Foothills Christian, a weekly, unanimous No. 1 in the San Diego Union-Tribune  poll, went “national” this week when it landed as No. 17 in the USA Today rankings.

The thrill-a-minute Knights achieved the honor with another roller-coaster performance against Connecticut’s Waterbury Sacred Heart, which was 17th in USA Today the previous week.

The Knights defeated the Hearts, 82-80, in the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts, but not before they gave up a 19-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Foothills needed a couple free throws in the closing seconds to put the game away.  They led, 69-50, at the end of three quarters, according to the Max Preps line score.  T.J. Leaf had 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 7  assists for the Knights.

LEAF AND WALTON, CONT.

A friend chided me this week when he thought I was writing last week that Leaf was a better player  than Bill Walton at a similar stage in their careers.

The 6 foot, 10-inch Leaf is a power forward with an outside shooting touch.  The 6-11 Walton was an old school center who scored at will and guarded the area around the basket the way a lioness protects her cubs.

And Walton could score whenever he chose.

To show the regard Walton had with college scouts during his senior year at Helix was what they were saying after  the Covina Tournament, then the preeminent high schools hoops event in California.

UCLA assistant coach Denny Crum, who witnessed Walton’s scoring 50 points and taking down 34 rebounds in a 110-68 victory over Pasadena, reported to Bruins coach John Wooden.

NO ONE BETTER

Crum:  “The greatest high school player I ever saw.”

An intrigued but skeptical Wooden:  “Better than Lewis (Alcindor)?”

Crum:  “Yes.”

Wooden, taken aback, looked around:  “Step into my office. Keep your voice down.”

The legendary coach wanted to make sure that he had heard Crum correctly and that no else was privy to this startling statement.

Walton would go  on to UCLA, win two national championships and also lead the Portland Trail Blazers to an NBA title.

U-T BOYS’ POLL

Cathedral, augmented by 6-11 Morse transfer Brandon McCoy, jumped to second after a 56-53 win over St. Augustine before almost 2,500 persons at Point Loma Nazarene.

First-place votes in parenthesis. Won-loss records through Monday.

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	Foothills Christian (11)	11-3	110	1
2	Cathedral	10-4	82	6
3	Torrey Pines	12-4*	72	3
4	St. Augustine	13-4	72	2
5	La Jolla Country Day	18-0	66	4
6	El Camino	12-4	61	5
7	Army-Navy	13-5	55	7
8	Kearny	17-2	34	8
9	Poway	17-2	23	9
10	San Marcos	11-5	10	10

*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 (13-4, 7), Grossmont (16-3, 5).

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.

Foothills Christian lost its rematch with Chino Hills but continued as a team of statewide import, still not yet gone “national,” in the eyes of major U.S. ratings entities.

The Adidas-influenced Knights will travel again this week, to Springfield, Massachusetts, for the Hoophall Classic and take on Connecticut’s No. 1, 8-0 Waterbury Sacred Heart, averaging 89 points a game.

After losing to Chino Hills by 20 in December, the Knights did a better job against the Huskies’  press in the Sierra Canyon event in the San Fernando Valley last week and took the USA Today No. 1 squad to the wire before bowing, 85-83.

T.J. Leaf  put Foothills ahead, 83-82 with a basket with 13.3 seconds remaining in the game, but coach Troy Leaf’s scrappers from El Cajon couldn’t hold on.

Foothills Christian’s regular-season, intersectional tour won’t be complete until Feb. 6, when it heads up the I-5 Freeway for a game against Santa Ana Mater Dei, ranked No. 4 in California this week by Cal-Hi Sports.

Foothills is No. 1 in the Union-Tribune weekly poll and No. 5 in Cal-Hi‘s Top 20.  St. Augustine and Army-Navy earned  on-the-bubble status.

The U-T No. 2 Saints have a rivalry game with Eastern League title implications against No. 7 Cathedral Saturday night at Point Loma Nazarene University.

Get there early.  Parking is brutal.

LEAF AND WALTON?

After converting 20 of 24 shots from the floor, scoring 43 points, and knocking down 21 rebounds against the team from Chino, Leaf was described as the best prospect out of San Diego since Bill Walton in 1970.

Writer Frank Burlison, who made that observation, has virtually seen them all from his base in the Long Beach area for the last 40 or so years.

I was able to place Walton in Sports Illustrated‘s  “Faces in the Crowd” when Walton hit the national landscape.

Walton scored 50 points and had 34 rebounds in a 110-68 victory over Pasadena in the Covina Tournament and led  Helix to a 33-0 record. The Highlanders’ greatness wouldn’t be tested, because there were no Southern California or state playoffs in the Walton era.

