This wasn’t the expected route of Duane Maley’s farewell tour.

San Diego High was 0-2 for the first time in 46 years.

Maley also was steaming at The San Diego Union sportswriter Jerry Magee and Maley’s boss, principal Lawrence Carr, was steaming at Maley.

Blunt and outspoken, Maley didn’t realize that reporter Magee was going to write exactly what Maley said when discussing the Cavemen’s preseason prospects.

“We’re small, we’re slow, and we’re stupid,” said Maley, words that in future years would have gotten him fired.

Political correctness was not part of the lexicon in 1959.  Maley got a sharp rebuke from his principal and the coach and Magee didn’t speak again until very late in the season.

Magee, who came to The Union in 1956, was an excellent reporter who covered the preps more comprehensively than any writer before or after he left the high school beat.

Magee became the lead reporter of the new San Diego sports franchise, the Chargers, in 1961, and was one of the country’s most respected football writers and columnists for the next 40 years.

POLY NOT ONLY BEACH TEAM TO BEAT CAVERS

Maley had lined up a rugged  schedule for his final season as coach.  He would go into administration in 1960, partly because San Diego was dropping out of the Southern Section and forming its own alliance.

Maley liked playing those tough teams from the North and he got all he asked for after penciling in Long Beach Wilson, Long Beach Poly, and Las Vegas in the first three games.

The Cavers were upset at Wilson, 14-12, and beaten, 13-0, in Balboa Stadium by the Poly team which numbered many of the same players which knocked out San Diego, 26-18, in the quarterfinals of the playoffs in 1958.

After surrendering 456 yards to Poly in ’58, the Hillmen held the Jackrabbits to 262, but Willie Martin ran 64 yards for one touchdown and returned a kickoff 88 for another.

Led by tackle Mike  Giers, Long Beach defenders made 15 tackles for losses of 94 yards and Giers sacked San Diego quarterback Steve Simon seven times for 57 yards.

Richard (Prime) McClendon led the Cavers with 91 yards in 9 carries.

A 26-13 victory in Nevada got the Cavers rolling.  They routed Lincoln 32-0 with 369 rushing yards and seemed on the verge. But St. Augustine, shut out, 51-0, in 1958, pulled off a 12-12 tie.

San Diego’s starting quarterback, the improving Simon, was ejected after inadvertently kicking St. Augustine’s Paul Nacozy in the head.

Simon had tried to hurdle the Saints player during an attempted tackle by Nacozy on an out-of-bounds play in the first half.

Maley raged on the San Diego sideline at Simon’s disqualification and for almost an hour after the game.

STRETCH  RUN

The Cavers’ 2-2-1 record represented their poorest after five games since a 2-3 start in 1938, but they closed out Maley’s career with a remarkable run of six consecutive victories in which they averaged 45 points a game and gave up only 46.

There would be no opportunity to meet Poly in the playoffs.

As a presumed accommodation to the departing San Diego schools, some of  which had complained of long seasons,  CIF Southern Section commissioner Ken  Fagans announced that there would be two groups of AAA playoff teams.

A three-week, eight-team bracket would be in use only one year.  The playoffs would return  to a four-week, 16-team bracket in 1960, said Fagans.

Poly was aligned in the Northern Division and San Diego in the Southern.

San Diego dispatched a good Chula Vista team, 34-14, in the first round after being seeded fourth, behind Monrovia, Santa Ana, and Redlands.  The seedings had been made weeks earlier, as San Diego was just reaching its stride.

Santa Ana, the semifinals opponent, would be the measure by which the Hillers would determine how far they’d come in the second half of the season.

The Saints were 10-0 and averaging 35 points a game.

With H.D. Murphy, Richard (Prime) McClendon, and Richard Hutchison running in the manner of some outstanding predecessors, the Hillers overcame 12 penalties for 90 yards and rushed for 335 yards in a 26-6 victory.

Murphy gained 119 yards in  14 attempts, McClendon 106 in 11, and Hutchison, in his first start,  58 in 12.

Santa Ana scored with 20 seconds remaining  after many in the Santa Ana Bowl capacity crowd of 9,000 had departed.

SCOUTING? AND FOR WHOM?

Monrovia, coached by Mike Giddings, would be the Cavers’ opponent in the finals at Balboa Stadium.

