San Diego Section track-and-field entries placed in eight of 32 events at the 98^th state track championships in Clovis Saturday.

—About 26 per cent of the entries, out of 96 total at the beginning of Friday’s trials, scored points amid the 102-degree heat of Buchanan High. And with no individual champion for the first time in 14 years.

It wasn’t a total loss.

Fourteen boys and nine girls produced season bests.

UC BATTLER IS REWARDED

University City’s Allen Siegler represented to me what the state meet is all about, competition and the opportunity to improve.

Siegler took a 1600 season best of 4:14.09 into the trials and qualified fourth at 4:12.22. He was eighth in the finals, but Siegler came to compete.

The wiry senior hung tough against a demanding pace and whacked another three seconds off his best to close at 4:09.29, eighth all-time in the San Diego Section.

SIX RACES IN TWO DAYS

Devin Alvarado of Rancho Buena Vista was outstanding in the Friday trials.

Alvarado ran the sixth fastest 110 hurdles in section history, :14.06, clean with no wind.

The Longhorns’ senior an hour later raced to :37.45 in the 300 intermediates, tied for 13^th all time, and contributed strongly  as the Longhorns qualified in a Section season best, 3:18.84 in the 4×400 relay.

Coming back in three events on Saturday took its toll.  Alvarado was fourth in the highs in :14.10, seventh in the intermediates at :38.26, and RBV was well out of it at 3:20.33 in the 4×400.

NIGHTHAWKS EMERGING

The rising and still developing Del Norte program of coach Chris Ruff scored its first points in a state meet since the school opened in 2008.  Michelle Altice was fifth in the discus at 146-3 and fourth in the shot at 45-1 ¼.

Mount Miguel’s Laulauga Tasauga-Collins rallied for second in the shot put at 45-1 ½ after fouling out in the discus, with no measured throw despite coming into the meet with the best sectional qualifying mark, 167-3.

CAP AND GOWN?

Cathedral senior Dani Johnson, whose career was so promising after she set section records of :13.86 in the 100 hurdles and :41.30 in the 300  in 2015,  qualified in both races Friday night.

Johnson, who overcame a bothersome early-season injury, ran :14.11 and :43.10 and then withdrew from the finals sometime after the trials.

There were reports that Johnson returned to Cathedral for graduation on Saturday.

SPIKE DUST
Ruff’s uncle, Bruce Ruff, was the San Diego Section 440 champion for El Cajon Valley, running :48.6 in 1967…The tiny San Francisco Section (17 schools, including several that don’t participate) produced its first winner since 1983…Pamela Amaechi of Lincoln won the discus at 164-1 and was third in the shot put at 45-1 1/2 …so many runners, beaten down by a fast pace at Clovis, lost contact with the leaders, fell back, and turned in performances far below their season  bests…Friday and Saturday results, including leaders and San Diego results:

 SATURDAY FINALS

BOYS

100—Brock, West Hills Chaminade, :10.43.

200—Norman, Vista Murrieta, :20.42.  8. Shaheed, Mt. Carmel, :21.87.

400—Norman, Vista Murrieta, :45.77.

800—Cortes, Temecula Great Oak, 1:50.75. 12. Chinn, Poway, 2:00.47.

1600—Cortes, Temecula Great Oak, 4:04.61.  8. Siegler, University City 4:09.29, Section No. 8 all-time.

3200—28. Boone, Mt. Carmel, 9:33.69.  29.Pope, Torrey Pines, 9:55.14.   30. B.  Prince, Sage Creek, 9:56.55.

110 HURDLES—Anderson, Upland, :13.59.  4.  Alvarado, Rancho Buena Vista, :14.10.

300 HURDLES—Burton, Westminster La Quinta, :36.44.  8. Alvarado, R.B.V., :38.42.

4×100 RELAY—Vista Murrieta, :40.32.

4×400 RELAY—Vista Murrieta, 3:14.97.  7. Rancho Buena Vista, 3:20.33.

HJ—Carbin, Piedmont Hills Mt. Pleasant, 7-0.

LJ—Holmes, Oakdale, 25-5.  3. Battikha, St. Augustine, 23-11.  5. DeRoos, Tri-City, 23-7 ¾.

TJ—Osling, Lancaster Antelope Valley, 48-9 ¼. 8. DeRoos, Tri City, 46-6 ½.  Battikha, S.A., 46-5 ¾.

SP—Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza, 69-10 ¾. 5. Lenford, Oceanside, 58-5.   9. Clark, Poway, 55-6 ¾.  10.  Miller, El Camino, 53-5.

PV—Gordon, Huntington Beach Marina, 16-8.  3T. Brown, La Costa Canyon, 15-8.  7. Hamson, Poway, 15-8.

DISCUS—Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza, 200-10.

GIRLS 

100—Rain Williams, Westlake Village Oaks Christian, :11.39.  8. Patterson, Rancho Bernardo, :11.85.

200—Barnes, Ventura St. Bonaventure, :23.23.  7. Patterson, R.B., :24.06.

400—Roberts, Carson, :52.28.

800—Brewer,  San Ramon California, 2:06.86.  12. Akins, R.B., 2:13.60.

1600—Gehrich, Las Flores Tesoro, 4:45.51.

3200—O’Keefe, Davis, 10:12.02.  20. Moran, Mt.Carmel, 11:02.83.  22. Loren, Canyon Crest, 11:06.86.  24. Barrett, Westview,  11:13.13.

100 HURDLES—Davis, Agoura, :13.38.  Johnson, Cath., scratched.

300 HURDLES—Woodward, Vacaville, :40.62.  7. Bell, Steele Canyon, :42.89. Johnson, Cathedral, scratched.

4×100 RELAY—Carson, :45.06.

4×400 RELAY–Carson, 3:42.80.

HJ—Palka, Westlake Village Oaks Christian, 5-9.  Snow, Carlsbad., no height.

LJ—Foster, Clovis North, 20-7 ½. 10. Stallman, Ramona, 18-2 ½.

TJ—Davis, Agoura, 42- 5 ½.  8. Nash, Calvin Christian, 38-2.

SP—Bruckner, San Jose Valley Christian, 49.5 ¾.  2. Tausaga-Collins, Mount Miguel, 45-1 ½. 4. Altice, Del Norte, 45-1 ¼.

PV—Baxter, Anaheim Canyon, 14-2.

DISCUS—Amaechi, S.F. Lincoln, 164-1.  5. Altice, Del Norte, 146-5.

FRIDAY TRIALS

BOYS

100—Brock, West Hills Chaminade, :10.54.  Others:  Morgan, Poway, :10.87; Goodwin, Christian, :10.89. Stokes, Del Norte, :10.94.