Walton, a 6-foot, 11-inch center, was an enthusiastic, game-changing defender and unselfish, facilitating offensive player who still averaged 29.1 points a game.

The 6-10 Leaf, averaging 30.6 points, is a power forward and may have a more wide-ranging offensive game but  not had Walton’s impact on defense.

ON THE GIRLS’ FRONT

The Bishop’s (15-1), Mission Hills (11-3), and La Jolla Country Day (11-3) rank 10, 11, and 12, respectively, in the latest Cal-Hi Sports poll.

Junior Destiny Littleton of The Bishop’s has scored 605 points and is averaging 37.8 points.

U-T BOYS’ POLL

First-place votes in parenthesis. Won-loss records through Monday.

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	Foothills Christian (11)	9-3	110	1
2	St. Augustine	11-4	97	2
3	Torrey Pines	12-3	72	5
4	La Jolla Country Day	16-0	66	5
5	El Camino	12-4	63	4
6	Cathedral	8-4	62	7
7	Army-Navy	12-5	58	6
8	Kearny	14-2	34	8
9	Poway	15-2	24	10
10	San Marcos	9-5	11	9

Points awarded on basis of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.

NR—Not ranked.

Others receiving votes, including record:  Grossmont (14-3, 8), Mission Bay (11-4, 3), San Ysidro (14-2, 1), Vista (10-5, 1).

11 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.

John Saleamua took the handoff, cleared the first line of defense, and cut to the outside.

Saleamua was running free along the Montgomery sideline when he suddenly went down.

Jack Jackson, a Montgomery player, had left his bench area, came onto the field, and tackled Saleamua, short-circuiting a 79-yard touchdown run.

“I couldn’t believe it,” said the shocked Saleamua.

“I was on my head phones talking to one of our spotters upstairs in the press box, when he yelled in my ear,”  Red Devils coach Al Jacobus told Jerry (Sigmund) Froide of the Evening Tribune.

Game officials huddled briefly at midfield and signaled touchdown, one of many in Sweetwater’s 44-7, first-round playoff victory.

“It was a weird play,” said Jacobus.  “I guess they were frustrated over there.”

“I thought I had a touchdown for sure,” Saleamua said.  “I would have been really mad if the refs hadn’t given me the touchdown.”

Longtime observers remembered the nationally televised Cotton Bowl in 1954.  An Alabama player left the bench and brought down Rice’s Dickie Moegel, who was running free for a touchdown.

Game officials also ruled touchdown as Rice won, 28-6.

HELIX TAKES THE HIGH ROAD

Dominated by Grossmont in the annual carnival, beaten by the rival Foothillers in league play, overwhelmed by a Mount Miguel comeback a week later, the Helix Highlanders took a mandatory eight count, the sawdust was wiped from their gloves, and rallied to win the San Diego Section championship.

Coach Jim Arnaiz’s Scots knocked out San Pasqual, 17-10, before 8,778 persons in San Diego Stadium to capture the school’s first title and validate Arnaiz’s program as one of the area’s elite.

Casey Tiamalu, a 5-foot-8, 193-pounder rushed for 160 yards in 11 carries and scored on runs of 25 and 40 yards in the  second half as the Highlanders, stung by three turnovers, rallied from a 10-3 deficit.

Tiamalu also got the Highlanders on the scoreboard in the first half with a 38-yard field goal.

Winning the championship was the last thing on Arnaiz’ mind  when he made his way off the field at Helix’ Benton Hart Stadium in mid-season.

The coach would be occupied by nightmares after he put his head down on the pillow that night, following a devastating, 41-40  loss to Mount Miguel that saw Arnaiz’s team fall to 3-2.

Helix had leads of 27-0 and 34-6.

Mount Miguel coach Brian Smith admitted to being “in shock.”

“We didn’t panic or scream,” said Smith.  “We just told the players to get rolling.”

A six-yard pass, John Coughlin to Jerome Weatherspoon, with 22 seconds remaining in the game clinched the Matadors’ comeback as they survived a 350-yard, five-touchdown passing effort by Jim Oxe.

Helix regrouped, set sights on the big prize, and won its last seven games.

SHOCK AND AWE IN REVERSE

John Shacklett’s Morse Tigers seemed unbeatable.

The team from the 16-year-old school at 69^th Street and Skyline Drive was in  beast mode.

The Tigers set a San Diego Section record with 425 points and 47.2 average in a 9-0 regular season.