The 26-year-old Giddings was the nephew of Don Giddings, the former Point Loma High coach who had become the school’s vice principal, and Ed Giddings, a San Diego attorney. Ed and Don played at San Diego High in the 1920s and ‘thirties.

The Giddingses and Pointers coach Bennie Edens were in Santa Ana for the Cavers’ game.

Maley’s camp suspected that the Point Loma group was scouting San Diego for Monrovia.  “Oh, no,” Edens said with a straight face when questioned by Paul Cour of the Evening Tribune.  “We just wanted to see the ball game.”

UNDEFEATED COACH

Giddings had a coaching record of 29-0, including 11-0 in his first season as the Wildcats’ varsity mentor.  He also had been undefeated in two seasons of guiding the B squad.

“We feel this:  San Diego comes the closest to being the same type team we are,” Giddings told Jerry Magee.  “We combine a quick line and fast backs and so does San Diego.”

“And we see no reason to stop now,” Giddings said, discussing his undefeated record.

John Kovac, after scouting the Wildcats with San Diego football aide Jerry Dahms and ex-Coronado star Stew Worden the previous week (Monrovia’s 14-6 win over Redlands before 15,000 at Mt. San Antonio Junior College), made an  interesting remark.

“I know (Monrovia) is very perturbed because they’re not going to be playing Long Beach Poly,” Kovac told Magee.  The Wildcats apparently were unhappy that they were playing the allegedly lesser San Diego squad.

The Jackrabbits were in the Northern Division finals against Hawthorne.

LET THE CARNAGE BEGIN

Jerry Magee’s lead succinctly described Duane Maley’s last game:

“San Diego High’s precisionists last night offered a stunning testimonial to Duane Maley’s coaching career by overwhelming unbeaten Monrovia, 53-0, in Balboa Stadium.”

San Diego players and supporters in the crowd of 11,000 carried Maley to midfield for the postgame handshake.

Giddings afterward remarked to Paul Cour, “I’ll be back in this town someday.”

Murphy scored three touchdowns on 81- and two-yard runs, and on a 79-yard kickoff return, and ran seven times for 127 of San Diego’s 369 rushing yards.

Simon scored three touchdowns (4, 15, and 64-yard runs) and had 119 yards  in 7 attempts and passed for one touchdown and had another called back by penalty.

Hutchison had 60 yards  in 12 carries, and McClendon 30 in six, not including a 15-yard point-after-touchdown run.

Had San Diego reached a point where it might have beaten Long Beach Poly in a return match, which would have been possible under the old playoff format?

The Cavers could only wonder.

QUICK KICKS

Maley’s 12-season career record was 97-19-3 (.828)…Murphy averaged 9.6 yards a carry and scored 21 touchdowns…McClendon averaged 9.3…Simon, who didn’t play enough to letter behind Ezell Singleton in 1958, overcame early-season jitters and passed for 15 touchdowns…San Diego’s defense was led by Oliver McKinney, Phil Cooper, Willie Bolton, Charlie Dykstra, and Tom Meshack…Larry Wohlford was a standout center…Hutchison got his chance to start in the playoffs after Emile Wright ran afoul of the law and was suspended…Charlie Popa was named to replace Maley as head coach the week after the Monrovia playoff…Maley moved on to vice principal and principal positions in the City Schools…Maley’s son, Dennis, was an all-Eastern League running back and a tough defender in  1964 and later played at the University of Arizona before signing a professional baseball contract…Giddings never was “back in this town someday” with a football team…he moved on to became head coach at Glendale Junior College and defeated San Diego J.C., which numbered several ex-Cavers, 7-6, in the opening game of  the 1960 season….

Birt Slater’s sanity was in question.

Why would the handsome, charismatic Slater take the head coaching job at Kearny (three winning years in 15 seasons,  all-time record,  45-66-7), when he could have had the San Diego High  job when Duane Maley retired?

The answer wasn’t nearly as simple, but Slater eventually created his own powerhouse at this different and seemingly much less attractive venue.

Go back to 1953.

Slater that year replaced Bill Burrows as Maley’s chief assistant after one year at Southwest Junior High near the Mexico border and two years removed as a starting end on San Diego State’s 1951, 10-0-1  Pineapple Bowl squad.

Maley and Slater became a formidable tandem.

Birt coached defense and Maley coached offense.  The Cavers were 7-3 in ’53, 9-2 in ’54, 11-0-1 in ’55,  7-2 in ’56, and 11-1 in ’57.

