A twist in the CIF Southern Section playoffs this year resulted in the Coronado principal twisting in the wind.
Escondido and Coronado had tied for second place in the Avocado League. making either school eligible for the league’s runner-up berth in the Southern Division (small schools) postseason.
So far, so good.
But Escondido coach Walt West was confused.
The Cougars were on the CIF’s playoff schedule as opposing Tustin, winner of the Orange League.
West thought the Cougars’ season was over and had asked for team uniforms to be turned in immediately following a final, regular-season game loss to league champ Oceanside.
“I had assumed that inasmuch as Coronado had beaten us (19-7) they would be in the playoff,” said West.
After speaking with Escondido principal Bill Radne, who also believed Coronado would represent the league, writer Dave Gallup of The San Diego Union contacted Coronado principal Wilfrid Seaman for comment.
CORONADO WANTS OUT
Seaman told Gallup that he had “talked the matter over” with his coaches and they had agreed that further play was undesirable for Coronado.
“After all we’re in need of getting our basketball under way and we’re just not big enough to support both sports at once,” said Seaman.
Seaman apparently had notified the CIF but didn’t tell Escondido.
Seaman’s position changed, quickly, when the Islanders’ boss learned that he had been hung in effigy by a segment of the student body, backed by peevish citizens, according to Gallup.
The Islanders’ honcho asked for a league meeting, with Coronado now being considered a playoff participant.
All league members, except champion Oceanside, attended a session at Fallbrook, where a coin flip determined the Avocado’s second playoff representative.
Conveniently, Escondido won the toss, played, and lost to visiting Tustin, 26-20.
THE REAL REASON
Why were Seaman and his coaches so eager to dump on football and get on with basketball?
Three important players on coach John Kovac’s Islanders squad that had gone to the Southern Section small schools finals in 1954-55 were footballers Willie Dickey, Charlie Love, and Herman Wright.
The Coronado brass felt it was essential to get the trio off the gridiron (Coronado was 4-3 under first-year coach Roger Rigdon) and onto the court as soon as possible.
The Islanders would mount a run to the small school’s title this season, posting a 27-1 record, and scoring a 60-54 win over superstar Billy Kilmer and Azusa Citrus, the team that that beaten them in the finals the previous year.
WE WANT IN
The postseason was growing in popularity and so were the complaints.
For many years, the Southern Section selected 8-10 league champions to its Major Division postseason. The Section passed a bylaw in 1952 that led to increased participation.
An extra team was added in 1953 and 16 teams, guaranteeing a full, four-week tournament with no byes, were invited in 1954.
The larger grouping, which would become the model for decades, included inclusion of some second-place teams, from selected leagues.
In addition to 12 league champions in the Central Group (large schools), the CIF this year said bids would go to runners-up from the Citrus Belt, Coast, and Pacific Leagues, and independent Santa Monica.
CIF TO BORDER TEAMS: DROP DEAD!
The two major San Diego leagues were eighty-sixed.
Their only chance of getting in was if a runner-up from one of the anointed leagues lost its final regular-season game, but there were no guarantees.
That the announcement was made before most circuits, including the San Diego City and Metropolitan, had completed their seasons was received with a surly lack of enthusiasm.
“I think my kids were fired up, looking forward to a possible playoff game. Now the edge is off,” said Hoover coach Roy Engle.
“What was the hurry announcing the brackets?” Engle wondered. “The logical time would have been Sunday or Monday, after the season.”
CARDINALS STINK IT UP
Hoover mailed in a flat performance as Point Loma defeated the Cardinals, 26-0, and claimed second place in the CPL.
San Diego, which had lost coin flips for the CPL’s lone playoff berth in 1951 and ’52, was a shoo-in this year, but Chula Vista, favored to be the Metropolitan League entry, had not clinched its league title and was facing a showdown with Helix.
Chula Vista coach Chet DeVore was thinking what if.
“Should we get beat, losing the playoff berth, and the SCIF decides to pick a second team from the city (as it did with Hoover in 1954), then I’d be hot,” said the generally mild-mannered DeVore.
SAINTS NOT MARCHING IN
The 6-foot, 5-inch, 250-pound principal at St. Augustine weighed in.
“Early this season we got a letter from the SCIF commissioner’s office,” said Fr. John Aherne. “It said St. Augustine would be eligible for the playoffs if we lost no more than two games.”
Aherne pointed out that the Saints lost to Metro powers Helix and Chula Vista and were tied by Lincoln. “What I have to think of the selections is not very nice,” said the vicar, still trying to get his school membership in a league.
ANOTHER POSSIBLE ISSUE
Could a glee club instructor or a wood shop teacher decide when Chula Vista was to meet San Diego in the first round?
Left halfback Dave Morrison, the Spartans’ best runner’; right half Ross Provence, guard Bill Stephens, and tackle Jeff Langston were listed as doubtful by coach Chet DeVore.
DeVore hoped the players could get as much recovery time as possible. He wanted to play on Friday.
But there would be a faculty vote, the coach cautioned.
“The Thanksgiving holiday starts Thursday and everyone may prefer to hold the game as soon as possible,” DeVore told Phil Collier of The Union. “If they want us to play Thursday that’s what we’ll do.”
With a presumed friendly nudge from principal Joe Rindone, the faculty voted to play San Diego on Friday.
TRUE GRID
Oceanside teachers and administrators were able to get an early start on the Thanksgiving holiday…the Pirates dropped a 6-0 playoff decision to visiting Brea-Olinda on Wednesday…undefeated Ramona, exited after a 14-7 loss to Banning of Riverside County and San Diego eliminated Chula Vista, 26-0…end Art Lawrence of Oceanside and guard Bob Anderson of Escondido were on the all-Southern California lower division first team…back Otis Foster of Oceanside was on the second team, and back Charlie Love of Coronado and center Tom Pointdexter of Mar Vista earned third-team honors….
