Lewis Edward Sanclemente, 92, passed away recently, leaving behind a multitude of friends and admirers and memories of a lifetime spent in or around baseball.
Ed Sanclemente grew up near the University Heights playground, where he shagged baseballs for young slugger Ted Williams and honed a game that would take Sanclemente to national championships on two levels.
Sanclemente played for coach Mike Morrow at San Diego High and was the starting third baseman on Morrow’s 1941 Post 6 American Legion squad that swept Berwyn, Illinois, in a three-game series at Lane Field in San Diego.
After playing third base and shortstop at the University of California in 1943-44, Sanclemente served in the U.S. Navy and then returned to Cal and was the Bears’ third baseman on the 1947 team that won the first College World Series.
Sanclemente was star infielder for University of California teams in 1940s.
Sanclemente batted .369 during the 1947 regular season and was 4 for 10 with 4 runs batted in as California swept Yale in a two-game series for the national championship.
Sanclemente played two seasons of professional baseball. He taught and served in administrative capacities at South San Francisco High and for the San Francisco Olympic Club before returning to San Diego and coaching baseball at La Jolla High in 1956.
Mike Morrow appointed Sanclemente to the coaching staff at San Diego Junior College in 1957. Sanclemente succeeded Morrow as head coach in 1958, when Morrow started the University of San Diego program.
Ed’s success on the two-year college level included conference championships at San Diego J.C., later known as San Diego City, and at Mesa College, where Sanclemente was the Olympians’ first coach when the school opened in 1964.
Dozens of Sanclemente’s players signed professional contracts, some reached the major leagues, and many became coaches and athletic administrators.
Groups of 10-15 former players honored Sanclemente every Thursday for years. They were his hosts for breakfast at D.Z. Akins restaurant on Alvarado Road.
SWUNG A MEAN RACQUET
Ed Sanclemente made a name for himself on the tennis courts at University Heights and throughout the city before he turned his attention to baseball.
Newspaper accounts from as far back as 1933 reported that “72-pound Edward San Clemente won the first of a series of tennis tournaments for children of grammar school age.”
According to tournament coordinator Wilbur Folsom, Sanclemente’s 6-4, 10-12, 6-4 victory over Dick Brink in the finals of the event at University Heights was after a “three-hour struggle that saw several rallies for crucial points last as long as five minutes.”
Sanclemente won numerous tournaments in the area and became one of the city’s top junior players.
Sanclemente (upper right) was head coach at La Jolla in 1956.
2015-16 Week 8: Another Tough Assignment for Leaf & Co.
Foothills Christian’s national cred will be tested this week when the Knights take on Santa Ana Mater Dei in a Nike event Saturday night.
Foothills (16-3) is fourth in the latest Cal-Hi Sports rankings, 16th in USA Today, and No. 1 in San Diego.
Mater Dei (21-3) is fifth in Cal-Hi Sports and out of USA Today‘s Top 25, but the Monarchs are logical favorites in this last big game for Foothills before the upcoming run to the state playoffs.
The game will be played on Mater Dei’s home court, where the Monarchs have lost three games in 10 years, according to Cal-Hi boss Mark Tennis.
Foothills must bring its game and the 6-11 Leaf will have win his individual battle with 6-9 M.J. Cage, the Oregon-bound Mater Dei power forward and son of former San Diego State Hall of Famer Michael Cage.
The San Diego Section’s Big 4, Foothills, Cathedral, St. Augustine, and Torrey Pines, all eased by last week. Most significant achievement probably was Cathedral’s 75-59 win over visiting Wilmington Narbonne in the San Diego-Los Angeles Shootout.
Narbonne is ranked 20th in the Los Angeles Times Southern Section-L.A. City poll.
GIRLS
Mission Hills (16-3) advanced from ninth to eighth in the Cal-Hi Sports poll, La Jolla Country Day (16-4) from 10th to ninth, and Bishop’s (19-4) remained 14th. Torrey Pines (13-5) is on the bubble, joining boys bubbles Cathedral, St. Augustine, and Torrey Pines.