The 45-8-1 record included a 26-1 run against City Prep League competition, 30-1 versus San Diego County teams, and 15-7-1 against schools outside the County.

DOMINO EFFECT

Mary McMullen, the founding principal when Lincoln opened as a junior high in 1949, was leaving at the end of the 1956-57 school year to open Will Crawford High, named for the former San Diego City Schools  superintendent.

Mary Mac, as she was known to the faculty at Lincoln, wanted Walt Harvey to follow her to Crawford.

Harvey had just completed a three-year, start-up program as Lincoln went from junior to senior high and his 1956 team posted a 5-2-1 record with lots of players returning for ’57.

Saying no to McMullen was not easy.  She was a respected administrator and she was persuasive.

Another start-up and a few seasons of taking lumps wasn’t particularly appetizing, but Harvey said yes.  He got a pay raise and the new school was closer to Harvey’s home in the college area.  His two sons would be attending Crawford.

Harvey and basketball coach Don Smith, at McMullen’s behest, approached Slater at a San Diego High basketball game the winter of 1956-57 and offered the Lincoln job. Slater did not commit.  Smith and Harvey sensed that Slater was turning them down.

Other factors were in motion.

Duane Maley urged Slater to stick around for another year.  Maley was going to retire and go into administration.

Then a turnabout.

Slater accepted the Lincoln offer.

An announcement  from the City Schools’ superintendent’s office in early March, 1957, revealed that the position at Lincoln was going to be filled by Slater, who was quoted as saying he would begin assembling a staff and take over the program in the fall.

Then another turnabout.

Slater, apparently satisfied that Maley would retire after one more season and that Slater would be Maley’s successor, backed out at Lincoln and remained at San Diego High.

MORE DOMINOES

Shan Deniston then moved from La Jolla and took over at Lincoln  and Harry West replaced Deniston at La Jolla.

“We had a good year in ‘fifty-seven,” said Slater.  “Ezell Singleton had developed as a quarterback and things looked good for ‘fifty-eight.  Duane told me, “’I can’t give it up now; we’ve got too good a team coming back.’”

Slater did not coach football in 1958 but remained as track coach through the 1959 season. He had been a championship half-miler at Canoga Park in the San Fernando Valley in the early 1940s.

(Slater’s track squads posted a 38-6-1 record in dual meets from 1955-59. His band of four, including Roscoe Cook, Bobby Staten, Willie Jordan, and Charles (Sugar Jet) Davis, scored 20 points and won the Southern California team championship in 1957).

MALEY STAYS ON

Charlie Popa took Slater’s place on the football staff in 1958.  Maley again eschewed  retirement and returned for 1959, which would be his final season.

Popa became the heir apparent.  Slater had decided to move on.

Slater was hired at Kearny in 1959 and won the Western League championship in his first season.  He had a team of no names but it scrapped every week against bigger, more talented foes. His arrival on the campus hard by U.S. 395 on Linda Vista Road began a 18-season run of success.

Slater had one losing year and his teams posted an overall record of 134-41-9 (.753) with 15 playoff appearances, 5 trips to the San Diego Section finals, and 3 championships.

After being at San Diego during some of its greatest years, Slater built a program at Kearny that rivaled the Cavers’.

SHEPARD REMEMBERS

The 1963 team which starred Jim (Yazoo) Smith, Steve Reina, Larry Shepard, Charlie Buchanan, John Erquiaga, Steve Jones, Robert Odom, Dennis Santiago, Bill Carroll, Charles Wilker, Dan Fulkerson, Ernie Oyama, John Levi, and a few more, was 11-1 and often described as equal to almost any San Diego High team of the postwar era.

“I always thought of Birt as a father figure,” said Shepard, who recalled a key moment in his life after Shepard had returned home from his freshman year at UCLA.

“I was playing over the line at South Mission Beach and Birt happened by on the boardwalk.”

“What are you doing?”  the fiery Slater wondered.  “I’m playing over the line,” the equally fiery Shepard responded.

“No, what are doing with your life?” demanded Slater.  “I’m thinking about going back to school,” said Shepard.  “Come to the high school Monday morning,” said Slater.

Slater met his ex-player at Kearny and drove Shepard to the City Schools’ office that Monday and announced  he was hiring the former quarterback for the position of “campus security.”

