Coach Troy Starr’s Helix Highlanders received all 27 first-place votes for a maximum 270 points in the North County Times sportswriters-sportscasters poll after defeating Vista 43-7 last week.

Helix had 13 first-place votes in the preseason poll and 20 after games of Week 1.

The Highlanders take on a third, ranked opponent from the San Diego Section when hit plays host to Cathedral this week.

Coach Troy Starr’s Helix Highlanders received all 27 first-place votes for a maximum 270 points in the North County Times sportswriters-sportscasters poll after defeating Vista 43-7 last week.

Helix had 13 first-place votes in the preseason poll and 20 after games of Week 1.

The Highlanders take on a third, ranked opponent from the San Diego Section when it plays host to Cathedral this week.

LaCosta Canyon moved up to second from fifth after a 10-9 victory over Poway and is home this week to San Clemente, which defeated the Mavericks 58-6 in 2011.

First-place votes in parenthesis

Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis

+Record +Points +Last Week

1. Helix (27) 1-0 270 1
2. La Costa Canyon 2-0 226 5
3. Oceanside 1-1 178 2
4. Mission Hills 1-1 146 6
5. Poway 1-1 136 4
6. Cathedral Catholic 1-1 124 3
7. Valley Center 2-0 103 7
8. St. Augustine 2-0 81 10.
9. Eastlake 1-1 67 8.
10.  San Pasqual 2-0 36 NR.

WHAT DID HE REALLY THINK?

“It was a mess offensively,” said quarterback Josh Harris, describing Helix’ victory over Vista.

How will Harris feel after the “mess” is cleaned up?

The Scots’ signal caller lost two fumbles but also completed 15 of 22 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns.  “We did some good things, but we have a lot of things to improve,” said Harris.

DOWN GOES OCEANSIDE

Two offensive linemen were out and quarterback Tofi Paopao was not 100 per cent.  Temecula Chaparral, a strong Southern Section squad Oceanside defeated in 2010 and ’11, slapped the Pirates with a 40-30 defeat, the final score closer than the difference between the teams.

Chaparral is 3-0 with a big game coming up against the Las Flores Tesoro Titans.   The Pumas also defeated San Bernardino Cajon 42-0 and Moreno Valley Valley View 48-0.

A better read on Oceanside may be forthcoming after Chaparral plays the 4-0 Titans,  No. 6 in the Los Angeles Time Top 25 (Tesoro topped Chaparall 17-14 the following week).   

HOOVER HONORS MR. B

The refurbished Hoover High Stadium was renamed in honor of  Bob Breitbard, a 1937 Hoover graduate who founded the Breitbard Athletic Foundation out of an office at his father’s California Laundry business in 1946.

Breitbard played baseball and football at Hoover, was co-coach of the football team in 1944, and held the position of cheerleaders’ coordinator.  He honored San Diego athletes and promoted  sports in San Diego for more than 70 years.

The Cardinals dedicated Bob Breitbard Stadium, with new, permanent lights before a 27-14 home-game victory over Brawley in their first home game in two years.  Breitbard’s daughter and son-in-law took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

For more than 60 years the Hoover gridiron was in a South-to-North configuration, end zones facing the gymnasium and Monroe Street. The wooden bleachers on the home, East side burned down in 1949. Steel-framed seating with lights were completed before the 1950 season and stood for years.

Several years ago the gridiron was reconfigured and now faces East and West.

SHADES OF ’58 SWEETWATER…ALMOST

Crawford used 13 minutes, 39 seconds of playing time, driving 75 yards in 26 plays, and converted three third downs and three fourth downs on its opening possession against San Pasqual Academy.

The Colts stalled at the Dragons’ 13-yard line and came up empty.

It would be difficult to find a longer possession or more total plays, but Sweetwater won an epic, 1958 playoff game at Anaheim with a touchdown drive of 24 plays and 83 yards, taking ball possession with two minutes remaining in the third quarter and scoring with two minutes left in the game.

The touchdown made the final score 7-7, but the Red Devils advanced to the Southern California semifinals with a 14-9 advantage in first downs.  The late Wayne Sevier, Sweetwater’s quarterback, once recalled  that the Red Devils won six third-down measurements and converted  a fourth and 24.

The fourth-and-forever,  drive-saving first down came on a flea-flicker pass  Sevier passed laterally to Mike Fogelsong, who threw back across the field to Sevier, who lumbered down the sideline.  “We made it by six inches,” Sevier said.

Also in the backfield for that Sweetwater team was Gil Warren, still coaching, and winning, at Olympian.

 

 

Helix’s 28-6 victory over Eastlake on the season’s opening weekend assured the Highlanders of remaining No. 1 in the North County Times sportswriters-sportscasters poll.

Helix had 13 first-place votes in the preseason poll last week and picked up seven more this week for a point total of 253.

Oceanside blew out Oakdale, a Northern California Division II power, 34-14, and remained second to the Highlanders with six first-place votes and 229 points.