Records through Monday, Feb. 1.
Rank
Team
Record
Points
Last Week
1
Foothills Christian (11)
16-3
110
1
2
Cathedral
14-4
96
2
3
St. Augustine
17-4
83
4
4
Torrey Pines
17-4*
81
3
5
El Camino
17-5
55
5
6
Army-Navy
16-7
53
6
7
Kearny
22-2
49
7
8
Poway
20-3
33
9
9
Grossmont
18-3
19
10
10
La Jolla Country Day
20-3
16
8
*Forfeited 57-37 victory Dec. 5 over Horizon.
Points awarded on basis of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Others receiving votes, including record: West Hills (15-6, 4) Mission Bay (15-6, 3), San Marcos (14-6, 3).
Eleven media representatives vote, including John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), Terry Monahan, Jim Lindgren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Bill Dickens, Adam Paul, EastCountySports.com; Rick Willis, KUSI-TV; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com; Lisa Lane, San Diego Preps Insider; Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoops.com.
1962: Someone Forgot To Tell The Zebras
Try playing a game without officials.
Hilltop and Escondido tried, with disastrous results for the visiting Cougars, who were upset, 18-13, by the homecoming-enthused Lancers in the season’s final regular season game.
Twenty minutes before kickoff Hilltop coach Bob Tomlinson noticed that the game referee and his crew, usually already on site, had not checked in.
Tomlinson waited a few minutes and then notified Bob (Chick) Embrey, the coach of Escondido, which was the visiting team for the Metropolitan League contest at Chula Vista High.
The 8 p.m. kickoff time came and went.
Hoover cheerleader Denise Kouns had to “restrain” Cardinals’ Bobby Smith (left) and St. Augustine’s Don Carlos Stafford before Eastern League title-deciding game. Hoover won, 7-0.
VOLUNTEERS, ANYONE?
School officials from Hilltop began hurriedly searching the stands for anyone with flag-throwing experience.
Two “neutrals” in the pro-Hilltop crowd agreed to help. An assistant coach from each team also was pressed into service.
Kickoff started about 30 minutes late.
And controversy quickly followed.
Hilltop scored when no one was looking.
There also was no one in capacity to fairly judge the play involved and make a decision.
By halftime word somehow had reached Bob Kirchhoff (this long before cell phones), president of the San Diego County Football Officials’ Association. Kirchhoff left a game at nearby Sweetwater and headed for Hilltop.
But the damage had been done.
Following a Cougars touchdown in the first quarter and the Lancers’ return of the ensuing kickoff, Hilltop had first down on its 27-yard line.
Tomlinson’s team did not huddle but quickly lined up.
Quarterback Joe Stetser passed to end Don Parish, who, according to The San Diego Union reporter Larry Littlefield, was “hiding on the sideline.”
Parish caught Stetser’s pass and raced untouched to the end zone to complete a 73-yard play.
Lincoln’s Nate Shaw was player of the year on the all-Eastern League team,
SLEEPER MUST BE IN PLACE
As Kirchhoff explained after he arrived: “On such a play the end, or sleeper, must be within 15 yards of the ball.”
Kirchhoff meant in bounds and 15 yards from where the ball would be snapped at the line of scrimmage.
Whether Parrish was within the required distance escaped everyone’s attention, including the “officials” and the stunned and furious Escondido coach.
Embrey (right) was much happier camper when he received congratulatory handshake from Sweetwater coach Nick Uglesich after game that ensured league title.
“It was an illegal play,” Embrey stormed.
Nothing like the Oakland Raiders’ “Holy Roller” against the San Diego Chargers years later, but….
Embrey argued that because Hilltop no-huddled, the ersatz “head linesman” in charge of downs and markers hadn’t gotten into position before Stetser played hide and seek with Parish.
A veteran referee would have stood over the ball and whistled for play to begin when he was satisfied that the teams were lined up and officials were in place.
“I don’t know if we’ll protest or not,” said Embrey. “But we probably should just for the sake of our players. They were robbed.”