200—Diego-Willams, Gardena Serra, :21.13.  7. Shaheed, Mt. Carmel, 21.84.  Others, Goodwin, Christian, :22.04. Ellis, Bonita Vista, DQ, lane violation.

400—Norman, Vista Murrieta, :47.26.  Others: Shaheed, Mt. Carmel, :48.52.  Gunter, Del Norte, :48.92.  Ellis, Bonita Vista, :48.95.

800—Hall, Davis, 1:53.33.  4. Chinn, Poway, 1:53.46. Others: D. Prince, Chula Vista High Tech, 1:55.37.  Page, Eastlake, 1:58.8

1600—Janes, Riverside M.L. King, 4:10.86.  9. Siegler, University City, 4:12.22. Others:  Martinez de Pinollos, Cathedral. 4:16.97. Johnson, La Costa Canyon, 4:17.53.

110 HURDLES—Anderson, Upland, :13.78.  7. Alvarado, Rancho Buena, :14.06, Section No. 6 all-time. Others:  Thomsen, Calvin Christian, :14.61.  Kleppe, Rancho Bonita Vista, :15.0.

300 HURDLES—Burton, Westminster, La Quinta, :36.61.  5. Alvarado, RBV, :37.44, tie Section No. 13, all-time. Others:  Adams, Granite Hills, :39.36. Carter. Torrey Pines, :40.07.

4×100 RELAY—Vista Murrieta, :41.33. Others:  Mt. Carmel, :41.82.  Rancho Bernardo, :42.50. Del Norte, :42.61

4×400 RELAY—Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 3:16.76.  Rancho Buena Vista, 3:18.84. Others:  Mira Mesa, 3:21.61.  Mt. Carmel, 3:28.95.

HJ—Six tied at 6-8.  Others:  Nelson, Del Norte, 6-6.  Rokach, Rancho Bernardo, 6-4. Heid, St. Augustine, no height.

LJ—Holmes, Oakmont, 24-3.  8. DeRoos, Tri City, 23-0 ¾.  9. Battikha, St. Augustine, 23-0 ¼.

TJ—Thompson, Stockton Stagg, 48-5 ¾.  11.  Battikha, St. Augustine, 46-9 ¼. 12.  DeRoos, Tri city, 46-6  Other: Riggins, Olympian, 42-3.

SP—Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza, 69-3. 8.  Clark, Poway, 56-3.  9.  Lenford, Oceanside, 55-7.  12.  Miller, El Camino, 54-0 ¼.

DISCUS–Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza, 194-10.  Others: Clark, Poway, 169-5.  Miller, El Camino, 166-10.  Anderson, Ramona, 161-9.

PV—Ten, including Brown, La Costa Canyon, and Hamson, Poway, qualified at 15.2.  Other: Thomsen, Calvin Christian, 14-8.

GIRLS

100—Rain Williams, Westlake Village Oaks Christian,, :11.49.  6. Patterson, Rancho Bernardo, :11.75.  Others:  Fletcher, Scripps Ranch, :12.11. Stallman, Ramona, :12.14.

200—Rain Williams, Westlake Village Oaks Christian, :23.0  8. Patterson, R.B., :24.17.  Others:  Simpson, Morse, :25,01.  Fletcher, S.R., :25.09.

400—Roberts, Carson, :53.15.  Others:  Kaseberg, Torrey Pines, :57.97.  Ornelas, Olympian, :58.16. White, Valhalla, :59.01.

800—Brewer, San Ramon California, 2:08. 10.  Akins, Rancho Bernardo, 2:10.14. Others:  McCarthy, Carlsbad, 2:11.37.   Robinson, La Jolla, 2:12.25.

1600—Gehrich, Las Flores Tesoro, 4:50.14. Others: Brown, La Costa Canyon, 5:03.32; Donnelly, Torrey Pines, 5:04.93. Bernd, Canyon Crest, 5:18.09.

100 HURDLES—Davis, Agoura, : 13.50.  6. Johnson, Cathedral. :14.11. Others:  Nealis, Valley Center, :14.57.   Bell, Steele Canyon, :14.64.

300 HURDLES—March, Reedley, Immanuel, :42.34.  4. Bell, Steele Canyon, :42.51. 9.  Johnson, Cathedral,  :43.10.  Others, Nealis, V.C., :46.16.

4×100 RELAY—Carson, :45.16.  Others:  Torrey Pines, :48.42.  San Diego, :49.53.  La Costa Canyon, :49.61.

4×400 RELAY—Calabasas, 3:44.71.  Others:  La Jolla, 3:53.03.  Olympian, 3:55.52.  Torrey Pines, 3:59.22.

HJ—4 tied at 5-7.  5T, Snow, Carlsbad, 5-5. Others:  Hickey, Coronado, 5-3.  Dixon, Morse, no height.

LJ—Longmire, Rancho Verde, 20-7.  8.  Stallman, Ramona, 18-10. Others: Barnes, Olympian, 17-6. Campbell, Mt. Carmel, 17-0 ¾.

TJ—Davis, Agoura, 41-1.  11.  Nash, CalvinChristian, 38-2 ¼.  Others:  Barnes, Olympian, 37-2 ¾.  Joseph, San Diego, 36-8 ¾.

SP—Bruckner, San Jose Village Christian, 51-9.  4.  Altice, Del Norte, 43-10.  8. Tausaga-Collins, Mount Miguel, 42-0.  Other:  Tuilefano, El Camino, 40-3 ¼.

DISCUS—Bruckner, San Jose Valley Christian, 165-6.  4—Altice,  Del Norte, 146-8.  Others:  Wagenfeld, Calvin Christian, 132-4. Tausaga-Collins, M.M., no distance, 3 fouls.

POLE VAULT—2 tied at 12-6.  Others:  Wagenfeld, Calvin Christian, 11-6.  Becker, Canyon Crest, 11-6.  Myers, Poway, 11-6.

 

Do well in the section finals.  Get to the state meet.  Qualify in the Friday trials.  Rest up for the finals.  Finish in the top 5 Saturday.  Get a “PR”*. Score a point or more and earn a medal.  Maybe finish first.

That’s the season goal.

Ninety-six San Diego Section entrants, less a few because of those in more than one event, will converge with qualifiers of like aspirations from 9 other state sections Friday at Buchanan High in Clovis, where temperatures of at least 100 degrees are expected.

It’s the 102^nd anniversary of the state meet and the 98^th year.  The event was  suspended from 1942-45 due to World War II travel restrictions.