”Deep,  talented, quick, awesome,” wrote Steve Brand of The San Diego Union after Morse had put up 50 points a game in a 5-0 start.

But it’s a long way to the finish line.

Morse fought the fog and La Jolla in the playoffs’ opening round, leading only 6-0 at halftime.

Mark Kennedy, the County’s No. 3 rusher, gained only 25 yards in seven carries but the Tigers scored 13 points in the third quarter and pulled away from the pesky Vikings to win, 20-0.

Michael Johnson took up the slack for Kennedy, gaining 151 yards in 15 carries and scored on runs of 62 and 18 yards. Michael’s  brother, Jerry, returned a punt 40 yards for another touchdown.

Shacklett told writers that he had a “good talk” with his club at halftime.

DISASTER

Crusty Bob Woodhouse’s San Pasqual Golden Eagles had a top 10 defense yet averaged at least 4 touchdowns a game less than Morse.

But the Eagles made plays.

The squad from east Escondido was wobbling late in the game, clinging to a 21-19 lead with the rallying Tigers on San Pasqual’s  25-yard line.

Allen Dale and Dave Gleason came to the rescue.

Dale stopped Billy Ervin for a five-yard loss and Gleason sacked quarterback Keith Magee on fourth down.

Ball game.

The resourceful Eagles had similarly kept Morse at a distance throughout the quarterfinals contest.

Morse’s first score didn’t come until 3:22 remained in the third quarter when Magee and John Glover connected on a 41-yard scoring pass play.  San Pasqual promptly answered with a touchdown and took a 21-6 lead into the final quarter.

Ervin’s 10-yard run at 7:03 of the fourth made the score 21-12.  Morse stunned the Eagles with an onside kick, Ray Anderson recovering. Magee raced 47 yards for a touchdown on the next play.

Momentum clearly was with Shacklett’s team, but San Pasqual dug in and closed the door.

The last time a 10-0 team had been so shockingly led to the exit was in 1958, when San Diego was beaten, 26-18, in the quarterfinals by eventual Southern California champion Long Beach Poly.

RUN THAT BY ME AGAIN

Morse defeated Escondido, 18-0,  in a two-day preseason scrimmage.

No big deal?

Hmm, that was 18 touchdowns to none.

“Was it 18?” wondered first year Cougars coach Denny Snyder, whose team then lost its season opener to Vista, 35-7.

Bring back Chick Embrey?

Snyder admitted to being a little shook,  but “if there was a lynching party, I didn’t hear about it.”

Chick Embrey stay retired and Escondido recovered, advancing all the way to the playoff semifinals before bowing to Helix, 18-16.

DON’T LOOK AHEAD

“All season I’ve been telling the kids the story of a farmer who looked so far into the forest he tripped over his hogs,” said Sweetwater coach Al Jacobus.  “What irony. Now we play a team called the Hogs.  That’s Spooky.”

San Pasqual defenders were known as such, cognomens that also would identify Washington Redskins Super Bowl offensive linemen in the 1980s.

Asked how he was going to approach the semifinal contest against the favored Red Devils at Southwestern College, Bob Woodhouse announced,  “We’ll take the 805 South.”

Woodhouse’s glibness was nothing compared to the time he threw a defanged rattlesnake under the Oceanside bench, distracting the Pirates’ players and coaches into an upset loss.

No snakes this time, but San Pasqual reached the finals with another surprising victory, 15-12.

HILLTOP TO MOUNTAIN TOP

Residences of Chula Vista’s upscale east side didn’t know how to react.

The Hilltop Lancers won their first  Metropoltan League championship since the school opened in 1959 when Mark Armbrust and David Wright collaborated on a 24-yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds remaining in the game to defeat Bonita Vista, 26-21.

The Lancers and Sweetwater each had 8-1 league records. Hilltop won for only the fifth time in 20 tries against the Red Devils but claimed the title by virtue of their 15-7, head-to-head victory after Bryan Wagner kicked field goals of 24, 22, and 21 yards.

 COACHES UNHAPPY

It was one thing for the Grossmont District superintendent in 1977 to suggest a shutdown of interscholastic sports, but coaches this year, especially those who endured the long hours of football,  had enough.

Area school districts enacted policies which forced coaches to begin practices after school.

For years the mentors were allowed to use the final physical education period of the school day for football practice, which would continue after school.

This procedure saved at least an hour in the teacher-coaches’ work day.

Now the coaches were being ordered to coach a full p.e. session first and then begin football exercises.

Twenty-one coaches either stepped down or transferred to other schools. Several retired or got out of coaching or found positions in two-year or four-year colleges.