Acknowledging that “we played a bad game, there’s no question of that”, Embrey still got in another zinger.
“We could play Hilltop a hundred times and beat them ninety-nine,” he said.
DREADED ADMINISTRATIVE GLITCH
The late Howard Cosell was heard to shout after a production snafu on Monday Night Football, “Who goofed? I’ve got to know.”
Investigation revealed that no officials were assigned to Hilltop-Escondido by the association’s appointment secretary.
But was that the fault of Bob Stephenson, the San Diego Fire Department Captain and long-time official who routinely sent groups of three to four rules enforcers to more than 20 games every week?
It turned out that the schedule Hilltop sent to Stephenson at the start of the year listed only a junior varsity game for the date in question.
The schedule Escondido entered did not list a game at all. Nor was there an Escondido-Hilltop game on the master schedule for November in San Diego Section commissioner Don Clarkson’s office.
Evening Tribune reporter Roger Conlee pointed out that Hilltop’s schedule, mailed to the newspaper, listed a varsity game between the schools that night. Escondido had not sent the newspaper its schedule.
Although not official, the Union and Tribune grid log published each Tuesday also showed an Escondido-Hilltop contest in the last week of the regular season on the undated schedule for both teams.
The 18-13 result and Lancers victory was not “officially” challenged by Escondido.
NO HARM, NO FOUL?
Despite the loss, the Cougars still won the Metropolitan League championship. Their 3-1 record was matched by Sweetwater, but Escondido had won the head-to-head meeting with the Red Devils, 25-14, weeks earlier.
The Cougars upset Hoover, 28-26, in the first round of the playoffs and defeated Clairemont, 28-14, for the large-schools championship, their second in the three years since the San Diego Section was formed.
It was not a season of powerhouses in the CIF.
Clairemont and Escondido entered the game with 6 losses between them. Escondido also had been beaten, 35-6, by Point Loma and 26-7 by San Diego, and tied by Oceanside, 13-13.
Hoover backup quarterback Rick Shaw eases between defenders John Brown (34) and Sylvester Williams for touchdown. Cardinals’ Bob Bishop (67) pulled to confuse San Diego defense.
Clairemont had won one league game in its history, which dated to 1959, and was 1-3 before getting untracked behind sharpshooting quarterback Bill Casey.
POINT LOMA AMBUSHED
The Chieftains startled Point Loma, 19-0, in a Western League showdown before 5,000 persons at Hoover.
The Pointers, who finished with a 7-1 record, were at least one touchdown favorites, but Casey, improving each week under the guidance of assistant coach and former Hoover and San Diego State signal caller Joe Duke, completed 11 of 20 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown and ran for two others.
End Bill Peterson, who played six years as a linebacker and tight end in the pros for Cincinnati and Kansas City, caught 5 of Casey’s throws for 63 yards.
Kenny Rizzo gained 93 yards in 15 carries and caught 4 passes for 40 yards and Dan Gurley added 41 yards in 11 carries as the Chiefs kept the Pointers backing up.
Casey’s 23-yard touchdown strike to Larry Rose with 35 seconds left in the game pushed Clairemont past Helix, 6-0, in another surprise in the first round of the playoffs.
Cliremont quarterback Bill Casey was player of the year on all-Western League squad.
COUGARS IN CONTROL
Clairemont’s run came to an end as Escondido led the Chiefs all the way in the finals before about 10,000 persons in Aztec Bowl.
It was what the Cougars did the week before that had the most currency.
Hoover was the favored team from the city’s seemingly omnipotent Eastern League, but Embrey’s team, overcame a 26-14 Hoover lead as Bob Blunt caught a 15-yard touchdown pass and raced 64 yards for another score
CAVERS NEVER RECOVER
The Cardinals were 7-1 going into the playoffs and had scored one of the school’s greatest victories when they upset San Diego, 6-0, in the season’s fourth week, after the Cavers had outscored their first three opponents, Santa Barbara, 32-12, Santa Monica, 46-19, and Escondido, 26-7.
The defeat so flattened San Diego that the Cavemen did not win another game and coach Charlie Popa was released at the end of the season.