From 1913 through 1962 athletes got their business done in one day, usually with trials in the morning and finals in the afternoon or in the evening.

The state meet went to two days in 1963,  the first  being  held at Berkeley’s Edwards Stadium.

History won’t be on the minds of locals  but they all will represent the area’s hope of continuing a tradition of at least one individual champion.

The last year in which the San Diego Section did not have a gold medalist in boys’ or girls’ competition was 2002.  The 13 consecutive years of at least one entry finishing first is in jeopardy this year.

It has been a thin season locally.

The table below reveals San Diego Section athletes who rank  in the state’s Top 10 in each event and who qualified, as recorded by athletic.net.  Most Top 10 athletes,  from here, or in other sections, will be in Clovis.

EVENT	NAME	SCHOOL	MARK & RANK	STATE	NAME, SCHOOL
G Discus	Tausaga-Collins	Mount Miguel	167-3, 2nd	186-10	Bruckner, San Jose Village Christian
G Shot put	Tausaga-Collins	Mount Miguel	47-2 ¼, 3rd	54-7	Bruckner, San Jose Village Christian
B Long Jump	Batthika	St. Augustine	24-5, 3rd	25-11 ½	Holmes, Oakmont
	DeRoos	Tri-City Christian	23-11 ½, 9th
G 300 Hurdles	Bell	Steele Canyon	:41.99, 4th	:41.01	Woodward, Vacaville
B Pole Vault	Brown	La Costa Canyon	16-5, 4th	17-2	Gordon, Huntington Beach Marina
	Hamson	Poway	16-0, 6th
G 100	Patterson	Rancho Bernardo	:11.59w, 6th	:11.17w	Williams, Westklake Village Oaks Christian
B Shot Put	Lenford	Oceanside	63-3/4, 6th	71-7	Osborn, Anaheim Esperanza
B 400 Relay		Mt. Carmel	:41.65, 7th	:40.63	Vista Murrieta
G Triple jump	Nash	Calvin Christian	39-9, 7th	43-2	Davis, Agoura
G 100 Hurdles	Johnson	Cathedral	:14.02w, 8th	:13.45	Robinson, El Cerrito
	Nealis	Valley Center	:14.17, 10th
G High Jump	Snow	Carlsbad	5-6, T10th	5-8 ¼	Earle-Rouse, Arcata
	Hickey	Coronado

*–Personal record.

w–wind aided.

There undoubtedly other San Diego Section qualifiers not in the Top 10 who will improve and come home with medals.

There might be a winner in the group.

It’s what makes the state track championships one of the elite high school events in the country.

Roscoe Cook, Bobby Staten, Willie Jordan, and Charles (Sugar Jet) Davis comprised a swift foursome of San Diego High athletes who surprised the field and brought home a Southern California track championship.

The biggest surprise was by Cook, who entered the season as the most important and accomplished of the quartet.

Some background:

Cook was the 1956 CIF Southern Section Class B sprint titlist, having run away from the field the previous spring with best times of :09.7 in the 100-yard dash, and :21.0 in the 220.

It was expected that Cook and Staten would dominate the short races and low hurdles and that Davis, one of the city’s best quartermilers, and Jordan, a complementary sprinter, would round out a championship 880-yard relay team.

A downpour shortly after the first race canceled the Southern Counties’ Invitational at Huntington Beach High in the first week in March, delaying the usual official beginning of the season.

With no early reading on what to expect, the Cavemen then prepared for a intersectional dual meet in Balboa Stadium with powerful Compton Centennial.

UNBEATEN AT HOME

Cook had never lost a race in San Diego but he was beaten in a :09.9 100 by Centennial’s tall, long-striding Preston Griffin, a newcomer to the Southern California scene.

Griffin also took the national lead with a 24-foot, 6 ¾-inch broad jump. Cook was third despite breaking a 19-year-old school record with a leap of 23-10.  Griffin’s teammate, John Blaylock, was second at 23-11 in a remarkable competition.

The final and stunning indignity came in the 220 when Griffin, jogging the last 15 yards, eased to a :21.6  and Cook was a well-beaten third.  Griffin also withstood a charge by Staten as Centennial won the 880-yard relay in 1:28.8 and the meet, 60 1/2-43 1/2.

Seven weeks later, Griffin blazed a :09.5 100 in a semifinals, qualifying meet and appeared unbeatable.  On the same day Cook won a heat in a season-best: 09.8 in another divisional competition at Arroyo High in El Monte.

Cook quietly also served some notice as he took the measure of  Alhambra’s Rusty Weeks, who’d run :09.6 the week before.

SHORT AND QUICK

After the loss to Griffin, San Diego coach Birt Slater put Cook on a training regimen of repeated starts and short dashes.

Cook would spot other San Diego sprinters five yards and then try to “eat ‘em up” inside 50 yards.

Teammates who offered the competition for Cook came up with the description of the exercise.

“We believed that if Roscoe could lead Griffin after fifty yards he stood a good chance of winning,” said Slater.

Rising 10,064 feet to the East, Mt. Baldy provided the backdrop on a warm, hazy afternoon, when the top athletes arrived at Chaffey High in Ontario for the Southern Section championships on May 25.

Centennial was the prohibitive favorite for the team championship and Griffin was favored in three events, 100, 220, and broad jump, plus the relay.

Cook and Griffin were side by side in the starting blocks as they took their marks for the century race.  Kearny’s Ed Buchanan was next to Griffin.

‘EAT ‘EM UPS’ PAY OFF

Cook broke fast out of the blocks and led Griffin at 50 yards. The San Diego runner still was in front a yard from the finish line, but Griffin closed strongly.

Officials and time keepers huddled for several moments before Cook was declared the winner in :09.4, which broke the Southern California record by Griffin a week earlier and tied the national interscholastic mark set by Cleveland’s Jesse Owens in 1933.

Staten was second to Griffin in the 220 (Cook, who did not like the longer sprint,  was fourth).  The 6-foot, 2-inch Griffin rolled down the Chaffey straightaway in :20.3 to Staten’s :20.5 and bettered the national record, but the race had a wind reading of 4.83 miles per hour, over the allowable limit of 4.473.

On a day of records and outstanding performances, the 220 was the only race determined to be over the wind limit.

Staten also tied a national record of :18.5 in the 180-yard low hurdles, although San Bernardino’s Junior Howard edged Staten  in the same time.

CAVEMEN LEADING

San Diego was leading in team scoring with 15 points entering the final event, but Centennial, which had 14 points, was favored in the 880 relay and had set a record of 1:27.1 the week before.

