ed Suggett averaged about 35 yards a carry in an intrasquad scrimmage at the Coronado Polo Grounds, home field for the Islanders.

“The boys are showing more enthusiasm than in former years, “said captain and kicker Albert (Dabs) Madden, who predicted the Islanders would field a “crack team.”

San Diego was attempting to sign rival Santa Ana for a Thanksgiving Day game, but the Saints said they wouldn’t come unless they received a percentage of the gate receipts, plus a guarantee.

9/9/16

The executive committee turned down an offer from East High in Salt Lake City.  The Utah school wanted San Diego to foot all travel expenses.

Turnout at San Diego jumped to 68 boys, with others turned away because of lack of uniforms.  No more than 38 had reported in 1915.

9/12/16

Lincoln High of Portland proposed a Thanksgiving Day game in San Diego but projected expenses of $800 made the game unlikely.

Manager Ralph Noisat reported that he worked all weekend constructing a bucking machine and installed a rubdown table in the gym.

9/13/16

Finally, a game.  Los Angeles Manual Arts agreed to a $50 guarantee and 10 per cent of the gate receipts to play in the new City Stadium.

Admission was set at 10 cents and a game with Coronado also was scheduled.

9/20/16—William Buck sustained a broken nose in an intrasquad scrimmage.

The executive committee allowed yell leader Bert Pickett $4 to purchase a blue and white sweater so he would be “all dolled up” for the opening game with Coronado.

9/21/16

A game with the USC freshman was scheduled.  The Hilltoppers covered travel expenses but would keep gate receipts.

9/22/16

Today was devoted to ”blackboard practice”, following a tough Thursday practice that was the Hilltoppers’ last before the Coronado game.

A game with Santa Ana was agreed to without the consent of coach Price. It was not until two days after final arrangements were made that Price was informed of the game and then only indirectly.

When the 1916 game was proposed it was accepted by the executive committee. End Brick Muller, a sophomore student representative on the committee, was among those who voted for the game.

Santa Ana played only for expenses in the 1915 contest.  “Weaker” this year, the Saints wrangled a 20 per cent take of the gate, a sum of about $300.

Star halfback Bryan (Pesky) Sprott was elected captain of the swimming team.  Sprott also played basketball and would be the player-manager of the baseball team.

9/23/16

San Diego’s starting lineup averaged 153 pounds to Coronado’s 142, but the Hilltoppers were without Brick Muller, who injured his nose in practice.

Coronado advanced to San Diego’s 1 and 4-yard lines but couldn’t score as the Hilltoppers won, 19-0, in the City Stadium.

9/25/16

Officials from the County Conference met to discuss a constitution and set up a schedule.  Teams were Army-Navy, National City, Coronado, Escondido, and the San Diego “Seconds”.

9/29/16

Price gave each player a rule book and said he would periodically quiz them on the different rules and plays.

Every play to be used tomorrow against Manual Arts will be diagrammed on the blackboard this afternoon.

Word from Los Angeles was that Manual Arts players had not been attending class, but were “living” at school and taking all of their meals there.

The Toilers toiled from 6 to 8 each morning and from 4-6 in the afternoon.

The executive committee voted $15 for Noisat and Price to tour northern schools in an attempt to schedule more games.

9/30/16

A squad of 17 Manual Arts players arrived and were met by a delegation of Hilltoppers rooters.

Price put his players through a “mental drill and worked out every play in theory.”

10/1/16

San Diego scored a 6-3 victory over the team from Los Angeles.

10/3/16

Price announced he would work more with the Seconds team in preparation for its County Conference opener with Coronado and called off practice because of rain.

Noisat traveled North by “machine” with Frank Rudolph, manager of the Los Angeles High team.  Rudolph had visited the Hilltop in hopes of finalizing a game contract.

The Hilltoppers turned down a game with the University of Redlands since they had scheduled the USC Frosh.

The “Midgets” team  played to a scoreless tie with a squad from University Heights playground.

10/6/16

Noisat signed a two-year, home-and-home contract with Long Beach. A  game at Pasadena also would be scheduled if the Bullpups would provide a minimum guarantee.

10/7/16

County Conference play began with Coronado beating the Seconds, 27-0, and Escondido topping National City, 6-0, on Barr’s eight-yard run.