School	1978 Coach	1977 Coach
Bonita Vista	Jan Chapman	Larry Fernandez
Castle Park	Reldon (Bing) Dawson	Gil Warren
Cathedral	Dan Ramos	Paul Wargo
Christian	Dan Henson	Rick White
Chula Vista	Gary Chapman	Bob Korzep
El Cajon Valley	Don George	Jim Mann
El Capitan	Art Preston	Joe Rockhold
Escondido	Denny Snyder	Bob (Chick) Embrey
Fallbrook	Tom Pack	Chuck Lundquist
Granite Hills	Paul Wargo	Dan Garcia
Hoover	Jerry Varner	Roy Engle
Marian	Bill Smith	Phil Bryant
Monte Vista	Bob Korzep	Larry Schimpf
Ramona	Jack Menotti	Mike Cunningham
San Marcos	Kenny Broach	Ivan Seaton
Santana	Phil Bryant	Joe DiTomaso
Southwest	Bob Arciaga	Oscar Mercado
Sweetwater	Al Jacobus	Dave Lay
Torrey Pines	Darold Nogle	Cliff Kinney
Valhalla	Rick White	Russ Boehmke

Coached in previous season at another San Diego Section school.

INITIAL RESULTS

Christian’s Dan Henson had the most successful season of the new coaches, posting a 9-0-1 record and defeating Army-Navy, 33-0, for the A title.

Sweetwater’s Al Jacobus continued Dave Lay’s excellence, finishing with a 10-2 record and reaching the AA semifinals. Denny Snyder was 10-2 at Escondido.

Paul Wargo (6-4), Darold Nogle (6-3), and Reldon (Bing) Dawson (5-3-1) were others with winning records.

Art Preston, who was 3-4-1 at El Capitan, had retired from coaching after leading the Vaqueros to an 8-2 record and a berth in the championship game against Kearny in 1963.

WORLD, ACCORDING TO HERB

Herb Meyer was getting philosophical in his 20^th season.

“If you stick around long enough you have to win a few by osmosis,” said the El Camino coach, who started at Oceanside in 1959.

Meyer had just tied Birt Slater for second all-time among County mentors with his 132^nd victory. Chick Embrey retired with 144 wins and the lead in 1977.

“Part of 132 is longevity,” said Meyer.  “People got pretty excited when I won number 100, but I’m not setting goals like winning 150 or 200.”

Meyer finally pulled the pin in 2003 with a record total of 339 victories.

THE CAVERS’ YEAR?

There was optimism at San Diego High.

Stanley Murphy’s team had won 6 in a row dating to the final four games of the 1977 season and were  looking forward to their first big test against Morse.

Steve Brand of The San Diego Union predicted that the game would be “interesting and probably close”.

Morse didn’t let up after leading 13-7 at the end of the first quarter, 40-7 at the half, and 53-19 after three.  Tigers coach John Shacklett then began substituting and Morse put away a 69-19 victory.

San Diego, 5-3-1 under Murphy in 1977 and full of promise, fell to 3-6 and 1-6 and seventh in the Western League.

I WANT TO COACH

Four standouts were destined to become head coaches and would be active almost 40 years later.

Escondido tackle Rob Gilster would head programs at Orange Glen and Valley Center.  End Sean Doyle of University became that school’s leader and stayed with the Dons when their campus moved and the school was renamed Cathedral.

Herb Meyer’s son, Joe, eventually took over at Rancho Buena Vista after other stops. And Morse running back Dino Babers went the college route, guiding Eastern Illinois, Bowling Green, and Syracuse.

AFTER THE FACT

Willie Morcillo of Mira Mesa had to wait before he was credited with  a section record, 50-yard field in a 21-14 victory over La Jolla.

Morcillo originally was determined to have booted a 43-yard placement, but seven yards were added after coach Brad Griffith’s review of game film the following day showed the scrimmage line was La Jolla’s 33-yard line and that the kick was from the 40.

Morcillo bettered the record of 47 yards by Poway’s Denny Miller in 1976 but did not have a long reign at the top.  David Cabral of La Jolla Country Day boomed a 51-yarder later in the season.

TRAGEDY 

A small plane flying East collided with a Pacific Southwest Airlines 727 that was approaching Lindbergh Field to the West, resulting in  more than 135 lives lost.

The mid-air collision, the most deadly in aeronautical history, occurred  around 9 a.m. in  North Park, about two miles from St. Augustine High.

Dougherty Gymnasium on the St. Augustine campus was converted into a temporary morgue.

