- 2015: Lots of Coaching Changes
Seeking head job? Apply here.
At least 18 football vacancies have been filled in the San Diego Section as 96 schools await the first week of action Aug. 28-29.
The 18th newcomer will be Darryel Neal of Salton City West Shores, which is back in the Citrus League, in which it was a member from 1998-2007 before moving to ...
- 1966: Deep Thinker Needed to Explain Shallow Playoff Pool
San Diego Section bosses, unlike their successors 40 years later, were determined to keep the playoffs short and sweet and the season’s length to their liking.
The administrators came up with a format that was surprisingly agreed to by St. Augustine and the 11 city schools and created an odd regular-season conclusion this year.
The final week’s ...
- 2015: Yetta, Ray Brokaw, Early Western League Standouts
Winston Yetta, who led Point Loma to a Southern California basketball championship in 1959-60, and Ray Brokaw, a member of Birt Slater’s first two teams at Kearny, have passed away.
Yetta, a three-sport performer—football, basketball, and baseball—was the catalyst in the Pointers’ surprising, five-game title run in the CIF Southern Section AA division.
Point guard in coach ...
- 2015: Hamamoto Lone Active 200-game Winner
Ten active coaches are among the 41 who have won at least 100 games in the San Diego Section as teams begin practice this week in advance of opening games Aug. 28.
Ron Hamamoto, 201-127-4 in 30 years at University, Rancho Bernardo, Lincoln, and Monte Vista, ranks eighth on the all-time list, 12 victories ahead of Rob Gilster, ...
- 2015: Eddie Logans, 70, One of “The Twins”
Eddie Logans, 70, from a family of athletes and achievers, died after a long illness on July 17.
Eddie and his twin brother, Elmer, preceded by footballer-wrestler-hurdler Tommy, were standouts at San Diego High..
Eddie ran the 440 in :49.6, the third fastest time in San Diego County, and Elmer was the County’s leading low hurdler and ...
- 1928: The Saints and Hilltoppers Have Eligibility Beef
The rivalry between San Diego High and St. Augustine, only a year old in football, had heated up.
At least six graduates of the high school continued to play on the prep level, for St. Augustine.
This was not uncommon throughout the CIF in the 1920s, but it was one explanation for the 30-year struggle the Saints ...
- 1928: Turbulent Season at San Diego High
The Roaring Twenties were coming to a disastrous conclusion.
A new school would rise in East San Diego honoring future president Herbert Hoover, who promised a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage, and San Diego High football was on a bumpy ride that began with John Perry’s departure as coach after the ...
- 1935: Redbirds and Rioting
A 27-0 loss to the Muir Technical Mustangs of Pasadena in the first round of the Southern California playoffs did not dim the luster of one of the greatest seasons in the history of Hoover High football.
John Perry, who guided the Cardinals’ program from its beginning in 1930, directed the Eastside club to its first victory over ...
- 1941: “I Want to Play Someone I Can Beat”
That refrain was heard early and often in the CIF Southern Section. It is heard today, a century later.
Coaches, players, administrators, fans, even the media, want to see their teams positioned to win or at least able to compete evenly.
That’s the way it was when the interscholastic federation was formed in 1913, as about 30 ...
- 2015: Hurdler Bob Fortin, Coach Morris Shepherd
Track standout Bob Fortin, 68, and Vista and Chula Vista head coach Morris Shepherd, 95, passed.
Fortin was one of top hurdlers in the San Diego Section and had a best time of :14.7 in the 120-yard high hurdles as a senior at Crawford in 1964.
“Snortin” Fortin, as he was affectionately known because of the guttural sounds Fortin made exerting ...
- 1937: Vexed Wex(ler) Pulls Plug
Escondido was penalized 15 yards before it participated in the kickoff or took a snap at the beginning of the second half of a Metropolitan League game at Grossmont.
Referee Charlie Smith, also the San Diego State baseball coach, penalized the Cougars for not being on the field and ready for kickoff after the 15-minute halftime.
Escondido ...
- 1965: Bennie Didn’t need Postseason Relief
Teams with losing records didn’t make the playoffs. Neither did some with winning records, or even the undefeated.
Only league champions were invited.
Four large school and two small school squads would make up the 1965 San Diego Section postseason.
Bennie Edens wasn’t playing “one game at a time.” He was looking a few weeks down the road ...
- 2015: Bill Van Leeuwen, Star on Aztecs’ Defense
Bill Van Leeuwen, a standout defensive lineman during some of the most successful years of the coach Don Coryell era at San Diego State, passed away June 10 in Wickenburg, Arizona.
Van Leeuwen, 66, was an undersized, cat-quick tackle in a 4-3 defensive alignment on the 1968 and ’69 Aztec teams that posted a combined record ...
- 2015: San Diegans Close With a Rush
Five bests in the state meet, nine in the season’s final two weeks and some competitive efforts in the finals at Clovis Buchanan High allowed area tracksters to finish on a strong note.
Weak in the flat races as compared to the rest of the state and with only one sprinter in the state’s Top 10, San Diego Section athletes still earned ...
- 2015: Gail Devers, Meet Dani Johnson
CLOVIS–Dani Johnson of Cathedral set two San Diego Section records and was part of another as area athletes qualified in 20 boys and girls events last night in trials of the 100th anniversary state track meet at Buchanan High.
Including double advancers Jordan Miller, Charles Lemford, and Suzie Acolatse, the section totaled 22 qualifiers for tonight’s finals.
Johnson, ...
- 2015: Morton, Gehring, Sam Edwards
Lance Morton, Rich Gehring, and Sam Edwards are among former San Diego prep athletes who recently passed away.
Morton, 81, a founder of the Brigantine Restaurant chain, was a second team all-City Prep League end on the 1951 Point Loma squad that finished with a 6-2 record, losing only to San Diego, 15-6, and La Jolla, 21-14, ...
- 2015: Marks, Weather Terrific in San Diego Section Track Finals
The stars shone in the afternoon yesterday as two meet records fell and seasonal bests were set or tied in 19 boys and girls events in the 55th San Diego Section track and field championships.
Perfect weather at the pristine Mt. Carmel facility made it a great day for the athletes and the aficionado.
It’s on to the state meet Friday ...
- 1934: The Brothers Nettles
Their story could have been inspiration for “The Grapes of Wrath,” because Bill Nettles and younger twin Wayne lived the life of John Steinbeck’s poor and displaced.
Teenagers, age 16, caught in the poverty of Oklahoma’s depression-era Dust Bowl, sought a way out.
With the spirit and optimism of youth, the youngsters decided to make their way West.
The twins ...
- 2015: San Diegans in State Track Top 10 (4)
If the state track meet were tomorrow, instead of in two weeks, San Diego Section girls would have a chance to win possibly three events. The boys, none.
In one of the most disappointing seasons in several years, San Diego girls are represented in seven of the 16 events in the state’s top 10 and the boys ...
- 2015: Morrison, Dobson Also Step Down
John Carroll’s retirement from Oceanside earlier this year has been followed by the departure of two other, successful, veteran San Diego Section coaches.
John Morrison, who took his 18 Francis Parker teams to 18 playoff berths, and Bill Dobson, whose 2011 team tied a Mountain Empire record for most wins in a season, also are leaving.
Other ...