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The most important letter in the alphabet was V. World War II was nearing the halfway point.  The dark days of early 1942 had receded and Victory, while not yet in sight, was coming. V had become a symbol, visible everywhere throughout the country. There were hundreds of references, from military training programs (V-12), to graphics on ...

“Elevator! Elevator! We got the shaft!” The age-old shout from unhappy cheering sections, usually directed at game referees, was leveled by head coach Dick Haines and Vista partisans at nine coaches charged with seeding and selecting teams for the San Diego Section playoffs. The mentors, reportedly by an 8-1 vote, nominated San Dieguito as the twelfth and ...

You could call it the “Battle of Banner Grade.” Or, as the father of the Julian coach says, “It’s kind of a Cal-Stanford Big Game.” Coach Tim White, the son of University of California alum and legendary San Diego Chargers lineman Ed White,  guided his Julian Eagles to two touchdowns in the final four minutes and then saw his ...

The chapter on football would be very brief in the history of the Army and Navy Academy and its history goes back to 1910. They turn out soldiers and sailors at the boarding school on Highway 101 in Carlsbad. So old and new Warriors have snapped to attention.  Coach Frank Henry’s Cadets improved their season record to ...

Oceanside held sway for the fifth consecutive week in the renamed U-T San Diego poll of sportswriters and sportscasters. The San Diego newspaper recently acquired the North County Times, which created the poll. John Carroll’s Oceanside Pirates routed Vista 44-0 in a game that was played in less than two hours because of a running clock  ...

Duane Maley felt like the guy who discovered that his wallet had been lifted after being jostled in a crowded theater. Maley  ended up on the wrong side of the coin minutes after conclusion of a tight, competitive City Prep League season.  Maley’s San Diego Cavemen and Walt Harvey’s La Jolla Vikings, each with a 5-1 ...

Army-Navy, Grossmont, Olympian, and Otay Ranch continue to win, each improving to a 6-0 won-loss record.  Calexico, Patrick Henry, Hoover, and West Hills all were beaten after winning their first five games. Army-Navy scored a 1-0, forfeit win over Calvin Christian.  Grossmont defeated Granite Hills, 48-6.  Olympian beat El Capitan, 41-6, and Otay Ranch topped Bonita ...

It has been said for years  that San Diego produces many  of the best of the best players, but falls short when matching up with teams from North of the County line. That holds true in 2012. Not counting Imperial County members, San Diego Section squads were 29-25-2  in pre-league intersectional games this season, but many ...

This could become a habit.  Vista won another 2-0 game. The Panthers defeated Torrey Pines, with a safety the only score in the game last week. It was the second safety-only game in the 758  Vista has played since the school opened in 1937.  Not a trend, but the Panthers are working on it. Vista last won 2-0 when it defeated ...

There were no sonic booms and reveille still sounded at the usual time on the nearby Camp Pendleton military reservation after Roy Scaffidi announced he was moving senior quarterback Junior Seau to wide receiver. That Seau also played a fine game at linebacker also did not register with a service rating the top players in the ...

At least five games have been canceled against San Diego Section teams this season and are being considered forfeited, not because of the usual Dreaded Administrative Glitch reasons of player academic ineligibility or residential  transfer no-no’s. Temecula Rancho Christian suspended its season and fired the head coach after a 43-6 loss to Whittier La Serna in ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

War clouds across the Atlantic and a frightening moment on the high seas are 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, ...

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, ...

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 ...

Rick Smith recently wrote a guest article for the Metro Conference website. “The Metro Conference governs the high schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District plus Mater Dei Catholic High School compete in 18 men’s, women’s and coed sports in the CIF San Diego Section in the cities of National City, Chula Vista, San Ysidro, ...

“Best game I’ve seen in ten years,” said veteran North County Times writer John Maffei. Maffei was citing an unlikely but memorable matchup between Valley Center, a Division IV contender in the CIF San Diego Section, and Los Alamitos, a large, legendary figure and longtime seat of power in the Southern Section. Los Al, sitting in northwest ...

In the era following the World War II, the typical Big Man On Campus fit a profile: Tall. Good looking. Athletic. Star in sports. Quarterback on the football team. Acted in senior play. Prom king. San Diego High’s Gerald (Jerry) Dahms checked all boxes in this postwar, San Diego football era.  And the era was about high ...