Cook and Davis positioned the Cavers but Jordan lost ground on the third leg.  Centennial ran into trouble when it botched an exchange.

Staten was well off the pace after he got the baton from Jordan, but Staten’s :20.8 anchor 220 caught leaders Carl Skavarna of Chaffey and Charlie Miller of Long Beach Poly.  All three teams clocked 1:27.3, but Staten reached the finish line first.

“Another coach timed Bobby in the relay,” said Slater.  “By that time I couldn’t stand up.”

After an adjustment in the scoring for the 100, in which Cook and Griffin were declared tied for first following review of a film of the race, San Diego still was the team champion with 19 ½ points to Centennial’s 16 ½.

LET’S LOOK AT THE FILM

It was a stellar afternoon for area athletes.

–Mission Bay’s Jim Cerveny set a Southern Section record with a 1:53.3 victory in the 880 and would set the state record of 1:52.7 the following week in the state meet at Berkeley.

–Lincoln’s Luther Hayes edged Griffin in the broad  jump at 23-11.

–Kearny’s Ed Buchanan was third in the 100 at :09.7 and third in the 220 at :21.0. Cook was fourth in :21.1.

–Grossmont’s Jim Wade was third in the shot put at 61-5 ¾, and Kearny’s Bob Reynolds tied for third in the pole vault at 12-6.

Three days after the meet, CIF commissioner Ken Fagans announced that a review of finish line photos showed that Cook and Griffin had dead heated.

Howard’s victory over Staten was upheld, and the placings in some of the lower classes had been adjusted.  Sweetwater’s Jim Stewart was elevated to fourth from fifth in the B 220.

Although there had been some discussion of  wind during the day, only Griffin’s 220 was recorded as wind-aided, but Cook’s and Staten’s hopes of sharing a national record were dashed.

Dick Bank, a Los Angeles track authority, historian, and high school contributor to Track and Field News, the sport’s publication of record, challenged the operation of the wind gauge at Chaffey and refused to accept any of the  records, including the stunning :09.5 and :20.8 sprint times by Arcadia’s Tom Boswell in Class B.

Cook’s and Staten’s marks went into the record book as wind-aided.

SPIKE DUST

Roscoe Cook graduated from the University of Oregon after he tied the world record of :09.3 in the 100 in 1959 and the world indoor record of :06.1 in the 60-yard dash…Cook  earned a P.H.D. in education from the University of Massachusetts and taught and counseled in the Los Angeles school district for 30 years…Bobby Staten  was senior co-captain of the USC track team in 1961 and  a collegiate standout in the low hurdles and races from the 100 to 440…Staten completed a long career in the Los Angeles Probation Department…Charles Davis acquired the nickname “Sugar Jet,” which was  a popular breakfast cereal of that name…Davis was a 48-second quarter miler at San Diego State and went on  to a career as a corporate executive in Los Angeles…Berkeley became only the third Northern school since 1930 to win the state team title, scoring 22 points while San Diego and Centennial tied for second with 10 each…Griffin won the 100 in  :09.6…Doug Smith of Taft Union was second, Cook third, and Buchanan fourth, each in :09.7…Hayes won the broad jump at 23-8 1/2, Wade was third in the shot put at 60-7 3/4,  and Staten was third in the 220 in :21.4 behind Griffin’s :21.1…the morning-afternoon competition took its toll on the Cavemen…Staten pulled out of the 180-yard low hurdles trials, which were 5 minutes after the 220 heats…San Diego recovered to finish second in the relay in 1:27.2, Berkeley the winner in 1:27….

Competition and controversy were different words with different meanings, but they blurred in the far-flung Coast League, whose fratricidal members regularly accused their brethren of academic or residential mischief.

San Diego High was on the receiving end of a far-out allegation that threatened to stop one of the best teams in school history.

Senior Captain Russ Saunders, the 5-foot, 9-inch, 190-pound blocking quarterback and linebacking defender, faced a charge of accepting money three years before in a boxing match that would have made Saunders a professional and ineligible for interscholastic sports.

If the curiously-timed indictment proved accurate, the Hilltoppers would be forced to forfeit nine victories and the opportunity to compete in the Southern California playoffs.

Saunders eventually was absolved of wrong doing, but not before a dizzying chain of events that took on the aura of a  Saturday morning movie serial.

CIF CHASING RABBITS

The intramural dustup was typical of the Prohibition-era, anything-goes Roaring Twenties, a decade when the growing CIF and its commissioner, former Escondido coach Seth Van Patten, struggled to keep order.

The CIF’s rule on age limitation was only that you couldn’t play if you were 21 years old, but that meant that post-graduates and assorted roughnecks still populated the prep scene.

Coast League rivals didn’t trust each other.

Trouble began in the final regular-season game, when Bert Ritchey ran 62 yards for a touchdown that would propel the Hilltoppers to a 9-0 victory over the Santa Ana Saints in a battle of teams with 6-0 league records.

The victory, before a record City Stadium high school crowd of more than12,000, clinched a second straight loop championship for coach John Perry’s squad.

With a long ride home Saturday night and all day Sunday to chew on the loss, officials from the Northern school prepared to make a call on Monday morning and notify Coast League president and CIF playoff coordinator Harry J. Moore that they were protesting.

IT WAS OUR FANS, SAY SAINTS

The complaint did not originate with us, Saints officials told Moore, but had come from three Saints fans who were said to have previously resided in Coachella and who recognized Saunders as having participated in the desert community smoker on July 11, 1922.

The Santa Ana Three, apparently so vested emotionally with the Saints’ fortunes, supposedly had returned to Coachella, and was able to produce tickets that announced the main event as being between Saunders and Herbert Miller, plus a statement from Miller’s manager.

Manager D.H. Metzler testified his boxer received $40 and that Metzler and Miller “understood” Saunders, whose family resided in Coachella at that time, to have received $25, even though professional boxing was barred in California in 1922.

The muscular Saunders, who was no more than 15 or 16 at the time of the fight, told San Diego reporters that the townspeople of the Coachella Valley “built the boys a fight arena.”

Saunders said the  match was promoted to help pay back the people that built the arena, and that he had received no money and was not aware of the fact Miller had received money.

HILLTOPPERS’ RIDICULOUS DEADLINE

With stunning eagerness, Coast League bosses convened Tuesday at league headquarters in Whittier and, after hearing the charge, informed San Diego officials they would have until 4 p.m. Wednesday to respond.

Perry and vice principal Edgar Anderson, who attended the meeting at Whittier High, returned to San Diego about midnight. The Hilltoppers would have to launch their own investigation and be at another meeting in Whittier in 16 hours.