Cathedral Catholic stayed at third in an unchanging top 3 after defeating Steele Canyon, 35-6.  Poway moved from fifth to fourth.

First-place votes in parenthesis
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
+Record +Points +Last Week

1. Helix (20) 1-0 253 1
2. Oceanside (6) 1-0 229 2
3. Cathedral Catholic (1) 1-0 215 3
4. Poway 1-0 145 5
5. La Costa Canyon 1-0 134 8
6. Mission Hills 0-1 125 4
7. Valley Center 1-0 78 9
8. Eastlake 0-1 55 7.
9. Vista 0-1 49 6.
10.  St. Augustine 1-0 39 NR.

ROLL,  ‘SIDE!

Coach John Carroll’s Oceanside Pirates stunned Oakdale, the Sac-Joaquin Section’s top-ranked Division II team, leading 34-0 at halftime in a game that was part of the Battle for Veterans Invitational at Westlake Village.

It was a long trip for each team to the neutral site, 120 miles for Oceanside and 334 miles for Oakdale, located minutes northeast of Modesto.

Said Oakdale coach Trent Merzon:  “We got shellshocked.  We’ve never seen that kind of speed.”

OF A DIFFERENT STRIPE

Because of a National Federation rule, the distinctive, vertical  shoulder stripes on the Kearny Komets’ uniforms have been diminished.  Something about the uniform stripes clashing with the stripes on a football and creating an advantage for a ball carrier.

Former Kearny coach Birt  Slater ordered uniforms with stripes in 1961 and they were a part of the Kearny tradition thereafter.

The straight-talking Slater once joked to me, sort of,  that the stripes reminded him of prison bars and that they’d made his team look bigger and tougher.

Almost impossible to prove is one San Diego County football official’s claim that only three teams in the country have the same stripes as Kearny, including  a team in North Carolina, and one in Texas, which reportedly is not part of National Federation and not subject of the ruling, which has been in effect but not  enforced for several years.

FIRST-GAME PENALTIES
Whistles could be heard and flags were flying in the North County.

San Pasqual and Torrey Pines were penalized 25 times for 209 yards.  Vista and Colorado’s Aurora Grand View were whistled 24 times for 223 yards, including a series of five plays in which there were three penalties and three false starts.

 

There are at least 21 new head coaches in the San Diego Section. More could be revealed as the season, which began Aug. 24 with Calvary Christian San Diego defeating visiting Las Vegas Calvary Chapel, 37-22, opens on a full scale this week.

A new league, the City, also makes a debut and changes have been made in the structure of others.

* Escondido             Steve Bridges  for Jason Texler.

* Granite Hills        Kellan Cobbs for Randy Dewitt.
* Grossmont           Tom Karlo for Ron Murphy.
* Hoover                  Jerry Ralph for Cree Morris.
* Horizon                 Chris Johnson for Eric Stavola.
* Monte Vista         Ron Hamamoto for Page Culver.
* Montgomery       Tom Jarumayan for Gary Harris.
* Mount Miguel     Shaun McDade for Tom Karlo.
* Ocean View         Ron Loewenthal for Jon Clark.
* Rancho Buena Vista    Paul Gomes for Eric Jorgensen.
* San Diego             Doug Packwood for Keir Kimbrough.
* San Diego Jewish   Joe Gurfinkiel for Mark Wetzel.
* San Diego Southwest     Frank Paredes for Jason Lewis.
* San Marcos          Jason Texler for Robert Cendros.
* Santana                Tim Estes for Dave Gross.
* St. Joseph            Tom Davis for Ed Wean.
* Steele Canyon     Scott Longerbone for Ron Boehmke.
* The Rock             Rone Torres for Victor Andujo.
* University City   Eric Perry for John Hutsel.

Karlo and Texler were head coaches at Mount Miguel and Escondido, respectively, last season.  Ralph is the former head coach at Santana, St. Augustine, and Del Norte. Hamamoto formerly Unhiversity, Rancho Beernardo, and Lincoln.

Gomes was head coach at Escondido before Texler and is returning to the San Diego Section after two seasons as an assistant at Anaheim Servite. Hamamoto was head coach at University, Rancho Bernardo, and Lincoln.

Karlo is returning to his alma-mater.  He replaces Ron Murphy, who passed away.

OLD RIVALS

The City League has been re-created with San Diego, Hoover, Morse, and Patrick Henry, who were partners for years in the Eastern League. The fifth City squad, Serra, was in another incarnation of the Eastern League in the 1990s.

The first City League was formed in February, 1950, in retrospect the first move by San Diego teams in an eventual separation from the CIF Southern Section.

San Diego High had been a member of the Coast League, playing a schedule largely made up of schools North of San Diego County, since 1923.

The San Diego City Prep League was divided in 1959 with advent of the Eastern and Western Leagues.

CENTRAL HAS NEW FACE

Formation of the new City League has diminished membership in the Central League, which fielded eight teams in 2011.

Kearny has moved to the Western League and San Diego and Morse have moved from the Central.