The original intent was for the gym to serve as an emergency room as more than  75 doctors, nurses, and volunteer medical aides converged on the school site.  When it was determined there were no survivors, the gym played another, tragic role.

QUICK KICKS

Add Mount Miguel to those who thought the playoff system established in 1976 created a redolent presence…after defeating Grossmont, 35-12 in the regular-season finale, the Matadors were forced to meet the Foothillers again the following week in the first round and lost, 18-17…San Diego  junior Terry Turner gained 87 yards in 12 carries in the Cavers’ season-opening, 12-0 win over Lincoln…Turner had never played in  a game…Patrick Henry quarterback Brent Woods is son of Jack Woods, who was “Charlie” on the popular “Charlie and Harrigan” radio show in San Diego…defending champion Lincoln flattened out to 5-4, but finished with a 4-game winning streak…Coronado made the playoffs for the first time in 17 years and La Jolla shared a piece of the Western League championship, their first since the Vikings and San Diego tied in the City Prep League in 1952…Kearny missed the playoffs for the first time since 1966 and Castle Park for the first time since 1972…the 18^th annual Grossmont Carnival “featuring lots of spirit, penalties, and money,” according to Steve Brand, was played before 7,500 at Aztec Bowl as the West beat the East, 14-0…

 

Foothills Christian, blown off the court, 40-13, in the first quarter and a 106-86 loser to Chino Hills a  couple weeks ago, will have another try at the USA Today No. 1 Huskies in the Sierra Canyon Super Showcase in Chatsworth Saturday.

The pressing piranhas of 13-0 Chino Hills, averaging  93 points a game, were champions of the recent City of Palms Tournament in Fort Meyers, Fla., where many eastern big shots competed.

Foothills (8-2) took a step back last week in the Under-Armour event at Torrey Pines.

After an impressive, 85-63 victory over St. Augustine, the Knights fell, 67-52,  to Corona Centennial, the same team Foothills defeated, 69-61, on Centennial’s home court the day before it met Chino Hills.

St. Augustine (11-2), also in the Sierra Canyon field, snapped a two-game losing streak last night, leading from opening tip to final buzzer in a 62-52 win over visiting Bellflower St. John Bosco (13-2), ranked 21st in the state by Max Preps.

Coach Mike Haupt’s Saints, 18th in California, according to Max Preps,  will play Mission Hills Bishop Alemany (9-5) Saturday.

Lincoln is host for a shootout Saturday that includes La Jolla Country Day (15-0) taking on Woodland Hills El Camino Real (5-8) and the Hornets (9-2) meeting Lynwood (9-4). Other squads also are involved.

Teams in the Union-Tribune Top 10 opened league play last night or will Friday.

First-place votes in parenthesis. Won-loss records through Monday.

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Last Week
1	Foothills Christian (11)	8-2	110	1
2	St. Augustine	10-2	99	2
3	Torrey Pines	10-3	72	5
4	El Camino	12-3	70	3
5	La Jolla Country Day	15-0	59	8
6	Army-Navy	10-4	58	6
7	Cathedral	6-4	52	4
8	Kearny	13-2	35	7
9	San Marcos	9-5	15	10
10	Poway	13-2	13	NR

Points awarded on basis of 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.                                                                             NR—Not ranked.

Others receiving votes, including record: Lincoln (9-2, 12), Grossmont (12-3, 11), Vista (8-5, 1).

11 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.

The messages were not the garden variety “good luck this week,” or “see you at the game.”

“I got several phone calls threatening my life,” Marcus Allen told writer Steve Brand.  “The callers said I better not be at the game.  They didn’t say what they’d do.  They just said not to be there.  It was obvious what they meant.”

“Some people called my house and told me not to come to the game or I would get hurt,” Allen related to Jerry (Sigmund) Froide of the Evening Tribune. “It upset my mother a lot, but I didn’t really take them seriously.  I just tried to put it out of my mind.”

The attempts at intimidation probably were nothing more than high jinks by rival school students (Patrick Henry, that week’s opponent?), safe in their cowardly anonymity.

Whatever the words, they represented the ultimate compliment to Allen.

The 6-foot, 2-inch, 190-pound senior was a once-in-a-lifetime player,  who ate his Wheaties every morning and performed weekly feats of derring do for the Lincoln Hornets.

The undermanned but talented Hive went as far as quarterback Allen’s running and passing and free safety Allen’s pass interceptions and ground shaking  hits would take them.