Hoover lost starting quarterback Art Howard with a broken leg early in the San Diego game, played before a crowd estimated at 7,000 in the Cardinals stadium.
The Cardinals were outgained, 303-118, and needed 10 plays to move 28 yards, with benefit of a 15-yard penalty, to score the game’s touchdown.
Hoover won with an epic defensive performance:
1—Hit San Diego runners so hard the Cavers lost two fumbles in the first quarter.
2—Blocked a punt in the second quarter that set in motion the winning score.
3—Defended on third down and two yards to go at the Cardinals’ eight, and stopped San Diego on two line thrusts, taking over on the seven late in the second quarter.
4—Held the Cavers to four yards on three plays in the third quarter, forcing the Cavemen to attempt an unsuccessful field goal from Hoover’s 15.
5—Stopped the Cavers on fourth down and inches from the goal line in the fourth quarter.
The Cardinals had other good fortune.
On a fourth down from his 20-yard line, the snap from center went over the head of punter Gene Cowell, who recovered the ball and advanced it out of the end zone to the two-yard line.
But San Diego was out of time outs and could not regroup and run a play before time expired.
Game over.
Hoover defenders who stopped San Diego, top (from left): Bobby Smith, Bill Boone. Middle (from left): David Carr, Gary Weide, Jim Foster, Ron Flisher. Bottom (from left) Dale Twombley, Roger Seeman, Richard Gauthier, Bill (Sledge) Homik, Bob Bishop. Coach is Roy Engle.
The San Diego Union, on the following Tuesday, selected Hoover’s starting 11 on defense as the prep players of the week.
MISCHIEF
A student from University called The San Diego Union late one Friday night to report the score from the Dons’ game at Brawley.
The student told the sports desk reporter that the Dons had beaten the host Wildcats, 49-7. That score was reported in Union editions the next day.
Hold the phone!
Actual score was Uni 14, Brawley 13. The Wildcats missed a tie when a point-after attempt hit the crossbar and fell short.
The Union printed a retraction the following day after people began calling the newspaper and facts surfaced.
“The student’s identity was made known to University officials, who promised action,” wrote Union prep honcho Chuck Sawyer.
Ken Henderson (36) and teammates are rapt observers as Clairemont nears upset win over Helix.
CHIEFTAINS OF NOTE
Bill Peterson wasn‘t the only Clairemont standout with a professional career in his future.
End Ken Henderson was an outfielder and played for seven teams in a 16-season major league career, with career bests of 20 home runs and 95 runs batted in and hit .292 for the 1974 Chicago White Sox.
Henderson was on pennant-winning teams with the San Francisco Giants in 1970 and Cincinnati Reds in 1979 and hit .294 with 17 homers and 88 RBI in 1970.
Henderson’s career totals included 122 home runs and a .257 batting average.
LIKED BASKETBALL MORE
Helix’ Gary Hafner (dark uniform) and Clairemont’s Larry Rose each came up empty-handed on this pass, but Clairemont didn’t winning, 6-0, in playoffs.
Quarterback Bill Casey, who nixed football as a junior to concentrate on basketball, was the Western League player of the year and the best passer in the area.
Casey had pedigree. His uncle, Davey O’Brien was an all-America passing phenom at Texas Christian University in the late 1930s. Casey’s father, William Casey, was a lineman decades before for the Hobbs Adams-coached San Diego High team.
MEANWHILE
Madison, 2.9 miles east of Clairemont, defeated the San Diego High junior varsity, 33-0, in its inaugural game as Brandt Crocker scored two touchdowns.
The Warhawks’ quarterback, Al Fitzmorris, also was a baseball player of note. Fitzmorris had a won-loss record of 77-59 in 10 major league seasons, mostly with Kansas City. He was 16-12 in 1975 and 15-11 the year before.
HONORS
Hoover tackle Bill (Sledge) Homik and Lincoln quarterback Nate Shaw were second team all-Southern California and Escondido halfback Bob Blunt third team in the last year San Diego Section athletes were honored by the Helms Athletic Foundation.