Clairemont, Christian, Coronado, Crawford and University City remain in a five-team Central.

WITHER KUYPER?

Small school leagues also welcomed and said goodbye to members.  The Sunset, Pacific, Southern, and Coastal leagues all underwent change and the Citrus League has been brought back.

Kuyper Prep of National City, 7-1 in the 8-man Sunset loop last season, may not field a team. Maranatha moved to the Pacific League and La Jolla Country Day from the Pacific League to the Coastal.

The Sunset has added independent St. Joseph.

The Southern League is no longer part of the Southern Conference. Borrego Springs, Calvary Christian San Diego, Classical, Julian, and San Pasqual Academy form the Citrus League, a Division V alignment.

 

Looking Back:  The article originally was posted Aug. 27, 2012.

War clouds across the Atlantic and a frightening moment on the high seas were what Charlie Wilson remembered most about 1939, when he was about to begin his second season as head coach at Point Loma.

Wilson toured Scandinavian countries with his wife and friends in the summer and sailed home from the port of Southampton, England, on Aug. 31.  Germany advanced into Poland on Sept. 1, effectively starting World War II.

Wilson and his party were relieved when they learned that their cruise ship had passed through the Atlantic Ocean submarine zone in the days after war was declared, but not before a fearful reminder of what could have happened in the presence of a German U boat.

“I  can tell you how it feels to have a darkened, unidentified vessel sweep down on your ship at  night,” Wilson told Charles Byrne of The San Diego Union. “Fortunately, it was a British destroyer and we continued on.”

Wilson made light of the incident, claiming that upon arrival home his first act was to sign a “non-aggression pact” with La Jolla coach Marvin Clark, whose team tied the Pointers for the 1938 Metropolitan League championship.

POINT LOMA IN WRONG LEAGUE?

Wilson had a quick response to the question of whether Point Loma should move up from the Metropolitan League and join San Diego and Hoover in the three-team Coast League with Long Beach Poly.

Point Loma was 17-1 in league play since 1936 and 22-0-1 overall, but Wilson and assistant Bill Bailey did not embrace the idea.

The coaches pointed out that, while Point Loma had a student enrollment of about 1,400, the total included grades 7, 8, and 9, and that there were only 624 students in grades 10-12, far less than the big schools downtown and in East San Diego, not to mention the populous Poly.

The Metropolitan ride continued for the Pointers as they posted a 7-0 record, but was something missing?

A 6-0 roll through league play had been accompanied by a 13-0 win over Hemet, the defending Western Division champion of the Riverside County League.

The Pointers were invited to play a Southern California lower division playoff against an Imperial Valley school or Vista, which finished 6-1 and won the Southern Prep League.

But Vista was not in school session the week of a potential game and Imperial Valley schools had not completed their seasons. Point Loma would terminate its season after the first annual football carnival.

PREZ WEIGHS IN ON CARNIVAL

Franklin Roosevelt had a depression, poor economy, and war in Europe on his plate.

What did the President do?  He changed the date of Thanksgiving.  And threw traditional schedules and the country and its calendars into football chaos.

Prominent, beleaguered U.S. retailers had come to Roosevelt and practically begged him to move the Turkey Day holiday up one week to increase the number of shopping days before Christmas.

Roosevelt did not have football games on his mind and may not have given the decision much thought when he issued his Thanksgiving Proclamation with the new date of Thursday, Nov. 23, instead of Thursday, Nov. 30.

As historians have noted, the first Thanksgiving between Pilgrims and Native Americans was between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11, 1621.

Thanksgiving as a holiday did not occur until Abraham Lincoln, hoping to unite the country during the Civil War,  declared the last Thursday in November to be a day of “thanksgiving and praise”.

That tradition continued for 75 years, until Roosevelt’s decree.  Eventually the day would be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

CITY SCHOOLS GET THEIR DATE

Once Thanksgiving was set, Hoover principal Floyd Johnson announced the first annual City Schools carnival, featuring San Diego and Point Loma of the “South” meeting Hoover and La Jolla of the “North”.

The date was Wednesday night,  Nov. 22, 1939.

The Wednesday selection represented  an accommodation by the schools because San Diego’s Marine Corps Recruit Depot team and Tempe State of Arizona were using the Balboa Stadium facility on Nov. 23, the new date for Thanksgiving, and the schools did not like a suggested date of Saturday night, Nov. 25.

Hoover was host school, charged with gate receipts, a percentage of which went to the local Red Cross, with the rest divided among the schools. The host honor would be rotated annually.

The four teams grappled to a 7-7 tie.  La Jolla missed a field goal that would have beaten San Diego, 3-0.  Point Loma and Hoover also were scoreless in the second quarter.

Attendance was about 5,000 persons and this was the only year the event was held at the end of the season.  It would be the kickoff to the season beginning in 1940.

DISSAPOINTMENT

Point Loma’s season ended with a thud when La Jolla outscored the Pointers, 7-0, in the carnival’s third quarter.  With ‘Loma fullback Ed Freitas nursing an injury, John Snyder assumed Freitas’s kicking duties.