10/9/16

Price kept the team practicing until darkness in preparation for the recently signed Orange squad, reputed to be the largest in Southern California and averaging 164 pounds.

Elmer Weitekamp and Werner Shurr, members of the Seconds, were promoted to the varsity, meaning they no longer could play in County Conference games.

Bob Frick, back in school, was declared academically ineligible by the faculty and would miss at least two weeks.

10/10/16

Noisat wired $90 to Orange for expenses.  The Panthers were to arrive Friday evening.

Officers of the junior class announced that a Saturday postgame dance would be held in honor of the visitors.

10/12/16

The Hilltoppers scrimmaged a team representing the Mission Hills community.

10/13/16

A ticket, in the color of and shaped like an orange, was produced by the graphic arts department and was used for admission.

San Diego students did the traditional pregame, serpentine dance down city streets before arriving back at campus.

Noisat was allowed to spend $6 to replace the worn and  recently purchased tackling dummy.

10/14/16

The question was, how good are the Hilltoppers, now 3-0 after an 84-6 rout of Orange?

Pesky Sprott scored 5 of their 13 touchdowns.  Bill Garber scored a touchdown and drop-kicked a field goal.

10/17/16

A final account showed that San Diego barely made expenses for the Orange contest.  An estimated crowd of only 300 was on hand, including just 4 of the 96-member faculty.

A turnout of at least 580 persons was necessary for the school to cover the expected $145 in travel and advertising expense for the game with the USC Frosh.

Hilltoppers principal Arthur Gould switched the USC contest from Saturday to Friday so that many students, who claimed to having to work on Saturday, could attend the game.

10/21/16

The Hilltoppers were outweighed, 170 pounds to 155 per man, but defeated the first-year collegians, 10-7, as Lincoln (Abe) Frick scored their only touchdown with a 24-yard pass interception return.

Coronado smashed Army-Navy, 87-0, before a “hilarious crowd that capered along the sidelines” at the Polo Grounds. Ed Suggett scored 7 touchdowns.

10/23/16

Bob Frick was officially declared ineligible for the season.  Frick had given “insufficient statements” as to why he previously dropped out of school.

10/24/16

Coronado coach George Perry was looking for a new quarterback.  His starter, Lyons, quit school yesterday after gaining employment in a local bank.

10/28/16

Principal  Gould heard that many students were preparing to “ditch” school and take a special railroad car to Pasadena on Nov. 3.

Gould declared that any student going to the game would be required to remain in school after hours and double the time lost.

The principal then switched gears after receiving permission from his Pasadena counterpart to play the game a day later on Saturday.

Some students reportedly “pouted” and were upset that Gould didn’t “consult” student manager Noisat about a change in the game’s date.

10/28/16

San Diego Junior College, also coached by Price and located on the high school campus, defeated Fullerton J.C., 7-6, in the first intercollegiate game played in San Diego.

On the same day San Diego High whipped Fullerton, 40-0, before an announced attendance of 800.

Bryan (Pesky) Sprott returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown for the Hilltoppers, who lost Karl Deeds during the game.

Deeds and Fullerton’s Johnson were ejected, Deeds for holding Johnson and Johnson  for punching Deeds.

10/31/16

Two “female members” of the faculty voted against the eligibility of Jackson Draine, who transferred from a school in Chicago and had to repeat a class at San Diego.

Students repeating classes were not to receive credit, but school administrators determined that San Diego High came under a rule affecting all California schools.

The rule was that a student had to pass only nine units of credit to play.

11/3/16

Seventeen players, coach Price, manager Noisat, a writer for each of San Diego’s three daily newspapers, and a group of boosters rode on the “High School Special” to Pasadena.

Price entertained, playing ragtime tunes on his ukelele.

Passing through Oceanside the squad let out a yell for Les Gould, a “seaside Hilltop booster”, who waved as the train went by.

The train stopped in Santa Ana and team members awakened the city with a war whoop. The travelers then made their way to an overnight stop in Los Angeles.

11/4/16

The Hilltoppers rolled past Pasadena, considered the strongest team in Southern California, 26-0, as Karl Deeds set the victory in motion with a 55-yard touchdown return of an intercepted pass.

Price’s team now was 6-0 and had outscored its opponents, 185-16.

Coronado  followed  its rout of Army-Navy with a 74-0 victory over National City. Ed Suggett’s scoring totals were not included in the game summary in the city’s three newspapers.