After a few ohs, ahs, and we-can’t-do-this, Shepard was hired.  He went to work at Kearny and coached JV football with Brad Griffith and Don Wadsworth.

Eventually Slater helped Larry get an assistant’s job under Joe DiTomaso at St. Augustine. When DiTomaso moved to Santana, Shepard  became head coach of the Saints and graduated and earned his teaching credential at San Diego State.  He later was head coach at Monte Vista and retired after a long career in the Grossmont School District.

BIRT QUITS EARLY, JOINS CHARGERS

Slater retired at the relatively young age of 52 after the 1976 campaign, but was not long out of football.

Chargers coach Tommy Prothro hired Slater as an assistant to his coaching staff in 1977. Slater broke down and evaluated film of opponents.

Don Coryell was appointed head coach in 1978 and retained Slater on the coaching staff.

Birt retired from the Chargers after the 1983 season.

 

 

Ed Imo is going into the Kearny Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 13, in a tribute most fitting for the anchor of perhaps the finest team in school history.

After a 6-6 tie with Sweetwater in the opening game, Kearny rolled to 12 consecutive victories and the San Diego Section championship.

Don Norcross was the quarterback of that team, but for Norcross all props are for Imo, the squat, fireplug nose tackle who took on double team blocking every week and emerged as the San Diego Section player of the year.

“He was simply dominating,” said Norcross, who is known today as a reporter and columnist (“This Just In”) for UT-San Diego.  “I’m guessing he was listed as 5-9, 230 pounds.  He was raw…brutally strong.

“No center could block him one on one,” said Norcross.  “His combination of quickness and strength made him unblockable.  Look at how few points our team allowed that year.  He was the anchor.”

The 12-0-1 Komets outscored their opponents, 345-79, and shut out six teams.

“All I can say is that I’m thankful he was on my team,” Norcross said.  “Had I played against him I would have spent a lot of time face first into the grass.”

Imo recently was named to the first-team, all-time San Diego County prep squad.

Imo also was community college defensive player of the year at San Diego City College, from which he went on to star at  San Diego State.

Imo, who is the physical education/athletics department chairman at American Samoa Community College,  is in Ghangu, China, where he is helping a Samoan team train for the World University Games.

Ed will be represented at the Hall of Fame induction by his son, Ben Imo.

Imo trivia stat:  When Ed played at San Diego State in the  late ‘seventies he had the shortest name of any NCAA Division I player, five letters.

“Fitting,” Norcross added, “because of his stature.”

Kearny also is honoring six  others this year:

–Grady Fuson, Oakland A’s scouting executive who played with Norcross and Imo.

–The late basketball coach and U.S. government teacher Tim  Short.

–The 1998-00, girls’ basketball teams, which won 3 championships.

–The late Leonard Fierro, Sr., history and U.S. government teacher and early proponent of English as Second Language.

–Al Janc, economist.

–Randy Rogel, actor, director, writer, musician.

 

 

 

 

 

Ray Baksh, 80, who coached football at Helix, La Jolla, and St. Augustine and lived  with an entrepreneurial spirit, passed away in San Diego.

Baksh was a graduate of Imperial High and is in the Imperial High football Hall of Fame.  A Marine Corps veteran and San Diego State graduate, Ray and his wife Virginia, owned fast food franchises.  Eventually he   was able to pursue a lifelong passion  and  helped coach high school football teams in the area.

“Ray was a no nonsense coach who coached our linebackers for ten years,” said retired Helix coach Jim Arnaiz.

“His no-nonsense approach was backed up by his love for football and his ability to challenge every player in his group.”

Arnaiz remembered something Ray would tell his players.  “He would finish his daily and game meetings with his group by saying, ‘I love you guys.  Leave it on the field.”

Reggie Bush’s high school career ended on a quiet note, but its brilliance probably outshone any other in the 42-year history of the San Diego Section.

Bush scored 75 touchdowns and rushed for 60 touchdowns in three seasons.  He caught passes for nine TD’s, and returned 6 punt and kickoff returns for touchdowns. He even  punted 27 times for a 34.9-yard average.

Every time Bush ran from scrimmage he averaged more than a first down.

Bush averaged 8.8 yards, scored 11 touchdowns, and gained 1,034 yards as a sophomore.  He rushed for 26 touchdowns and averaged 12 yards and gained 2,200 as a junior.