The playoffs would begin Saturday, with Fullerton a first-round opponent for San Diego or Santa Ana.

Facing the stunningly narrow time frame, Hilltop officials swung into action.

Principal Glenn Perkins and James Saunders, the player’s father, chartered a small plane, piloted by Henry Ryan of the Ryan Flying Company.

“The tale of the trip to Coachella is an epic,” declared a front-page story in The San Diego Union.

FIRST HEMET, THEN INDIO…

Buffeted by winds, Ryan struggled to get the plane’s altitude above 3,000 feet, over clouds and mountains.

“After flying almost two hours, working continuously to get around clouds, Ryan was forced to drop several thousand feet through a hole in the clouds to get his bearings (and make) a landing at Hemet,” the article continued.

After refueling, the party traveled on to Indio, stopping again for gas and directions.

Friends in Coachella, apprised of the situation Wednesday morning, were waiting and prepared to assist the San Diego contingent.

Perkins, armed with affidavits in support of Saunders from the former commandant of the sponsoring American Legion post in Coachella, gave Ryan the signal to take off for Whittier at 2 p.m.

Meanwhile at Whittier High, San Diego High officials on site, including Russ Saunders, watched the sky for the sight of an airplane.  They finally spotted one that passed over and headed Northwest.

The travelers set down again at 3:40 p.m. at the nearest landing field in Montebello, six miles from the meeting site, with only minutes to spare.

“Sloshing through the mud of an open field to a nearby highway, Perkins and James Saunders flagged down a passing motorist, and, with the aid of a five-dollar bill, purchased a mad cap ride to Whittier,” wrote Don King in Cavers Conquest, the athletic history of San Diego High.

Perkins presented Coast League principals with the information that proved the fight was a charity event, with neither fighter receiving money.  Saunders was cleared and San Diego continued to get ready for Fullerton.

Newspapermen were told by Harry Moore that the vote in the hectic meeting, attended and hotly contested by lawyers from both sides, was a unanimous, 8-0 to absolve Saunders.

Santa Ana honcho W.M. Clayton emphatically denied Moore’s  statement.  Clayton said he had voted against Saunders, making the tally 7-1, according to the Los Angeles Times.

RITCHEY NURSES INJURY

The Cavers defeated Fullerton, which hadn’t been scored on all season,14-6, but Bert Ritchey, who had scored 26 touchdowns in eight games (Perry had held Ritchey out of game 9, a 33-0 victory at South Pasadena) was used sparingly against the visitors.

Ritchey had been playing with a sore knee and it threatened to keep him out of what now was a playoff season of only two games.

Covina was next up in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the championship contest, but Perry figured the Hilltoppers would have a bye after Fullerton and not have to play for two weeks, until Dec. 19.

PLAYOFF SWITCH

Chicanery was not limited to the Coast League.

Instead of playing Covina in the Los Angeles Coliseum on Dec. 19, San Diego was informed that the title contest would be played on Dec. 12 at Covina, where temporary bleachers were being constructed to accommodate a crowd of more than 4,000.

Wrote a Los Angeles Times reporter: “In a more or less bad frame of mind over alleged poor treatment in the matter of transfer of the game from the Coliseum to Covina,  the San Diego High team was prepared to leave today for Covina.

“It wasn’t the change of venue that rankled the Hilltops so much, however, as it was the switch in date,” wrote the Times correspondent. “The tilt was originally scheduled for December 19 but through deep and dark channels was suddenly moved up to December 12, tomorrow, and the field switched to Covina.”

Playoff coordinator Harry Moore said that Covina was being afforded the home game because the Colts  already had played three playoff contests on the road.

Al Penrose, in The San Diego Sun, hinted of a setup and blasted  Moore for the suspicious switch. Covina was going to the expense of  creating bleachers for a 4,000 crowd and, Penrose wrote, “Neither team will make hardly more than expense money.”

With virtually no participation by Ritchey, the Hilltoppers manned up, twice stopping the Colts inside their three-yard line, but Covina had 18 first downs to 8 and the rushing thrusts of halfbacks Sleepy Don Rieke and Earl Needham continually kept the visitors on their heels.

Covina led, 13-0, in the fourth quarter before San Diego scored a late touchdown to make the final count 13-6. Covina, which twice was rebuffed at the Hilltoppers’ one-yard line, had outplayed the Cavemen.

It was a sour finish for Perry’s squad and the bitterness lingered.

COVINA’S CHIEF

Wallace (Chief) Newman, a native American and former USC player, was hired by Covina this year after coaching successful teams at the Sherman Institute for Indians in Riverside.

There were rumors that at least three over-age-limit native American players from the  Sherman Institute  resided at Newman’s home and played against the Hilltoppers.

Another  report was that Covina reportedly refused a  CIF order to forfeit the title and ship the winners’ trophy to San Diego.

With all of the drama, San Diego did well to go as far as it did.

GROSSMONT IN PLAYOFFS

Coach Ladimir (Jack) Mashin was building a strong program at Grossmont.

The Foothillers were 4-5 and 5-2-1 in Mashin’s first two seasons and swept to the County League title and a 7-0 record this year, earning a berth in the playoffs.

Fullerton dispatched Grossmont, 34-0, but the Foothillers didn’t conclude the season with a loss.  Mashin made a deal with the Yuma High Criminals of Arizona agreeing to come over the Laguna Mountains for a season-ender.

Grossmont won, 20-0.

PLAYOFF CRAZINESS

There seemed madness to the method of the playoffs, from which the CIF received much of its revenue and which the governing body often had difficulty filling out brackets.

Some schools just weren’t interested.

Fullerton’s loss to San Diego marked the Indians’ third consecutive week in the postseason.  The Indians played Grossmont on Nov. 19, nine days before San Diego was concluding its regular season versus Santa Ana.

Fullerton’s first game was a 13-6 win over Norwalk Excelsior, a week before it played Grossmont.

Covina’s  game with San Diego was the Colts’ fourth in the playoffs.  They also defeated San Fernando, 42-0, Santa Maria, 32-13, and Venice, 26-0.

HYPERBOLE

Los Angeles Manual Arts was described in The San Diego Union as “the greatest football aggregation developed at a Los Angeles high school in recent years.”

Final score, San Diego 46, Toilers 0.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Six telephones and nearly 100 pounds of pool room apparatus for horse race betting were part of the equipment seized in a raid at the 428 McNeece Building on F Street.

Detective Sergeants Dick Chadwick and George Sears and patrolman Pat Walsh “pulled” what they called the biggest bootlegging establishment found in San Diego.