11/11/16

Attendance was picking up.  About 1,000 were on hand in City Stadium as Sprott scored three touchdowns and Garber and Deeds 2 each in a 62-0 victory over Long Beach.

11/14/16

Ralph Noisat was ousted as team manager for scholastic deficiencies.  Renwick Thompson, 1915 manager, took over.

Ed Suggett scored 4 touchdowns and ran for five points after in Coronado’s 53-0 win over the 21^st Infantry team, which was part of an Army Regiment that protected the borders of California and Arizona and was stationed in San Diego.

11/15/16

Noisat was reinstated.  Principal Arthur Gould cited an error by the committee on eligibility.

11/18/16

Noisat was part of the game officiating crew, serving as head linesman as San Diego defeated the Whittier State School, 47-10.  State was a boys correctional facility.

11/28/16

Plans for the Thanksgiving Day game with Los Angeles Poly included marching in serpentine formation around the stadium and through city streets, followed by a bonfire.

Students were seen bringing boxes to schools instead of textbooks.

11/30/16

The Hilltoppers’ 41-0 victory over L.A. Poly, before a Thanksgiving Day gathering of almost 6,000 persons at City Stadium guaranteed that Ontario Chaffey would be their opponent in quarterfinals of the Southern California playoffs.

Other quarterfinals matchups paired Manual Arts against Pasadena and Fullerton against Glendora Citrus.  The six teams led their respective “leagues”, which actually were districts based on geography.

12/4/16

Price announced that the team would scrimmage only once a week through the end of the season.

12/7/16

Price had a painted, white football for practice and kept the team on the field until “long after the moon rose over the hills.”

The executive committee voted to pay yell leader Bert Pickett’s expenses to Los Angeles for the Chaffey game, which would be played at the neutral Manual Arts field.

If at least 100 students go, Santa Fe Railways agreed to provide a special coach.

12/8/16

Price installed an 8 p.m. curfew at the well-appointed, two-year-old Clark Hotel, located at 4^th and Hill streets in downtown L.A.

“The boys are in fine shape,” said Price.  “They are hard and trained to the minute and have plenty of confidence.”

12/9/16

Playing what writer Darroch described as its best game of the year, San Diego defeated Chaffey, 21-7, before a crowd generously estimated at 7,000.

Pesky Sprott caught two touchdown passes from Brick Muller and Bill Garber drop-kicked a 44-yard field goal.

Telephone operators at The San Diego Union estimated they received at least 1,500 calls from fans wanting the game score after the result was received in the Union newsroom at 5 p.m.

12/12/16

Calexico was offered $200 in expenses, a larger-than-usual sum, to come to San Diego for a semifinals playoff.

Price wanted no part of a game in the Imperial Valley.  San Diego would have to leave two days later for a championship game in Los Angeles. The coach said it took a week to recover from a road game.

Sprott sustained  a sore neck against Chaffey and would not play against the Bulldogs.

Money had been taken from the football budget to pay for a Los Angeles physician, who was on duty at the Chaffey game.

12/15/16

Calexico was averaging 25 points a game and was undefeated, but had played only four games.

12/16/16

San Diego “easily outclassed the ‘desert rats,’” Darroch wrote of the 55-0 victory.

The Hilltoppers advanced to play Manual Arts, 47-7 winner over Pasadena and 52-0 conqueror of Fullerton,  in a Wednesday championship game at Washington Park, home of the baseball Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League.

12/18/16

Sprott, idled about 10 days with a sore neck, retired for the day after an end run in practice, coming down with a bruised foot.

Manual Arts’ star player, Jim Blewett, was slowed by what was described as torn ligaments in his knee.

12/19/16

Twenty-two Hilltoppers arrived on the noon train in Los Angeles and worked out on the turf, Washington Park field.  Sprott may play but would not start, said Price.

Blewett was said to be out of a hospital and would play with a brace on his leg.

Price established a 9 p.m. curfew for the team, which again was quartered at the Clark Hotel.

Local San Diego sportsman Mouney Pfeffercorn wrote an op-ed piece in the Union that was critical of the Hilltoppers’ football administration.

“San Diego already has beaten Manual Arts and should not have to play the game in Los Angeles,” said Pfeffercorn.