Bush sustained a wrist injury that slowed him in two games and forced him to sit out another as a senior but he still averaged 12 yards from scrimmage, scored 23 touchdowns, and gained 1,691 yards.

It was in the open field where Bush was most dangerous.  He caught 40 passes for an 18.4-yard average, averaged 17.8 yards on 42 punt returns, and 37.1 yards for 15 kickoff returns.

Bush’s 26 touchdown runs as a junior averaged 36 yards.  He averaged 34.8 yards for 6 touchdown receptions, and 84.5 yards on two punt returns for scores.

Bush’s 60 rushing touchdowns were accomplished in 3 seasons.  Leader Markeith Ross of Rancho Buena  Vista rushed for 72 touchdowns in 4 seasons.  La Jolla Country Day’s Rashaan Salaam rushed for 105 touchdowns in three seasons, mostly in 8-man football.

The memory of 10-28, 30-41, and 35-43 was erased with one 42-14.

After three straight losses to Helix, including one in the San Diego Section Division II finals and another in the semifinals, Oceanside put up the right numbers and stunned the Highlanders, No. 2 in California and No. 25 in the U.S.

“We were committed to play the best game of our lives,” a soaking-wet (thanks to a power drink splash from his team) and emotional Pirates coach John Carroll told Bill Dickens of The San Diego Union.  “And we backed it up.”

Carroll didn’t stop there.  “It was fantastic, the greatest win I’ve ever been associated with.”

SEVEN TITLES SINCE 1960

After opening the season with losses to Helix (43-35) and Rancho Buena Vista (36-35), the Pirates rolled to 11 consecutive victories and their fourth championship under Carroll and the Pirates’ seventh since the San Diego Section was formed in 1960.

“It was all about ball control and our offensive line,” said Tyler Lavea, who wedged for 86 yards in 26 carries and scored from  2, 4, 4, and 1 yard.

Oceanside converted on six of nine third downs and once on fourth down in the first half.

Quarterback Rick Coppack completed 9 of 17 passes for 258 yards. Coppack threw for two touchdowns in the last 90 seconds of the first half.

Coppack’s  45-yard connection to Matuia Poumele with six seconds left  gave Oceanside a 28-0 lead at the break.

BUSH GREAT, BUT…

Favored Helix, averaging  451 yards and 43 points a game, reached the finals after playoff blowouts of 62-31 (Patrick Henry) and 71-32 (Monte Vista)  and seemed unstoppable.

Reggie Bush was brilliant in his final four games, rushing for 764 yards and 11 touchdowns in 53 carries for a 14.4-yard average.

Bush gained 144 yards in 13 carries against Oceanside and returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown before leaving with cramps in the fourth quarter.  Bush also ran 60 yards on a fake punt, but Helix missed a field-goal attempt.

“We just didn’t do a good job of defending on third down,” said Helix defensive coordinator Donnie Van Hook.   “But no matter how you cut the ice, they were the better team tonight.”

LONG  AGO

When last seen, the Los Angeles High Romans came up short 14-0 in a 1918 game in the City Stadium against San Diego.  The Romans had posted earlier victories of 11-0 in 1898 and 6-0 in 1899 over the Hilltoppers.

L.A. High, Southern California’s oldest, having opened in 1873, nine years before Russ School, the prior name of San Diego High, then went on a very long hiatus from competition with schools in this area.

After 84 years the Romans showed up as the last opponent on Torrey Pines’ schedule.

Torrey prevailed, 63-20.

NO. 200 FOR BURKE

How did Los Angeles High find itself on the schedule of Ed Burke’s Torrey Pines Falcons?

“All  our teams in the league had byes,” said Burke.  “Ours was in the 10th week of the season.  At that point in the season it can very difficult to find an available opponent.”

A former freshman player for Burke was on the coaching staff at Venice High in L.A. The former player’s father was able to connect Burke with athletic personnel at L.A. High, which also needed a game.

Burke well remembers. “November fifteenth, two-thousand-two. It was my two-hundredth victory as a head  coach.”

Burke won 215 games from 1985-2006 at Torrey Pines and San Dieguito.  His career total of 243 included stints at Taft Union near Bakersfield and at King City, inland from California’s Central Coast.

PATRIOTS GAMES

The Christian Patriots made a case for every loser who ever staggered into the playoffs.

The Patriots were in the figurative midst of a mandatory boxing eight count and having the sawdust wiped off their gloves when they were given a chance at redemption.