Frank O’Hara, George Williams, and James Bradley were arrested. The cops said they heard “telephones being used busily and bets made and race track information being received.’”

NEW DIGS AT LA JOLLA

Work began on the grading of property at La Jolla High between Eads and Fay avenues, where the school’s football field would be located.  The present athletic field was scheduled to become tennis and volleyball courts.

NO POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

Sportswriters of the era routinely fostered racial stereotypes and use of slurs.

San Diego’s Bert Ritchey alternately was described as the “black phantom,” “black bullet,”, “dusky”, and even “the ball-packing gentleman of color.”

Covina coach Wallace (Chief) Newman, a native American, was known as a man “with all the craftiness and cunning which characterize his race.”

HONORS

End Rocky Kemp and quarterback Russ Saunders earned all-Southern California, first-team selections.  Bert Ritchey made the second team.

RUSS IS “TOMMY TROJAN”

Russ Saunders, Bert Ritchey, and Rocky Kemp went on the play at USC and Saunders’s defined and muscular physique served as the model for the famed Tommy Trojan statue on the USC campus.

“Racehorse Russ”  probably was the second San Diego-area player in the NFL (after Brick Muller of the 1926 L.A. Buccaneers, who were based in Chicago). Saunders was a fullback on the 1931 Green Bay Packers championship squad  but forsook football and gravitated to Hollywood.

Saunders was an assistant director and production manager on more than 150 films for Warner Brothers and Burbank Studios, often working with USC teammate John Wayne. Rocky Kemp embarked on a career in high school coaching in Long Beach and Ritchey joined the San Diego police department in 1935, retiring as a detective in 1964, and then earning his degree to practice law.

QUICK KICKS

San Diego, population 145,000, was 52^nd among U.S. cities but second fastest in growth to Los Angeles…San Diego was 93^rd in population in the 1920 census…Glendale, which won the 1924 Southern California championship, was rudely welcomed to the ’25 season in a 42-0 loss at San Diego…Santa Ana made it a two-day trip to San Diego, overnighting Friday at the Stratford Hotel in Del Mar…Gerald (Tex) Oliver coached the San Diego B team to a 13-0 win over Huntington Park for the Southern California championship…Oliver would move on to Santa Ana in 1927, become head coach at the University of Arizona in 1933 and at Oregon in 1938…coach John Perry ordered canvas vests for Cavers runners, saying that Manual Arts players “grasped” the sweaters of Hilltop ball carriers, short circuiting 12 plays…the vests were to be tight-fitting…San Diego stayed in Fullerton the night before the game at Covina…San Diego was penalized 6 times for 100 yards, most being 15-yard holding fines, in a 7-0 win at Pasadena…Henry Ryan’s “Ryan Flying Company” became better known as Ryan Aeronautical, with offices near the Lindbergh Field airport on Harbor Drive…expected to sit on the Santa Ana bench during the game with San Diego was Stanford coach Glenn (Pop) Warner…Saints coach Charlie Winterburn played for Warner at Stanford…San Diego High students provided automobile transportation for more than 50 World War I disabled veterans from the Camp Kearny and San Diego American Legion posts…John Perry had players turn in their equipment following the loss to Covina and announced that the Hilltoppers were declining an invitation to play Phoenix Union in a postseason game….

It’s been a slow year in San Diego Section track and field, although business  picked up a little in the last couple invitationals, Arcadia and Mt. St. Antonio.

Two more weeks of dual meets, plus the annual Escondido Invitational, will take girls and boys competitors into league trials, the first step toward the state meet at Buchanan High in Clovis, June 3-4.

Cathedral’s Dani Johnson, the Section record holder at :13.88 in the 100 hurdles and  :41.34 in the 300 barriers, has missed almost all of the season with injuries.

It would take a remarkable comeback at this point in the season for Johnson to return to form.  She also also ran a leg for the Dons’ 4×400 relay team that set a Section record of 3:47.63 last year.

San Diego Section marks in the state top 10 in parenthesis and state leaders:

BOYS

EVENT	MARK	NAME	SCHOOL	MARK	NAME	SCHOOL
200	:21.7 (10)	Agbede	Cathedral	:20.41	Norman	Vista Murrieta
400	:48.47 (10)	Shaheed	Mt. Carmel	:45.51	Norman	Vista Murrieta
110HH	:14.47 (10)	Alvarado	Rancho Buena Vista	:13.81	Burton	LaQuinta
PV	16-4 (3)	Brown	La Costa Canyon	16-8	Bowler	Loomis Del Oro
LJ	23-10 ¾ (5)	Battikha	St. Augustine	24-9 ½	White	Bakersfield Ridgeview
	23-7 ¼ (7)	DeRoos	Tri-City Christian
TJ	47-0 ¼ (8)	DeRoos		49-3 1/4	Hicks	Bakersfield Liberty
SP	63-0 ¾ (4)	Lenford	Oceanside	71-7 ¼	Osborn	Anaheim Esperanza
	57-2 (10)	Miller	El Camino
DISCUS	194-0 (4)	Lenford		204-4	Osborn

GIRLS

800	2:11.29 (10)	McCarthy	Carlsbad	2:09.35	Durgy	Huntington Beach
1600	4:55.66 (4)	Brown	La Costa Canyon	4:51.26	Bowen	Sonoma Academy
100H	:14.46 (8)	Nealis	Valley Center	:13.64	Davis	Agoura
300H	:44.07 (10)	Bell	Steele Canyon	:41.01	Woodward	Vacaville
4×400	3:54.12 (10)		LaCosta Canyon	3:49.80		Westlake Village Oaks Christian
HJ	5-6 (4T)	Snow	Carlsbad	5-8	Burke	Riverside Poly
		Hickey	Coronado
		Smith	Mission Hills
LJ	19-0 ½ (10)	Smith		20-6 ¾	Davis	Agoura
SP	47-0 (3)	Altice	Del Norte	53-5	Bruckner	San Jose Valley Christian
	45-9 ½ (5)	Tausaga-Collins	Mount Miguel
DISCUS	160-4 (3)	Tausaga-Collins		181-1	Bruckner

 

 

 

“Power, deception, speed, coordination, all wrapped in 11 (blue and) white packages from the Border City.”

Such was the observation of a Los Angeles Times reporter who witnessed San Diego High’s 27-0 victory over host Santa Barbara along with 5,000 others at Peabody Stadium in the Southern California playoff semifinals.

“Either Santa Barbara had a bad case of stage fright or the club was astounded by the size of the Coast League champions, who must have averaged nearly 190 pounds per man,” wrote Irving Eckhoff.