Snyder’s first two punts were blocked and his third bounced and rolled backward 35 yards into the end zone, where La Jolla’s Bill Hall covered the ball for a touchdown.

San Diego quarterback Jess Bryant’s nine-yard run against Hoover in the fourth quarter forged the final score.

COAST RACE LEGISLATED

San Diego defeated Long Beach Poly 20-13 and Hoover 7-0 and won the three-team Coast League championship. Combined with three, standings-counted games against opponents from the Bay and Foothill leagues, the Cavers finished with a 4-0-1 record.

The geographically and economically struggling Coast usually had more workable numbers from the time the Cavers joined the fledgling circuit 1923, but realignment  in the North necessitated passage in 1939 of a CIF measure that would keep the Coast credible.

San Diego played Compton and Inglewood from the Bay and Whittier from the Foothill. Hoover took on Glendale Hoover  and Alhambra (which had dropped out of the  Coast) of the Foothill and Long Beach Wilson of the Bay.

It was an uneven year for San Diego coach Joe Beerkle’s 4-3-1 team.  The Hilltoppers were knocked out of the playoffs when Inglewood scored a 7-0 victory in the first round, the Sentinels being the same team San Diego defeated, 27-9, in the regular season.

Déjà vu.  San Diego routed Inglewood 21-0 in 1933, then lost to the Sentinels in the Southern California finals, 7-6.

GHOSTS IN THE MIST

Union writer Charles Byrne was on site, covering the Hoover-Long Beach Wilson game, which drew about 4,000 to the Cardinals’ stadium.

But Byrne did not see the game, nor did anyone in the stands, as a seasonal fog dropped in on the Talmadge Park field at about the time the teams kicked off at 8 p.m.

A Hoover teacher and former student helped trump the shroud with a unique improvisation that provided a running play-by-play of the game to those in attendance.

Former Cardinals footballer Bob Beckus, also a premier jumper and the star of Hoover’s upset, 1938 dual track meet win over San Diego, teamed with social science teacher and former basketball coach Bruce Maxwell to create communication from the field to the press box.

Armed with a portable telephone Beckus prowled the sidelines…and wandered onto the field a few times…and relayed information to Maxwell, who announced each play to the audience over the stadium public address.

Byrne’s byline the next morning read:  “By Bob Beckus and Bruce Maxwell (as told to Charles Byrne).”

Oh, yes, the game:

Beckus caught a glimpse of the Bruins’ Jack Laughner disappearing into the night and running 38 yards for a second-quarter touchdown and a 6-0 lead for Wilson.

Hoover coach John Perry made offensive changes at halftime and, largely on reverses the Bruins were unable to detect, the Cardinals immediately went 63 yards and tied the game on Jim Morgan’s 10-yard run.

Both teams threatened again but the final score was 6-6, sending home a disgruntled Long Beach Poly scout, who drove 100 miles to chart each team and couldn’t diagram a single play.

ANCHORS AWEIGH

The country still was feeling effects of the Great Depression but Hoover end George Brown and tackle Ben Chase, both hoping for appointments to the Naval Academy after their 1941 high school graduations, were determined to make their way.

Brown, a strapping junior who later would be related by marriage to Hoover’s future major league baseballer Ray Boone, had made 17 consecutive A grades since entering high school.  Chase had a scholastic record almost as impressive, both students taking “solid” courses.

And if football and homework weren’t enough…

Chase held a National Youth Administration  job (an offshoot of the Works Progress Administration started by President Franklin Roosevelt)  at school and also worked in a restaurant after practice for his dinners and breakfasts, cut lawns on Saturday, and toiled in a service station on Sunday.

Brown also cut lawns and worked in a garage and held a summer job for an onyx company, handling 15,000 pounds of cement each day.

Brown would miss a bus trip to Pasadena with teammates for a night game at the Rose Bowl against Glendale Hoover, instead taking some preliminary tests toward admission to Annapolis.  He’d get a ride to the game later in the day.

QUESTIONABLE POSTPONEMENT 

Oceanside coach Dick Rutherford announced that because of wet grounds the Pirates’ game with Sweetwater was being rescheduled.  There was no rain.

“Something went wrong with our automatic watering system last night,” Rutherford claimed.  “Several pipes burst, making the field one huge puddle.”

That Oceanside’s star running back Chap (Frosty) Peters was not available because of a leg injury, begged the question, because Peters figured to play for the once-tied, undefeated Pirates the following week against unbeaten Point Loma.

Peters’ didn’t play and he probably wouldn’t have made much difference, with Point Loma topping the Pirates 33-0.

ALWAYS ON FRIDAY…

San Dieguito’s 5-2 season was bookended by a 39-0 loss to Escondido and a 7-6 defeat to Vista in the Southern League championship game.

For five consecutive weeks, the Mustangs would hear a chorus of “Thirty points every Friday!” from their cheering section.  And coach John Eubank’s team responded.