Matt Oliver’s team was 1-4 in Harbor League play, including the indignity of a forfeit loss to Crawford.

The Patriots were down to seven able-bodied varsity players as another 10 rode out suspensions when they forfeited the Week 9 contest and followed with a 28-12 loss at Coronado in the final regular-season game.

It was bad enough that one of their players, all-league receiver and safety Brian Schroeder, spurned football to concentrate on baseball in his senior season and Kevin Giles, their leading rusher and tackler, sustained a fractured elbow against University City, a week after a 44-7 blowout loss to Madison.

SENIOR PHOTO FIASCO

According to Oliver’s account to Bill Dickens of The San Diego Union, 10 seniors were suspended before the Crawford game because they made inappropriate gestures during the school’s senior group photo.

Riding a three-game losing streak, Christian rallied with a 48-12 win over Army-Navy in the first round of the Division IV postseason.

The Patriots defeated Santa Fe Christian 21-19 in the semifinals and, behind quarterback Joel Allen’s all-around contribution, edged Horizon 23-20 for the championship.

Allen, future head coach at The Bishop’s and Point Loma,  threw for three touchdowns, completing 18×26 passes for 310 yards;  ran for one, made a spectacular interception, and recovered a fumble.

“If I had to kick an extra point, I would have done that, too,” said Allen, whose team finished with an 8-5 record.

CARLSBAD TURNS TABLES

At 2-2-1, with three defensive starters out and a fullback-linebacker playing quarterback, Carlsbad was at a proverbial fork in the road. Neither direction looked promising.

Coach Bob McAllister’s Lancers also were making their way back to school after a 45-7 loss at Vista.

“It was a situation where you almost start questioning…” said McAllister.  You say, ‘Hey, are we good enough to go out and win league?’”

The Lancers’ coach knew his injured players would come back, but he still made a critical change, giving the ball to sophomore quarterback Sean Canfield, who had mopped up for starter J.C. Cooper in the Vista rout.

Carlsbad stormed through a 5-0 Avocado League campaign, topped off with 21-0 and 49-0 shutouts of La  Costa Canyon and Mt. Carmel.

Canfield was summoned to the varsity after the season’s third game and finished the regular season with 1,894 yards and 15 touchdown passes and directed a playoff run that concluded with a 14-13 stunner over Vista that gave the Lancers the D-I championship.

McAllister had been beaten in the finals in 1999 and 2000 and lost in the 2001 semifinals, 29-28, when Vista scored 10 points in the final 19 seconds.

“I didn’t want to be called Bob Levy, after Marv,” McAllister said.

Marv Levy, the Buffalo Bills coach, was a loser in four Super Bowls.

BITTER LOSS

Ed Burke, the legendary Torrey Pines coach whose team won 6 of its last 7 regular-season games to forge a three-way tie for the Palomar League championship, suffered few defeats as tough as this one.

The Falcons were eliminated by Vista in the D-I quarterfinals, 36-28, in three overtimes.  “I’m sure both coaching staffs were thinking, ‘Somebody needs to get a turnover; somebody needs to make a play,'” said Vista’s Chris Hauser.

It was 14-14 at the end of four quarters.  Overtime rules are such that each team was allowed 4 downs to score from the other’s 25-yard line.    The opponents swapped touchdowns in the first two overtimes, precipitating a third, which called for a two-point conversion attempt after a touchdown.

Vista’s Shawn Ketcher made a diving catch in the endzone on a tipped pass from quarterback Mike Altieri for a two-point conversion and an eight-point lead.  Panthers defensive back Jon McGuinn then intercepted Reilly Murphy’s pass at the one-yard line on fourth down to close out Torrey.

A DE LA SALLE DOSE

La Costa Canyon, No. 8 in San Diego County, visited Concord De La Salle, No. 1 in the country.

La Costa opened the season 3-0 by defeating Lompoc Cabrillo, 57-7, Santa Monica, 32-24, and San Pasqual, 38-34.

Even with quarterback Kevin O’Connell, a future No. 3 round  NFL draft choice by New England, the Mavericks met the same fate as De La Salle’s previous 128 opponents.

Final score: Spartans 56, Mavericks 27.

O’Connell and his teammates were hammered by three touchdowns during a span of 4:48 in a 28-point second quarter.