THE SEASON

WEEK 1

Allen combined with Fred Montgomery on a 34-yard pass play for the first touchdown in a 12-0 victory over Morse, which was shut down by a defense led by Allen and linemen Itai Sataua and David Allison.

Morse had not been blanked in 52 games, dating to the 1971 season.

The Tigers actually scored in the second quarter when quarterback Keith Magee hooked up with track star Tony Banks on a 74-yard touchdown pass play, but Banks waved the ball crossing the goal line and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The penalty nullified the touchdown as game officials were trying to crack down on hot dogging and taunting.

WEEK 2

Allen intercepted a pass and crisscrossed 82 yards for a touchdown that was called back by a penalty.  Lincoln was fined 205 yards and Point Loma 40.

Allen completed 3 of 16 passes for 29 yards with three interceptions.  Lincoln turned the ball over 4 times, Point Loma 6.  Final score, 0-0.

Fifteen minutes after the game, as Lincoln’s buses were leaving the Hoover stadium, the Hornets’ players were silent. Point Loma’s were cheering loudly, rejoicing in a moral victory.

WEEK 3

A 24-0 victory over Mission Bay was punctuated by Allen’s 20-yard touchdown run and 141 yards passing, including an eight-yard touchdown strike to John Green.

WEEK 4                                                                                                                     

Allen and the Hornets were warming to their task.

A 34-point second half put away La Jolla, 48-0.  Allen completed 7 of 14 passes for 160 yards, gained 72 yards in nine carries, and scored on a three-yard run.

When asked about the Hornets climb to No. 6 in the newspapers’ top 10, Lincoln coach Vic Player said, “It’s not so high that we get a fat head like last year, yet we know we’re playing quality football.”

WEEK 5

Lincoln’s fifth consecutive shutout to start the season tied a County record, set by Hoover in 1934 and tied by Ramona, which played a schedule that included junior varsity games, in 1954.

The 28-0 victory over University came after a scoreless first half.

“The coaches kind of got on my case,” Allen told Steve Brand.  “In the second half I decided when I dropped back I’d either pass the ball or run right away.  No hesitation.”

Allen, 2 for 8 in the first two quarters, was 3 for 4 in the second and had touchdown passing plays of 14 yards to Anthony Kelly and 67 to Pat Abernathy.

“I’m more happy with the zero than with the twenty-eight,” said Player.

WEEK 6 

Lincoln set a record with a sixth consecutive shutout and punished St. Augustine, 61-0.

The Hornets, who also dissed Player’s alma mater, 66-0, in 1975 and 55-0 in 1976, had 548 yards total offense, 372 on the ground, 176 in the air.

Allen scored on a two-yard run and passed for touchdowns of 47 yards to Dean Alexander and 48 yards to John Green.

WEEK 7

Allen rushed for 150 yards in 11 carries, raced to touchdowns of 65 and 26 yards, and completed 7 of 9 passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns in a 48-6 win over Serra.

The Hornets had five touchdowns called back because of penalties.

WEEK 8

The Homecoming  game with Hoover was dedicated to the memory of  Belinda Robinson, a 17-year-old Lincoln student and former cheerleader whose body was found days before in a vacant field near the school .

Allen, Lamar Parks, and Terry Harvey received most of the credit for the Hornets’ defensive play in the 34-6 victory.  Hoover had minus nine yards rushing and 59 yards passing.

Allen spread the wealth, directing a 347-yard ground attack led by David Green’s 145 yards in 11 carries and Pat Abernathy’s 102 in 11.   Allen passed for touchdowns to Anthony Kelly and Dean Alexander.

WEEK 9

A 35-0 shutout of Mira Mesa closed out the first undefeated season in the school’s 24-season history.  The Hornets were 8-0-1 with a 7-0 mark in the Western League.  Allen returned an intercepted pass 82 yards for a touchdown,  scored on a 12-yard run, and passed for one touchdown.

PLAYOFFS, FIRST ROUND

This was the week in which Allen mentioned the telephone calls.  The Hornets survived their most difficult test to date.

Henry took a 3-0 lead on Dean Baughan’s 40-yard field with 45 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Patriots tenaciously clung to their lead, but Allen, who had 87 yards in 16 carries, drove Lincoln 84 yards in 14 plays in the fourth quarter, twice scrambling for first downs, and passing for 48 yards and running for 36.

Expecting Allen to try to take it in from the three-yard line, Henry bunched at the line of scrimmage.  Allen lobbed a soft pass over the defenders to Anthony Kelly with 3:09 left in the game to finally get the Hornets home free, 6-3.