Shaw became an all-American safety at USC. His nephew, David Shaw, would become head coach at Stanford.
Carlsbad guard Greg Anderson was on the all-Southern California lower division second team along with teammate Charlie Coad. Tackle Mike Baker of Coronado and back Daro Quiring of Poway were on the third team.
A TIE FOR THE AGES
Coronado and Sweetwater set an admittedly obscure record.
Their 26-26 tie game represented the most combined points by two tied teams from all but San Diego Section smallest schools.
Oceanside and Vista, 20-20 in 1951, and San Diego and Anaheim, 20-20 in 1955, was the previous record. Poway and Marian then bettered the 52-point total when they deadlocked, 39-39, in 1966.
On the smallest school level, San Miguel and North Hollywood Harvard Military tied, 33-33, in 1961.
Oceanside quarterback Terry Scott gets a pointer from head coach Herb Meyer before Class A championship game against neighboring rival Carlsbad.
COACHING CAROUSEL
There had been nine head coaching appointments and three schools opened their doors for the first time.
Madison, Morse, and Orange Glen fielded teams against mostly junior varsity competition.
Chuck Coover moved from Mission Bay to Morse, Dick Disney from San Marcos to Orange Glen, and George Hoagland, San Diego High assistant, to Madison.
School
New Coach
Previous
Crawford
Frank Smith
Walt Harvey
Grossmont
Sam Muscolino
Ken Maynard
Madison
George Hoagland
Marian
Jan Chapman
John Strub
Mar Vista
Verne Dodds
Art Filson
Mission Bay
Gerry Spitler
Chuck Coover
Morse
Chuck Coover
Orange Glen
Dick Disney
San Marcos
Bob Woodhouse
Dick Disney
HE’S AN EINSTEIN!
Richard Einstein, a senior at Point Loma, was in a unique position. Einstein was the Pointers’ official motion picture shooter, in a position usually occupied by older professional photographers.
Einstein shot 16 millimeter film of Pointers games for head coach Bennie Edens.
“He doesn’t say much about my films,” said Einstein, “but he gets mad once in awhile when I miss a play during a reel change.”
POINTER ON POINT
Point Loma coach Bennie Edens got a kick out of Steve Soares, who also played quarterback.
Point Loma quarterback Steve Soares made his first 21 point after kicks and had a streak of 26 dating to the 1961 season.
Soares was 9 for 9 as the Pointers rushed for 358 yards in a 63-0 rout of Mission Bay that was the highest point total in the area since Hoover’s 66-0 win over St. Augustine in 1954.
Soares’ streak came to an end when his first two attempts at La Jolla were blocked.
TRUE GRID
Future Heisman Trophy winner Mike Garrett of Los Angeles Roosevelt led the L.A. City squad to a 20-6 victory over the San Diego County team before 12,500 persons at Aztec Bowl in the 14th annual Breitbard College Prep all-star game in August…the Eastern League crushed the Western League, 52-14, in the 24th City Schools carnival before 14,000 at Balboa Stadium…San Diego outscored Mission Bay, 21-0, in one quarter…Lincoln was 19-7 over Point Loma, and Crawford 12-7 over Kearny…Hoover and Clairemont and La Jolla and St. Augustine were scoreless…an overflow crowd of 13,000 at Aztec Bowl saw Monte Vista, El Cajon Valley, Granite Hills, and El Capitan defeat the Helix Green team, Helix White team, Mount Miguel, and Grossmont, 13-6…San Diego and Santa Monica met for the first time since Samohi came from behind to beat the Hilltoppers, 13-12, in the 1947 Southern California finals…Marty (the Mop) Jensen of Coronado led the Metropolitan League with 88 points including all of his team’s in a 26-7 win over San Dieguito…Carlsbad defeated Oceanside, 13-6, for the Class A title…Point Loma rushed for 352 yards and slammed defending San Diego Section champion Escondido, 35-6…after two games, 31-0 and 39-0 wins over Chula Vista and Sweetwater, respectively, Lincoln was averaging 470 yards offense and 9.3 yards a play, according to coach Shan Deniston ….