The Hilltoppers shocked the Golden Tornado with an opening touchdown drive of five consecutive first downs and 72 yards in 11 plays. They finished with a 298-122 advantage in total yards, rushed for 251, and had 14 first downs to 3.  Santa Barbara had made six consecutive appearances in the playoffs.

Coach Hobbs Adams’s Hilltoppers, favored to win their first title since 1916, charged into the championship game against Inglewood, a team Adams purposely scheduled to compare his team against a potential playoff opponent, and defeated, 21-0,  in the season opener…

…and lost!

The  Sentinels, defending champions, who started the season 0-2-1 and didn’t score until the third game, came into the contest with a 7-2-1 record and made it two straight championships with a 7-6 victory before a crowd estimated at 10,000 in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

As had happened before (Covina, 1925) and would happen again (Santa Monica, 1947; Long Beach St.  Anthony, 1948; Fullerton, 1950;  Anaheim, 1953; Santa Monica, 1954; Downey, 1957, and Long Beach Poly, 1958) a powerful San Diego team, this one 10-0-1 and on a roll, would fall short.

The Hilltoppers’ powerful ground game, led by Ollie Day, Ambrose Schindler, Halden Grey, Kenny Brown, and Coye Dunn, never took hold even after they managed a 6-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes.

San Diego’s R.C. Moore recovered a fumble on Inglewood’s five-yard line on the game’s second play.  The Cavers missed their opportunity, stopped on fourth down.

DREADED MISSED P.A.T.

Following the exchange, Bill Troxel committed Inglewood’s second consecutive fumble and the Hillers’ Jim Riveroll recovered on the three-yard line.  Halden Grey nudged into the end zone on the second play for a touchdown.

Day, who had made 8 consecutive points after touchdown, sailed a kick high and wide to the left.

San Diego had an untidy advantage.

Troxel returned a punt 50 yards in the second quarter but San Diego was able keep the Sentinels at a distance for the remainder of the half.  The Cavemen went to the dressing room with a tenuous, 6-0 lead.

Trouble arrived with the second half kickoff. Two disastrous penalties by the Hilltoppers helped position Inglewood in San Diego territory.

Schindler’s 32-yard kickoff return was nullified by a clipping penalty that set the Hilltoppers back to their 25.  Another penalty for not coming to a complete set after a shift was for five yards.  On fourth down Schindler’s punt went off the side of his foot and out of bounds on San Diego’s 41.

Inglewood labored 14 plays for the tying touchdown by Norm Padgett, and then Troxel scored the winning point after when he caught a lateral from quarterback Padgett and jogged in from the flank.

Inglewood had the edge in yardage and a 9-3 advantage in first downs.  The Cavers, after averaging five yards for 54 rushing attempts the week before at Santa Barbara, were shut down.

Day, Schindler’s alternate at quarterback in the Cavers’ single wing formation,  had 130 yards in 30 rushing attempts in the semifinals but was held in check by the smaller, quicker Inglewood forwards.

TAKE THE METRO

There were 15 high schools in San Diego County.  San Diego was in the elite Coast League of big Southern California schools. Hoover was stepping out as an independent after three seasons in the City League.

What to do with the other 13?

The Metropolitan League was formed, with eight teams playing their first games in the circuit of city and suburban schools on Oct. 6, 1933.

As Charles Savage of The San Diego Union wrote:  “The Metropolitan High School League, which was born with the New Deal last spring, will come before the gaze of the public this afternoon….”

The U.S. was reeling from the Great Depression.  President Franklin Roosevelt, with approval from Congress in early 1933, instituted a series of economic programs known as the “New Deal.”

Byrne saw birth of the Metropolitan League as offering a “new deal” in San Diego County.

Affected were schools from the Southern Prep League and the disbanded City League.

La Jolla, Point Loma, Grossmont, Sweetwater, Army and Navy Academy, Oceanside, Coronado, and Escondido were members of the new alignment.

Officials from the Southern League’s Fallbrook, Mountain Empire, Julian, and Ramona met at the San Diego YMCA and scheduled competition in basketball, track and field, tennis, and baseball.

Mountain Empire, almost two hours away from San Diego in remote Campo, was the only Southern school fielding a football team.  The Redskins adhered to a limited schedule against Imperial Valley teams or local junior varsity clubs.  Fallbrook would send out its first varsity squad in 1936, Ramona in 1938, and Julian in 1967.

HERE COME  HARES

Although Santa Ana and San Diego played for the 24^th time since 1905 in one of the Southland’s oldest rivalries, the big game almost always was Long Beach Poly.  The road to a championship went through the Jackrabbits, this season coping with the recovery of their campus, virtually destroyed by a massive earthquake that struck months before.

Orian Landreth’s team came South with a 5-0 record, better than San Diego’s 4-0-1, but the Hilltoppers prevailed 19-12 in a game of big plays in front of 8,000 at City stadium.

Schindler connected with Kenny Brown on a 52-yard touchdown pass play and ducked through his left tackle on a 48-yard spinner play to clinch the victory in the fourth quarter.

Grant Stone gave the Cavers a 13-0 lead at halftime when he scooped up a punt blocked by Coye Dunn and raced 48 yards.  It was Stone’s third touchdown with a recovered blocked punt.  Kenny Woodruff put Poly on the scoreboard with an 80-yard punt return.

CIF FACES POVERTY HEAD ON

California Interscholastic Federation, governing body of high school athletics in Southern California, was forced to charge dues to all its members.  The CIF had a minus treasury for the first time when the 1933-34 school year began.

The CIF Southern Section had been self supporting since it  began operation  in 1914, drawing revenue through a percentage of proceeds of championships played in all sports. Promotion of the 1933 Southern California and state track meets and effects of the Great Depression necessitated the move, according to commissioner Seth Van Patten.

The assessment schedule was based on student enrollment:

 100 or less, $2.50.

100 to 500, $5.

500 to 1,000, $10.

1,000 to 2,000, $15.

2,000 or more, $20.

A revenue stream of $1,250 was calculated.  That would make up the deficit and provide operating expenses until the championship football games, said Van Patten.

WHAT’S YOUR NAME AGAIN?

A bonus for the CIF was an additional $25 playoffs revenue from San Diego High, which forfeited its 1933 baseball season following the second game of the playoffs when it was discovered that two Hilltoppers had played in a meaningless game in the Imperial Valley the previous summer.

Chet and Henry (Swede) Smith admitted they used aliases when they appeared in the contest.  The Cavers, heavily favored to beat Santa Maria in the Southern California finals, had their 19-3 record erased and were bounced from the playoff finals.