QUARTERFINALS

The San Diego Section board of managers came under fire from media, coaches, and fans for a playoff format the bosses established in 1976. The first-round games essentially were intraleague contests.

Lincoln played city rival and No. 2 seed Patrick Henry in the first round and the Section’s other playoff teams found themselves playing against teams from their own leagues.

Now Lincoln was matched in a quarterfinals game against top seed Granite Hills. The match was of two teams with a combined 19-0-1 record, ridiculously paired in the second round.

After covering Eagles fumbles at their 4- and 17-yard lines, the Hornets prevailed, 19-12, before a capacity crowd of 5,000 at Mesa College.

Allen passed 37 yards to Anthony Kelly for a clinching touchdown with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter and scored on a 13-yard run and ran 47 yards for a touchdown with an intercepted pass.

Granite Hills made it difficult for Allen, who completed only 5 passes in 15 attempts, with 4 interceptions, and rushed for only 36 yards in 11 carries.

Allen wasn‘t dismayed, pointing to his defensive effort:  “That’s the first game all year that I was really sticking people out there.”

SEMIFINALS

Almost 7,500 persons jammed Southwestern College and witnessed one of the all-time San Diego Section postseason games between schools located only three miles apart near the San Diego-National City boundary.

Lincoln led, 20-7, at halftime but coach Dave Lay’s tough Sweetwater Red Devils battled back to take the lead.

Sweetwater kept the ball for all but 90 seconds of the third quarter and went ahead, 21-20, on George Stoutenburg’s two touchdown passes.

The Red Devils seemingly had the Hornets in their grasp when Lincoln was faced with third down, 35 yards to go, from Sweetwater’s 45 after Allen was sacked for 10 yards, which followed a 15-yard penalty.

The scoreboard clock drifted to under three minutes.

Lincoln didn’t panic.

Allen pitched the ball wide to Johnny Green and the Red Devils’ defense converged to cover what looked like a sweep.

But Green pulled up near the right sideline and lofted a 40-yard pass to Anthony Kelly, who caught the ball between two defenders for a first down at the five-yard line.

Allen put the Hornets in front again with a three-yard pass to Dean Alexander.

Lincoln rode out the final 2:00 of a 26-21 victory and was going to the finals.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Piece of cake.

Allen set a CIF record with 5 touchdowns and rushed for 197 yards in nine carries.  He scored from 30, 85, 20, and 10 yards and on a 60-yard interception return.

The Hornets defeated Kearny, 35-6, and as Allen said, “We had one thing to prove and that’s that we are No. 1.  We did it.”

“I’ll say it again, the 1976 team (which had a 7-2 record) had more talent, but this team put it together by staying together,” said Player.  “It’s a selfless team, a group of players who want to win for their teammates as much as for themselves.”

Allen spent the game’s last six minutes relaxing as he walked up and down the Hornets’ bench in San Diego Stadium, high-fiving and back-slapping his teammates.

In 13 games, Allen completed 54 per cent of his passes (78×145) for 1,434 yards and 9 touchdowns.  He rushed for 1,098 yards, averaging 8.3 yards for 132 attempts, and scored 12 touchdowns.

But Allen was named San Diego Section player of the year…as a defender.  He made 94 unassisted tackles and had a hand in 217 from his free safety position..

EMBREY HANGS UP WHISTLE

Bob (Chick) Embrey, an all-Southern California performer at halfback in 1944, and head coach since 1956, was ending a remarkable career  at Escondido.

“People are going to think I’m stepping down because we’re having a rough season (3-3, with the losses all by less than a touchdown),” Embrey told Steve Brand.

“I wasn’t motivated to do the job any longer,” said the always candid coach.  “I plan to stay on and teach and maybe help out with the Jayvees in a few years.”

Embrey’s last team was 4-5, only the fourth losing squad in his 22 seasons.  “A minor factor,” said the coach. “I felt I should stay through this year as a commitment to the seniors.”

Embrey retired with a career record of 144-66-4 (.682) and held the County record for most victories, which included San Diego Section titles in 1960 and ’63, and a tie for the title in ’69.

“At one time Escondido High was the only school in this area,” Embrey remembered.  “Then they split and split again, forming new schools (Orange Glen and San Pasqual) which cut down on our enrollment.

The legendary North County boss smiled.  “And each one of those schools wanted to make their reputation by beating Escondido,” he said.

Times had changed.

NO TIME FOR CHIT CHAT

Julian, 1-1-1 at the start of the season, outscored its last five opponents, 146-11, and shut out Army-Navy, 35-0, for the small schools’ title, but there would be no coffee klatches in the mountains with head coach Bill Nolan.