The Mustangs won by shutout scores of 39-0, 33-0, 32-0, 32-0, and 78-0.

The final touchdown against Fallbrook in the fourth game came with their fans screaming.  Only 10 seconds remained when Nasato Chuman hurled a 20-yard touchdown pass to Leo Swaim to extend the streak.

VISTANS RUN THE STREETS

More than 2,000 fans showed  up, then many celebrated Vista’s Southern League-championship, 7-6 victory over San Dieguito by tying up traffic for hours in the North County community.

Hundreds of residents paraded through town after the Panthers scored a first victory over their rival  in Encinitas after three losses since the school opened in 1936.

Kenzo Osaki’s 20-yard touchdown pass to Frank Messersmith in the fourth quarter tied the game.  Ralph Dominguez then kicked an extra point to win but each team was offside and the play was nullified.  Dominguez toed another placement for the winner.

Vista’s league game against Brown Military was forfeited by the Cadets the following week, giving the Panthers a 5-0 league record.

OH, NO!

Grossmont’s Bob Green was plunging across the goal line for a touchdown when he fumbled.  La Jolla’s Chuck Owens intercepted the fumble in mid-air and ran 98 yards in the other direction for a score. Grossmont won, 13-6, with all scoring in the first quarter.

NECESSITY MOTHER OF INVENTION

Trailing Escondido, 19-0, in the fourth quarter, Grossmont coach Jack Mashin was desperate.  So desperate he inserted a seldom used sophomore quarterback into the lineup.

Ray Whitcomb completed 11 consecutive passes for 85 yards and two touchdowns and kicked an extra point, but the Cougars held on for a 19-13 victory.

CIF AT AGE 25

The California Interscholastic Federation had come a long way.  When the group was organized in 1914 there were six high school leagues and about 30 schools in Southern California.

Membership dues would partially fund the Federation and the organizers determined that a playoff series among the six league champions would further the CIF’s ability to exist.

As of 1939, there were 20 leagues and 129  schools. Champions were crowned in three divisions.

Alhambra, still one of the largest schools in Southern California, even after construction of the new Alhambra Mark Keppel High, defeated Santa Barbara, 26-18, to win the Major Division.

Covina defeated Colton,14-0, and Hemet shut out Barstow, 25-0, in the two Lower Division title games.

Hemet, a 13-0 loser to Point Loma in the regular season, was coached by former San Diego High star Kendall (Bobo) Arnett.

QUICK KICKS

St. Augustine called off its season after two games, both losses… a third game with San Bernardino St. Bernardine had been canceled…The Saints’ coach Jim Cousart turned his attention to basketball… Oceanside defeated La Jolla on a safety, 2-0, in a game stopped three times by rain, including 30 minutes when the lights at Scripps Field went out… San Diego moved 80 yards in the final 1:10 to beat Compton, 6-0…Hoover’s record was 1-5-2, but the Cardinals battled Alhambra before losing,19-13, to the eventual Southern California champion…Oceanside had not scored on Escondido since 1935, so the Pirates were understandably okay with a 12-12 tie with the Cougars… a junior varsity game between Hoover and Grossmont began at 6:30 p.m. and was scheduled to end at 7:30 p.m., no matter the score or how much time remained… the teams were on the undercard of the varsity L.A. Cathedral-Hoover contest…Point Loma was undefeated despite losing Pat Jones, who became an all-Coast League fullback at Long Beach Poly, and standout end Bob Daugherty to Oceanside… Coronado’s Stew (Junior) Worden boomed a punt that went from his end zone to La Jolla’s 20-yard line… Islanders coach Hal Niedermeyer claimed Worden’s boot went 83 yards in the air… Sweetwater, 0-10 against Grossmont since 1928, took it out on the Foothillers, 38-0… San Diego advanced into Hoover territory seven times before finally scoring in the fourth quarter to put away the Cardinals, 7-0,  before 18,181 persons, a record for the rivalry game… the Hilltoppers’ Jack (Jello) Ware, a transfer from La Jolla, scored twice, although the second touchdown was called back by penalty… Ware gained 92 yards in 25 carries…quarterback Jess Bryant had 45 in 16 carries… San Diego led, 16 first downs to 3….

 

Dick Haines would give you his opinion even if you didn’t ask for one.

So the veteran coach practically shouted his response to the obvious question after the Vista Panthers defeated Helix, 35-7, for the San Diego Section 3-A championship and a 13-0 season.

“Hell, yes, we’re the best team in the state!”  Haines enthused.  By far, added the chorus. Cal-Hi Sports, the only publication to observe and rank the state’s best teams, agreed.

Vista was declared the No. 1 AAAA  (largest division) team by the newsletter, equaling the honor earned by Haines’s 13-0 team of 1974, and became only the fourth San Diego team so designated, following the retroactive selections of San Diego High, 12-0, in 1916, and 11-0-1 in 1955.

Was this Vista team the best in San Diego County history?