Carlsbad’s Charlie Coad, the County’s leading scorer with 115 points, earned his 19th touchdown of the season on this play as he ran through Oceanside’s Bob Norgard (51) and Jim Valdvogel (80).
Hoover’s Bobby Smith (24) jars Escondido’s Bob Blunt into rare fumble, but Cougars knocked out Hoover, 28-26, in playoffs. Bill Boone (23) and Jim Foster (68) converge.
St. Augustine’s Jimmy Antl goes low to stop Lincoln’s Marvin Lowery as Eastern League teams battled to 6-6 standoff.
2015-16 Week 7: No Change Among Poll Top 4.
Foothills Christian blew past a couple Coastal League opponents last week and retained its ranking as No. 1 in San Diego, No. 4 in California, and No. 17 in the United States.
The rankings are from the Union-Tribune, Cal-Hi Sports, and USA Today, respectively.
Foothills Christian, which defeated La Jolla Country Day, 68-42, and The Bishop’s, 69-37 days ago, has a league game at Cuyamaca College tomorow night with Army-Navy, ranked sixth in San Diego.
Cathedral, Torrey Pines, and St. Augustine are 2, 3, and 4 in San Diego.
San Ysidro hosts a shootout this weekend and may be getting some poll props after writer Don Norcross campaigned for the 74-points-a-game, 17-3 Cougars in a Union-Tribune article this morning.
Coach Terry Tucker, who coached another high scoring Crawford squad that featured future San Diego State Aztecs Tyrone Shelley and Malcom Turner a decade ago, sends his club against Hoover (8-10) in the the Cougars’ City of Angels tournament Saturday night.
The night’s feature game has La Jolla Country Day (18-2) against West Hills (14-3).
Seems odd that San Ysidro is not in the main event against either of those visiting teams.
Records through Monday, Jan. 25.
Rank
Team
Record
Points
Last Week
1
Foothills Christian (11)
13-3
110
1
2
Cathedral
11-4
92
2
3
Torrey Pines
15-4*
83
3
4
St. Augustine
15-4
79
4
5
El Camino
16-4
67
6
6
Army-Navy
15-5
60
7
7
Kearny
20-2
39
8
8
la Jolla Country Day
18-2
32
5
9
Poway
18-3
15
9
10
Grossmont
17-3
13
NR
*Forfeited 57-37 victory Dec. 5 over Horizon. Points awarded on basis of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Others receiving votes, including record: Mission Bay (14-5, 9), Rancho Berrnardo (14-5, 5), San Marcos (12-6, 3).
Eleven media representatives vote, including John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune; Steve Brand (San Diego Hall of Champions), Terry Monahan, Jim Lindgren, Union-Tribune correspondents; Bill Dickens, Adam Paul, EastCountySports.com; Rick Willis, KUSI-TV; Rick Smith, partletonsports.com; Bodie DeSilva, sandiegopreps.com; Lisa Lane, San Diego Preps Insider; Aaron Burgin, fulltimehoops.com.
2016: San Diego’s All-Time Super Bowl Roster
Thirty-three players with San Diego Section or Southern Section connections have played in the 49 Super Bowls.
Denver and Carolina meet in Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7 in Santa Clara.
Carolina Defensive tackle Nate Chandler from Mira Mesa, who signed with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2012, is the only San Diego-connected player on either team but spent the 2015 season on reserve/injured.
Dave Grayson, Sr., of Lincoln was the earliest Super Bowl representative, for Oakland in game II.
Grayson was a starting defensive back and reserve halfback for the 1955 San Diego High Cavemen, who won the Southern Section championship and and were acclaimed national champions.
Grayson moved into the Lincoln district and played for the Hornets in 1956. He was the first of five Lincoln graduates (see table below) to play in the Super Bowl.
Lincoln is tied with Long Beach Poly, Compton, Los Angeles Crenshaw, Los Angeles Dorsey, and L.A. High for the most representation among California schools.