Included was a 93-yard kickoff return by Maurice Drew, who became Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars.   Drew rushed for 88 yards in 11 carries and scored three TD’s.

Rancho Buena Vista, the other San Diego Section school to play De La Salle, was victim No. 40 in 1995 at De La Salle, 35-14, and No. 53 at home, 36-19, in 1996.

EIGHT-MAN ELITES

Julian’s Christopher Padlock kicked a 45-yard field goal attempt with six seconds to play and the Eagles defeated La Jolla Country Day, 20-18, after Brian Rucker’s one-yard run with 55 seconds left put the Eagles ahead.

Of the 50 or so schools in California that play in the eight-man alignment, the game matched the Nos. 1 and 2 teams.

The victory was Julian’s 17^th straight in a streak that would reach 23 before ‘Day would defeat the Eagles, 21-14, in the San Diego Section championship, making up for a 30-13 loss in the 2001 title game.

GIVE IT UP FOR SOUTHWEST!

Strains from Queen’s “We Will Rock You!”  may have been heard along Hollister Street, the main drag in the near-Imperial Beach community of Nestor.  San Diego Southwest finally hoisted a victory flag.

The Raiders, trailing, 14-13, rode the arm of Robert Riggs, who passed for two second- half touchdowns to Lamar Thomas, and Southwest added a safety to defeat Montgomery 20-14 and end a streak of 40 games without a win.

The Raiders tied El Cajon Valley, 20-20, in the season opener, stopping a run of 37 straight losses.

BACKHANDED COMPLIMENT

Patrick Henry snapped a three-game losing streak with a 38-27 win over Morse as Jazzarle Beeks rushed for 209 yards in 29 carries.

“This is one of the best jobs the line has done for me all year,” said Beeks.  “We’ve been doing this in practice every week and they finally stepped up and did what they were supposed to do.”

More from the candid Beeks, after Henry’s 62-31 playoff loss to Helix:  “I’m disappointed in the outcome but it was a good way to end it for me.  I wanted to show everyone that Reggie Bush isn’t the only running back in town.”

Beeks was the only runner in the San Diego Section to rush for at least 100 yards in every game this season.  He had 201 yards in 16 carries and scored four touchdowns in the loss to Helix.

WHO’S YOUR GRANDDADDY?

A third-generation name surfaced on the Grossmont League’s opening weekend. Freshman Ryan Sevier accounted for 186 yards and two touchdowns in West Hills’ 38-20 loss at Ramona.

Sevier is the grandson of the late Wayne Sevier, who quarterbacked Sweetwater to the Southern Section playoff semifinals in 1958.

A backfield mate of Wayne Sevier’s was Gil Warren, who played with Wayne at San Diego State and launched a legendary coaching career in the Metropolitan League.

Wayne Sevier was Sweetwater’s head coach at age 24 in 1965 and had a long career in the NFL as a special teams coach for squads coached by Don Coryell, Joe Gibbs, and Chuck Knox.

THE ORIGINAL SUBURBAN RIVALS

Grossmont  and Sweetwater met in Week 1, on the 82^nd anniversary of their first game in 1920.

The Foothillers and Red Devils were blood rivals, playing sometimes twice a year, first in the County League, then the Southern Prep and Metropolitan circuits.  They played each other every season from 1920-51.

Grossmont moved to the City Prep League in 1952, played the ‘Devils in a nonleague contest in ’53, then moved back into the Metro in 1954.   The rivalry resumed until 1960.

Grossmont and Sweetwater went their separate ways in 1961 as the Foothillers, in the new San Diego Section alignment, became part of the Grossmont League, and Sweetwater remained in the Metro.  The teams met only in the playoffs in 1970, ’78, and ’93.

Grossmont’s 20-14 victory this season gave the ‘Hillers a 24-22 edge in the series.

NO. 1 OVER NO. 2

Marian proved the wisdom of requesting a seat at a larger table, having lobbied the CIF for a move from D-IV to III.  The Crusaders won IV titles in 1998 and 1999 and are 25-1 two seasons into D-III.

Marian, replacing Sweetwater (1980s) and Castle Park (1990s) as the South Bay’s most successful team, completed a 13-0 season (after 12-1 in ’01) with a 49-21 victory over St. Augustine.

St. Augustine running backs netted 17 yards in 17 attempts and the Saints fell short of their 34.4 scoring average.