That’s arguable, but at the very least the Panthers are in the top 10 or top 2 or 3 and possibly the best from the powerful North County, whose surging population and demographic shift coincidentally began about the time the San Diego Section was formed in 1960.

SCRIBES ‘ CHOICE

John  Maffei, who covered area schools over a span of four decades for the North County Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune, is in agreement.

“‘Eighty-five Vista was the best by far,” said Maffei, who wasn’t going to diss a few other legendary teams from his then-newspaper’s circulation area. “Rancho Buena Vista in ‘eighty-nine with a pair of two-thousand-yard rushers (O.J. Hall and Markeith Ross), with (future major league player and manager) Dave Roberts at quarterback was awfully good.

“Oceanside in 2008—the state championship team—was outstanding,” Maffei added.  “Cathedral in 2009 with Tyler Gaffney setting records also was pretty darn good.”

THEIR PAL, SAL

Vista outscored opponents this year by an average of 37-9.  The ’74 team won by 34-11.  The 1989 RBV team’s average score was 44-19. Oceanside’s 2008 margin was 42-14  and Cathedral’s was 48-17 in 2009.

Basic scores give this year’s Vista team an edge defensively.  The more esoteric variables, i.e., quality of opponents, injuries, playing conditions, position of the stars and relativity of high or low tides are harder to quantify.

Siasau (Sal) Aunese may have been the difference. A 6-foot, 190-pound quarterback, Aunese was a strong runner, effective passer, and inspirational leader, perfectly suited to run Dick Haines’ option offense.

Of all the great players who have come out of San Diego County, Aunese’s legacy is curiously below the radar.

“Probably because he died so soon,” said Nick Canepa, the longtime columnist of UT-San Diego. “Aunese was as underrated a great player as any who’s ever played here.”

Fallbrook coaches went so far as asking game officials to check Aunese’s legs for lubricants, bringing meaning to the term “slippery runner.”  Aunese rushed for 198 yards in 11 carries in a 28-7 Vista victory.

With Aunese averaging more than 10 yards a carry and handing off to Roger Price, a 1,500-yard  runner; Brett Smith, and a fleet of others, Vista’s running attack, fronted by tackle and co-captain Albert Sega, rolled through the playoffs with blowout wins.

Aunese ran for 125 yards in 12 carries, scored from distances of 49 and 28 yards, connected on a 60-yard touchdown pass play with Todd Baird, and Price added 135 yards rushing as the Panthers gained 418 yards in outclassing Helix, an 11-1 team that had just ended Sweetwater’s 36-game winning streak in the 3-A semifinals.

GONE TOO SOON

Colorado won a pitched recruiting battle against Nebraska and other high profile college teams for Aunese, who became the Buffaloes’ starting quarterback as a redshirt freshman in 1987.

Aunese led his team to a 7-4 record and was the Big 8 Conference’s Newcomer of the Year.  The Buffs were 8-4 in 1988 and poised to make a national championship run in 1989.

But friends and teammates noticed a change in Aunese before the Freedom Bowl loss to Brigham Young in 1988.  He was sluggish in practice.  His family was alarmed.

Continuous coughing and vomiting finally forced Aunese to seek treatment in February, 1989.  Tests showed that he had a rare, inoperable form of stomach cancer.  Aunese died on Sept. 23, 1989.

Les Miles, who went on to become the head coach at Louisiana State, was an assistant on Bill McCartney’s staff at Colorado.  It was Miles who recruited Aunese.

“Sal was certainly one of the most difficult recruiting battles I’ve been in and he probably was the best player I ever signed,” said Miles.

A walk-on at LSU in 2007 was quarterback T.C. McCartney, the grandson of Bill McCartney.  Aunese fathered the child with McCartney’s daughter, Kristy.

36 AND OUT

Sweetwater, riding a 35-game winning streak, was the No. 1 seed in the AAA playoffs and met Fallbrook in the final home game for Terry Rodgers and his senior teammates.

Rodgers was outstanding, rushing for 168 yards in 23 carries and scoring all of the Red Devils’ points in a 20-17 victory before an overflow crowd of 6,500 at Hudgins Field on the Sweetwater campus.

A more difficult opponent loomed for coach Gene Alim’s team.

Sweetwater’s County record of 36 wins in a row came to an end in the semifinals the following week against Jim Arnaiz’s  smart and seasoned Helix Highlanders.

Helix executed a brilliant game plan, gutting it out with a determined running game and   rallying behind the leadership of quarterback Jeff Hammerschmidt, the younger brother of Dan, a star on Helix’ 1981 championship squad.

The Scots played to the conditions.  The Southwestern College field was soft from recent storms.

Helix stopped the Red Devils when they tried to convert a fourth-and-eight situation at the Highlanders’ 30-yard line in the first quarter and  took control of the game.

Hammerschmidt then guided his team on a 70-yard, 16-play drive that consumed more than seven minutes of playing time.  Helix moved the down markers five times on third or fourth down, finally scoring on Hammerschmidt’s seven-yard pass to Jeff Exum.