Helix, with 4 Super Bowl players (see table), is tied for fifth with Los Angeles Hamilton, Berkeley, and Anaheim Servite.
Two head coaches, Mike Martz of Madison, and John Fox of Castle Park, have guided their teams to the big game, Martz for the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, and Fox for the Panthers in S.B. XXXVIII.
Name
Pos.
High School
Team
Super Bowl
Marcus Allen
RB
Lincoln
Oakland*
XVIII
Terrell Davis
RB
Lincoln
Denver*
XXXII, XXXIII
Saladin Martin
DB
Lincoln
San Francisco*
XVI
Wally Henry
KR-WR
Lincoln
Philadelphia
XV
Dave Grayson, Sr.
FS
Lincoln
Oakland
II
Brett Swain
WR
Carlsbad
Green Bay*
XLV
Colin Branch
S
Carlsbad
Carolina
XXXVIII
Ted Johnson
LB
Carlsbad
New England
XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX
Steve Riley
T
Castle Park
Minnesota
IX, XI
Michael Booker
CB
El Camino
Atlanta
XXXIII
Dokie Williams
WR
El Camino
Oakland
XVIII
Glenn Cadrez
LB
El Centro Central
Denver*
XXXII, XXXIII
Joe Lavender
CB
El Centro Central
Washington*
XVII
Alex Smith
QB
Helix
San Francisco
XLVII
Reggie Bush
RB
Helix
New Orleans*
XLIV
Leon White
RB
Helix
Cincinnati
XXIII
Bruce Walton
T
Helix
Dallas
X
Tony Banks
QB
Hoover
Baltimore*
XXXV
Bryan Wagner
P
Hilltop
San Diego
XXIX
Clifford Hicks
CB
Kearny
Buffalo
XXV, XXVI, XXVII
John Richardson
T
Kearny
Miami
VI
John Michels
T
La Jolla
Green Bay*
XXXI
Lincoln Kennedy
T
Morse
Oakland
XXXVII
Michael Pittman
RB
Mira Mesa
Tampa Bay*
XXXVII
Joev Salave’a
DT
Oceanside
Tennessee
XXXIV
Junior Seau
LB
Oceanside
San Diego, New England
XXIX, XLII
Stephen Neal
T
San Diego
New England*
XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX
Darren Comeaux
LB
San Diego
Denver
XXI
Keith Kartz
C-T
San Dieguito
Denver
XXIV
Mike Kozlowski
S
San Dieguito
Miami
XIX
Monte Jackson
CB
St. Augustine
Oakland
XV
John Lynch
S
Torrey Pines
Tampa Bay*
XXXVII
Brad Daluiso
K
Valhalla
N.Y. Giants
XXXV
*Winning Team.
2016: Eldridge Cooks, Fullback on ’55 National Champs
Eldridge Cooks, the starting fullback on the 1955 San Diego High team that won the Southern California championship and was acclaimed the national high school champion for that season, was at a UCLA basketball game when he passed recently.
The 165-pound blocker and runner was a two-year varsity letterman for the Hillers, whose combined record in 1954 and ’55 was 20-2-1.
Cooks (22) lined up as fullback on San Diego’s championship team.
Cooks, 78, also played baseball at San Diego State and was a member of Don Coryell’s first San Diego State football teams in 1961-62.
Cooks resided in Santa Ana for many years and was an enthusiastic alumnus of San Diego High and regularly attended sporting events throughout Southern California.
BRAVES’ ORIGINAL QUARTERBACK
Bobby Contreras was El Cajon’s Valley’s first varsity football quarterback when the school opened in 1955 and also starred for the Braves in basketball and baseball before graduation in 1957.
DRAFTED BY YANKEES
Kerry Dineen, 63, all-San Diego Section outfielder at Chula Vista in 1970, was a fourth-round draft choice of the baseball New York Yankees in 1973.
Dineen got into 16 games over parts of three seasons in the majors and had a .324 batting average. He was inducted into the University of San Diego Hall of Fame in 1997 and had a .409 collegiate career batting average.