“The high school needs a graduate manager trained in different tricks of arranging games and selecting officials, etc.”

In closing, Pfeffercorn seemed to exonerate Ralph Noisat.

“Unfortunately, they had too many managers (on) the ‘High’ grounds this season and had they left Noisat alone he would have done his best to come out ahead of the game.”

12/20/16

Sprott did not make an appearance until the third quarter, with the score deadlocked, 0-0.

When Sprott took the field “the band of rooters (approximately 300 made the trip) accompanying the team from the Southern City let forth a battle yell,” wrote Darroch. “The din could have been heard from La Jolla to Dulzura.”

Sprott’s arrival “acted like an electric charge on the tired San Diego players,” wrote Howard Angus of the Los Angeles Times.

Sprott gained 23 yards in six carries, positioning Garber’s 25-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead after a drive that started at Manual’s 37-yard line.

Walter (Dutch) Eels’ 36-yard run in the fourth quarter sealed the Hilltoppers’ 9-0 victory before about 5,000 persons.

Sprott played enough to gain 53 yards in 12 carries.

Blewett was 3-for-3 for 26 yards passing, which gave the Toilers a first down on the Hilltoppers’ 13, where a field goal attempt was blocked on fourth down in the first quarter by San Diego’s Allan Sampson.

Blewett took a shot in the second quarter and did not reenter the game until the fourth quarter and, after a sack of six yards, was carried off the field.

Price nixed Noisat’s challenge to Kern County Union (Bakersfield) to play a state championship game on New Year’s Day and most of the Hilltoppers returned home and turned in their uniforms.

 

 

The University of Oklahoma was quick to notice that Randall, Baxter, and Seale weren’t the only San Diego Section football stars with exclamation points next to their names.

Running back Brennan Clay (Scripps Ranch), wide receiver Kenny Stills, Jr. (La Costa Canyon), and free safety Tony Jefferson (Eastlake) all took their diplomas and moved to where the wind comes rolling down the plains.

With apologies to Rogers and Hammerstein and their musical creation, “Oklahoma!”

Each San Diegan was  a productive Sooner for coach Bob Stoops, whose teams don’t always recruit players west of the Rio Grande River.

Clay  is eligible for the 2014 NFL draft.  Stills was selected in the fifth round and was the 144th taken in the 2013.  Jefferson surprisingly was undrafted but signed with Arizona.

Thumbnail biographies:

CLAY

Rushed for 2,026 yards and scored 27 touchdowns in 13 games as a Falcons senior after catching 70 passes, rushing for 1,453 yards, and scoring 20 touchdowns as  junior…led Sooners with 957 rushing yards and a 5.5-yard rushing average and scored 6 touchdowns in 2013…caught 16 passes…gained 44 yards in 17 carries and shook off tacklers that earned critical first down which led to  fourth-quarter touchdown in Oklahoma’s 45-31 upset victory over Alabama in 2014 Sugar Bowl…a later, 12-yard run  forced Alabama into early use of  its timeouts….

JEFFERSON

Fierce, two-way player…led Eastlake to 2009 D-I championship with 88 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, two fumbles forced, and recovered two fumbles…averaged 8.9 yards for 223 attempts and rushed for 1,995 yards and 27 touchdowns as senior…projected as middle-round draft choice in 2013 but was bypassed and signed as rookie free agent with Arizona Cardinals…earned roster spot after intercepting two passes and making five tackles in second preseason game against Dallas…got into all 16 games  and started two at free safety…made 19 total tackles…entered NFL draft after junior season….

STILLS

Caught 45 passes for 914 yards and 20.3 average and scored 10 touchdowns in last season for La Costa Canyon Mavericks… had 204 pass receptions for 12.7-yard average and scored 24 touchdowns in three collegiate seasons…made himself available for NFL draft after 2012 campaign…caught 32 passes for 20-yard average and 5 touchdowns in rookie season with Saints…son of Kenny Stills, Sr., who played at El Camino High and University of Wisconsin, was eighth-round draft choice of Green Bay in 1985,  stayed 6 seasons in NFL, and got into 77 games for Packers and Minnesota Vikings as defensive back….

A fourth San Diego player was Mira Mesa running back Damien Williams, who was recruited by the Sooners out of Arizona Western Junior College in Yuma.  Williams left the team in 2013 after the ninth game.