The quarterback ran for a two-point conversion and Helix had an 8-0 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.  The Scots’ 15-6 halftime advantage represented the final score.

Hammerschmidt completed 7 of 13 passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns.  Kerry Barr burrowed for 95 yards in 26 carries as Helix played a determined game of keep away.

“We discovered they could not stop our lead play we called “Belly”,” said Arnaiz.  “Our fullback (Barr) was a tough kid from Ohio and he was a perfect ‘mudder’.  He ran with power and had a wide base.

IT’S IN THE BELLY

“We just hung tough with defense, the belly play, and sound special teams,” Arnaiz remembered.

Rodgers ran two yards for Sweetwater’s only touchdown and was held to 82 yards in 20 carries.  He had rushed for 69 yards in 15 carries in the first half.

Rodgers’s 32^nd touchdown gave him 202 for the season, breaking the County record of 194 by Oceanside’s C.R. Roberts in 1952.

“The streak is something I’ll look back on when I’m out of coaching,” a composed Gene Alim told writer Mark Zeigler of The San Diego Union minutes after the final gun. “What we lost tonight was a chance to win the CIF championship.  The streak?  I don’t care about streaks.”

HORNETS SHORT OF NUMBERS

First-year coach Orlando (Skip) Coons couldn’t believe what he saw at his and Lincoln’s first practice.  Only 14 players showed up.  Thirty-six eventually filled out the roster.

Overcoming two non-league forfeits, both victories, Lincoln went on to its sixth AA championship, blowing out Crawford, 28-0.

The Hornets dropped a 23-15 decision to the Colts in Week 7. Hornets quarterback Malcolm Glover, blitzed on eight occasions and throwing three interceptions in the loss to Crawford, completed 8 of 13 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns in the first half in the title game.

Crawford quarterback Tommy Fejarang  sustained a knee  contusion on the fourth play of the game, nullifying the elusiveness that made him effective in the first encounter with the Hornets.  Crawford’s option running game netted only 27 yards in 23 attempts.

For Coons the victory was doubly satisfying.  He also had a championship as a player when a member of the San Diego High team that defeated Monrovia, 53-0, for the Southern Section Southern Division title in 1959.

COOLER HEADS PREVAIL

A developing incident was taking place after the Crawford-Lincoln game. Because the four teams involved in the 3-A and 2-A title games had to share the two available locker rooms at Jack Murphy Stadium, the Lincoln and Crawford squads were forced to wait in the tunnel outside the dressing area before Helix and Vista emerged to go to the field.

“Now we know the first game was a fluke!” Lincoln players shouted, taunting Crawford players.  Coaches stepped up and kept order when the Colts began to respond.

1-A IS A-1

Only 18 players turned out for the first football practice at Coronado, but a changing environment did wonders for the Islanders, who left the AA South Bay League for the 1A Mountain-Desert League.

Coronado won six of its last seven games and defeated Mountain Empire 28-6 for the 1-A championship after finishing second to the Redskins in league play.

The Islanders, with an enrollment of 712, were the largest school in the Mountain-Desert circuit.  Their 6-4 record represented a winning season for the first time since 1979.

UNCERTAIN OFF-SEASON FOR ‘FE

Santa Fe Christian separated from the Christian Unified Schools district, but apparently  many students and parents hadn’t heard. There was doubt well into midsummer whether the Navigators would field a team or that the school would remain open.

Only 21 players turned out for fall practice.  “A lot of them didn’t know if the school was going to be open,” said coach Dave Kadlec.

Eventually 36 players dressed out and the Navigators, later  renamed the Eagles,  posted a 3-5 record in the Mountain-Desert League.

OLD SCHOOL  

Mission Bay’s Rod Weichelt, one of the area’s best in the 177-pound weight class during wrestling season, made his last high school game one to remember.

The 6-foot, 180-pounder went both ways, rushing 30 times for 188 yards and scored two touchdowns as Mission Bay surprised University City, 14-8.  Weichelt also made 13 tackles, recovered a fumble, and intercepted a pass.

GUARDED, YOU SAY?

No matter how sturdy, Steve Miner was not going out on a limb. The first-year Madison coach, who built a championship program at Clairemont, was only “guardedly optimistic” the Warhawks would improve on their 1984 season as they moved from the Western to Eastern League.

Since Madison was 0-8-1 the previous year there was a lot of room for improvement. The Warhawks did improve, to 3-5-2.

GROSSMONT DIVIDES

The Grossmont League finally broke from the past, forming separate AAA and AA alignments.

Granite Hills, Helix, Monte Vista, Mount Miguel and Santana would battle for two available playoffs spots in the AAA lineup, while El Cajon Valley, Grossmont, El Capitan, and Valhalla would have one playoff berth to play for in AA.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

The City Council approved an outlay of $239,000 to buy 2,000 bulletproof vests for all San Diego Police officers in the field.  The death of officer Thomas Riggs on March 31 put San Diego ahead of all major U.S. cities in officer mortality rate.