CARDINALS COME OF AGE

Hoover stepped up in class in its fourth varsity season, opting to go independent and playing San Diego for the first time.

Chester Webber of the Elks Club provided a trophy and 12,000 turned out in City Stadium.

Coach John Perry’s Redbirds marched 64 yards to the 20-yard line, stopped by the halftime gun.  It was Hoover’s only threat as San Diego won 33-0.

FOOTBALL IS KING

San Diego High, enrollment almost 2,900 in three grades, was one of the largest schools in the state and Hobbs Adams did not want for football candidates.  More than 100 turned out in September.

Adams scheduled Sweetwater and Calexico on the same day in the season’s first week.  His plan was for the Cavers’ varsity and fourth units to play one of the opponents and his second and third units to play the other.

The varsity played Sweetwater and the newly-formed sophomore squad played Calexico. Escondido originally was to be San Diego’s opening opponent, but Cougars coach Harry Wexler pulled his squad and took on Hemet at home.

GONE FISHIN’

A popular summer occupation for decades for San Diego area athletes was work in the local tuna fleet. Cavers letterman halfback Bob Chase didn’t return from an extended trip until the third game of the season.  Meals aboard ship agreed with Chase, who came back 15 pounds heavier at 167.

Chase was one of nine lettermen returning from the 1932 team that was 7-2. Only two regulars were guard Jim Riveroll and end Alex (Pudge) Gentles.

CIF, GET LOST!

The CIF informed John Perry the Cardinals would qualify for the playoffs by winning five of their eight games.  Hoover still was invited with a 3-2-3 record but declined because the CIF wanted the Cardinals in the minor division.

Hoover’s opponent would have been Grossmont, which also was not interested.  Hoover wanted to go big school.  Grossmont, 9-0 and the first Metropolitan League champion, perhaps did not want to risk a loss and put a blight on its undefeated season.

4 ALL-SOUTHERN  TEAMS 

Ambrose Schindler was on the all-Southern California first team, guard Jim Riveroll on the second team, end Alex (Pudge) Gentles on the third team, and center Bill Simons on the fourth team.

Tackle Dave Devarona of Point Loma also was on the fourth team, along with halfback John Scott of Coronado.

Ollie Day, the County’s leading scorer with 90 points who alternated with Schindler, made a terrific, late-season run (8 touchdowns in 3 games) but after votes were cast.

Player of the year was Los Angeles Jefferson end Woody Strode, who went on to act in 70 motion pictures and was one of the first African-American players to sign with the NFL Los Angeles Rams in 1946.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

San Diego police chief Harry Raymond was summarily canned by City Manager Fred Lockwood.  Donning his “fighting clothes”, Lockwood charged that  “Raymond’s not the man for the job.  He has shown no executive ability.”

The Chief got the word when he returned from lunch to find a successor in his office.

AZTECS GET GYMNASIUM

Completion was nearing for a 50,000 square-foot, $200,000 edifice that would host athletic offices and serve as the San Diego State Aztecs’ basketball gym. For years the building housed the 1,800-seat home court for the Aztecs.

BURGLARS LIKE FOXES

For the third time in three years a Fox Theater venue in San Diego was robbed.  Bad guys struck at Seventh Avenue and B Street. The Fox North Park at 29^th and University, and the Fox Balboa at 4^th and E also had been hit.

BARBERS TRIMMED

San Diego city council was asked to get involved in a dustup over the cost of a haircut.  An arbitrary price of 65 cents scheduled under the barbers’ section of the California Recovery Act spurred outrage.

The barbers finally agreed to 50 cents for haircuts, .25 for shaves, .40 for women’s neck trims, and .35 for children’s cuts.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

This never caught on in San Diego:  Players for Jefferson High in San Antonio did not have jersey numerals but letters.  When all linemen were in the game the letters spelled Mustang, the team nickname.

TEACHER AND PUPIL 

John Perry’s Hoover Cardinals battled to a 6-6 tie with Long Beach Wilson, led by first-year  head coach Rockwell (Rocky) Kemp, former USC athlete who played for Perry at San Diego High from 1922-24.

ARMY-NAVY SPANS THE GLOBE

The boarding school in Pacific Beach put an 0-8 team on the field and they came from faraway locales, such as Ketchikan, Alaska; Tijuana, Mexico, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Monograms were awarded to 15 players and the team manager at the semi-annual lettermen’s dance.  Not explained but endorsed by Cadet brass was the accepted invitation of Grossmont’s championship team, coach, and principal, who were honored guests.

MAGIC STEEL CARPET

Railroad travel has been described as the “civilized way” of getting to a destination and was a mode San Diego High used.

The Cavers boarded a northbound train at Santa Fe Depot at 2:15 p.m., switched to Southern Pacific in Los Angeles, and arrived in Santa Barbara around 9 p.m.  They also rode the Santa Fe to Los Angeles the day before the CIF finals.

TRUE GRID

Phoenix Union came here a day before its game with San Diego and stayed at the upscale U.S. Grant Hotel… San Diego overnighted in Whittier before pushing on to Alhambra for a Saturday afternoon game… Francis Leary, letterman guard in 1930, re-enrolled at Hoover after dropping out of school for a year… Hoover used a huddle instead of calling plays at the line of scrimmage during a game with San Diego State Frosh… three ex-Cardinals knew Hoover’s signals… Oceanside drove 99 yards in the last two minutes to beat Point Loma on a eight-yard pass with 10 seconds remaining, 13-12…the Pirates then  came out in blue jerseys and “flaming” red pants when they met Sweetwater… the Pirates’ colors may have changed; they are green, white, and black today… Hoover was stopped three times inside Yuma’s five-yard line in an 0-0 tie, highlighted by the first game under lights in Yuma history, courtesy of the local Merchants’ Association…an Escondido player hid near the sideline, then caught a pass and scored in a 6-6 game with Coronado…Covina lost track of downs and did not punt from its seven-yard line…St. Augustine used the blunder to score in a 6-6 tie…Long Beach Poly and Santa Barbara accused the Cavers of fibbing, claiming they were much bigger than listed weights…Hobbs Adams, shrugging off the accusations as “psychology”, said he weighed all his players and they averaged out at 167, a healthy size for that era…The San Diego Union invited all area coaches and spouses to view “College Coach,” a movie in which the entire USC squad appeared…Pat O’Brien played a ruthless coach, Dick Powell and Ann Dvorak co-starring… the film was viewed at the Plaza Theater, a block from Union offices…Hal Higgins, years later co-owner of Higgins and Crosthwaite’s successful sporting goods emporium at 10^th  Avenue and B Street, was a standout for La Jolla….