Jonathan Alvarado, Patrick Gates, and Marco Contreras each scored twice for the Crusaders.   The seventh touchdown came from Eugene Alaniz, who played despite torn knee ligaments sustained  in the final regular-season game.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS AND RAIN

Nowhere was the precipitation more prevalent on the final round of regular-season games in Week 10  than at Madison, where Coronado players held a giant mud slide in the middle of the field following the 10-6 victory over the Warhawks, 8-0 entering the game against the 7-1 Islanders.

“Stop!” shouted Coronado coach Bud Mayfield.  “You don’t disrespect an opponent like that.”

The players probably could be excused for their enthusiasm.  The game was played in a steady downpour and heavy fog that was just to the Islanders’ choosing.

Clinching a tie for the Harbor League championship and one win away from reversing a 1-9 season in 2001, Mayfield’s underdog squad made a determined drive in the second quarter.

The 22-play, 80-yard maneuver, which ended with Kyle Hammel’s 27-yard field goal,  kept the Warhawks in check until junior J.T. Rogan’s 42-yard touchdown run provided a 10-0 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Rogan, who had 122 yards in 31 carries, made the signature contribution to the first-half field goal, carrying the ball on 16 of the 22 plays and burrowing for first downs on three fourth downs.

The Islanders clinched the title with a 28-12 victory over Christian the following week, then were eliminated in the first round of the III playoffs, 12-7, by La Jolla.

MIRE MESA CLINIC
University never knew what hit.

Leading rusher Rico Tucker was thrown for a three-yard loss on the opening play. The Dons’ misfortune was only beginning.

Two plays later, after forcing a three and out, Mira Mesa struck for a 64-yard touchdown play on its first play from scrimmage. Quarterback Jason Schmidt  lateraled  to wideout Adam Cooper, who found Terrell Blake wide open.

Four plays after, the Marauders’ Luke Dailey recovered a fumble and ran 31 yards for a touchdown.

Awhile later University’s punter took a knee in the end zone following a low snap.  Two more points for Mira Mesa.

After the free kick, the Marauders’ Reggie Ross went 21 yards on the first play and 33 on the next for another score.

The Marauders led 23-0 after one quarter and 37-0 at the half.  The 57-12 victory gave Mira Mesa a tie for the Western League title with St. Augustine.

DICK HAINES PASSES

Legendary Vista High coach Dick Haines passed away at age 76 on Feb. 27, 2002. Haines had been residing in a North County rest home since 1997, suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease, according to Tom Shanahan of The San Diego Union.

Haines, who 320 games in his career and had a 194-85-1 record in 25 seasons at Vista, retired after the 1994 season, about the time he was diagnosed.  For awhile Haines and his wife, Martha, had lived near his son Rik, who coached in Redmond, Washington.

TRUE GRID

One-day combined attendance for the championships was 21,237…the San Diego Chargers paid the $8,500 rental fee to allow the CIF to use Qualcomm Stadium…Dwayne Ary didn’t score a touchdown, but Mount Miguel profited from his 322 yards in 30 carries in a 37-20 win over El Cajon Valley…San Pasqual’s Nick Popoff did the heavy lifting with 223 yards in 37 carries and scored two touchdowns, but the Eagles defeated St. Augustine 27-24 on Ryan Bowler’s 29-yard field goal as time expired…”nothing fancy about this backyard rivalry, where the forward pass is like a gadget play,” said writer Mick McGrane of the upcoming Rancho Bernardo-Poway game…’Bernardo won, 20-7…Granite Hills defeated Steele Canyon, 6-4, the losers’ scores coming when the Eagles first tackled quarterback Jake Launder and then running back Mike Anderson in the end zone…when scoring was different, there were five games between 1898 and 1921 in which one of the teams scored 4 points…complaints were heard in D-IV when Calexico Vincent Memorial was given the top seed in the playoffs and then Horizon knocked out the Imperial Valley entry, 28-,6 in the semifinals…Charles Dimry III, The Bishop’s coach, is the son of Charles Dimry Jr., who played on Duane Maley’s last team at San Diego High in 1959 and was a standout in sprinter for the Cavers’ track team…the younger Dimry, out of El Camino and Nevada-Las Vegas,  was a cornerback and played 12 seasons in the NFL…Marian’s offensive weaponry was such that the Crusaders overcame an 0-26 hole against Eastlake to win 27-26.