TRUE GRID

Vista was followed by Clovis West (13-0), Cordova Rancho Cordova (13-0), and Long Beach Poly (11-1-1) in the final Cal-Hi AAAA selections… announced crowd was 14,732 for the championship doubleheader at Jack Murphy Stadium…Cal-Hi selected  Sweetwater (11-1)  sixth in AAA, and Lincoln, 9-3 without forfeits, was seventh in AA… The San Diego Union and Evening Tribune Top 10, recognized through the end of the regular season, listed Vista 1, Sweetwater 2, Granite Hills 3, Helix 4, Crawford 5, Chula Vista 6, Lincoln 7, Morse 8, and Orange Glen and Bonita Vista in a tie for 9… despite having to replace 16 starters and Darron Norris’ 1,515 rushing yards  from 1984, El Camino posted a 7-4-1 record and won a playoff game… the Wildcats’ 26-game Avocado League winning streak came to an end in the final regular-season game when San Marcos gained a 7-7 tie… Crawford wideout Laurent  (Lou) Coons was involved in a family rivalry.  Lou, whose father was the Lincoln coach, was the Colts’ head coach in 2010-11…Vista’s 28-point separation from Helix was the most in the championship game since the Panthers rocked Patrick Henry 32-0 in 1974… Kearny’s coaching staff had more than 30 years of NFL  playing and coaching experience…head coach Nate Wright was a standout cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings and cornerback Monte Jackson was a former No. 1 NFL draft out of St. Augustine and San Diego State… a third coach, George Dickson was a halfback on Notre Dame’s 1948 national championship team and coached in the NFL and on the college level for many years…Terry Rodgers’ great season started at Wailuka on the Hawaiian island of Maui…Rodgers rushed for 204 yards in 17 carries and scored 4 touchdowns in a 32-7 victory…

Twenty-seven area media specialists selected Helix as the top team in the the North County Times’ first weekly San Diego Section football poll, according to Times writer John Maffei.

Helix received thirteen first place votes and 245 points overall, ahead of second-place Oceanside, which had 5 first-place votes and 229 points.

“The panel is comprised of prep football experts from throughout the County,” said Maffei.  “They will vote each week throughout the season.”

The North County, annually the area producing most of the best teams in the San Diego Section, placed six in the Top 10:  Mission Hills, No. 4; Poway, 5; Vista, 6; La Costa Canyon, 8, and Valley Center, 9.

Cathedral Catholic, No. 3,  is considered North County with a location in Del Mar but draws its students from a county-wide area and has a San Diego address and plays in the city’s Eastern League.

The rest of the first 10 is concentrated in the East (Helix and No. 10 Steele Canyon) and South (No. 7 Eastlake).

“With a diverse and sizable panel the goal is to eliminate possible geographic bias,” said Maffei.

After a 2011, opening-game, 21-14 loss to Eastlake, coach Troy Starr’s Helix Highlanders stormed through the Grossmont League and San Diego Section playoffs, concluding a 13-1 season in which they averaged 46 points a game with a 35-24 victory over Loomis Del Oro in the State Division II championship game at the Home Depot Center in Carson.

First-place votes in parenthesis
Points awarded on 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis
+Last Year Record + Points +Last Week (2011)

1. Helix (13) 13-1-0 245 1

2. Oceanside (5) 9-3-1 229 5

3. Cathedral Catholic (1) 12-1-0 186 3

4. Mission Hills (5) 8-4-1 163 7

5. Poway 12-0-1 145 2

6. Vista (3) 7-6-0 126 8

7. Eastlake 8-4-0 104 —-

8. La Costa Canyon 9-3-0 102 6

9. Valley Center 12-1-0 38 4

10. Steele Canyon 8-4-0 37 —-

Others receiving votes: Lincoln (31), St. Augustine (19), Mira Mesa (13), Westview (10), Chula Vista (8), Olympian (7), Madison (6), San Pasqual (4), Grossmont (3), Carlsbad (2), Santa Fe Christian (2), Christian (1).

27 sportswriters, sportscasters and CIF representatives from throughout the county vote in the weekly poll. This year’s panel includes: John Maffei, Terry Monahan, Tom Sheridan, Rick Hoff and Tom Saxe (North County Times), Steve Brand and John Shacklett (Hall of Champions), Nick Pellegrino (East County Sports.com), Steve Dolan and Rick Hill (East County), Rick Willis and Brandon Stone (KUSI-TV), John Kentera. Mark Chlebowski, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak, Jordan Carruth, Jack Cronin, Bobby Wooldridge (XX Sports Radio 1090), Bruce Ward, (San Diego City Schools), Jeff Kurtz (playonsports), Craig Elsten (619sports.net), Dave Axelson (Coronado Eagle & Journal ), Anthony Gentile (sandiegoreader.com), Jerry Schniepp and John LaBeta (CIF San Diego Section office), Rick Smith (Partletonsports.com).