Not even a slice of apple at one of the local pie shops.

“We don’t have booster club meetings and we don’t take films,” said Nolan.   “I can’t see spending half my time in front of a projector.”

Nolan may have trod a different coaching path, but he read the community.  Julian, he said, was like any other small town.

We love you, coach, win or tie.

“The community doesn’t like to lose,” Nolan said.  “In fact, my second year here we didn’t make the playoffs and it almost cost me my job.”

Nolan had compiled a 30-22-3 record and had won two Class A championships since becoming head coach in 1970.

The Eagles’ 7-1-1 record this season was a historic best for the school, which opened in 1893 but didn’t play football until 1967.

FIT TO BE TIED

The Orange Glen-San Pasqual rivalry is called the Battle of Bear Valley Parkway, because the schools are located within 4 miles of each other on the thoroughfare in east Escondido.

Neither the varsity, junior varsity or freshmen teams of both schools could claim victory or had to live with a loss.  The big boys tied, 20-20, the JV’s deadlocked, 14-14, and the freshmen scratched to a 0-0 finish.

SNAP CALL BAD CALL?

Controversy, always hovering, reared up in the Castle Park-Vista quarterfinals game.

Vista, trailing, 14-12, had driven 67 yards to the Trojans’ 18-yard line with 2:56 remaining.

Panthers quarterback Jon Korcheran rolled left, and then threw back across the middle.

Richard Bisset, circling out of the backfield, jumped to catch the pass and was immediately hit by Castle Park defenders, who separated Bisset from the ball.

Touchdown, ruled official Bill Tellous, who was straddling the goal line.

“I’ll admit, it was close…could have gone either way,” Bisset told Hank Wesch of The San Diego Union.  “I really thought I had the ball long enough but didn’t think the official thought so.”

Bisset’s body language suggested fumble: “I got mad and started jumping up and down but when I turned around, I saw the ref signal touchdown.”

Trojans coach Gil Warren railed against the possession call.  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” stormed the veteran coach.

Vista’s 18-14 victory was followed by a 21-7 loss to Kearny in the semifinals.

KEARNY MIRACLE

Tom Barnett would never forget his third game as a head coach.

The Kearny mentor watched his team resourcefully score 22 points in the last 6:55 to defeat Patrick Henry, coached by first-year mentor Dale Twombley, 28-26, in what would be the Eastern League title decider.

Patrick Henry lost four fumbles, including two in the fourth quarter, the first at the Komets’ 34, followed shortly by Marty Hunter’s 37-yard touchdown pass to Tony Ford.

The Patriots lost the ball again 50 seconds later and the Komets drove 23 yards to Stanley Holmes’s touchdown with 4:33 left.  A two-point conversion narrowed the Patriots’ lead to 26-20.

Four plays later Kearny again had the ball, but Hunter was intercepted by Eddie Wilson deep in Henry territory.

With fourth down on their eight-yard line and 33 seconds remaining, Henry’s Matt Kofler accepted a safety.

The score now was 26-22 but Kofler seemed to move Henry out of danger with a robust, 70-yard punt.

From the Komets’ 26-yard line, Hunter found Ford down the middle for a 43-yard gain to Henry’s 31.

Five seconds remained and Hunter, appearing trapped on the sideline, lofted a cross-field, 31-yard pass to D.J. Jones, who caught the ball for the winning touchdown as time ran out.

“I didn’t know where the line of scrimmage was,” said Hunter.  “I saw him open and threw it.”

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Earnel Durden was an all-America football player at Oregon State and he earned rare praise from head coach Tommy Prothro, a coach not given to hyperbole.

“Durden was a real gung-ho player,” said Prothro, who admired the former Los Angeles city player of the year from Manual Arts  for his toughness and passion, whether running the ball or blocking in the Beavers’ single wing attack.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Durden,  a coach on Prothro’s San Diego Chargers staff, had a son leading the football team at Helix.

Quarterback Mike Durden, a star in his own right,  spoke of the group concept.

“I consider that the line has to block, I have to throw, and someone has to receive,” said Durden, who also was a starting guard in basketball and a sub 49-second quarter miler on the track team.

QUICK KICKS

Lincoln had no home games and competed at nine different sites in 13 weeks:  Point Loma, Mesa College, Southwestern College, Patrick Henry, La Jolla, Madison, Serra, Hoover, and San Diego Stadium…Stanley Murphy, who played at San Diego High, was named the Cavers’ head coach…Murphy’s older brother, H.D., was the star of the 1959 Southern Section Southern Division championship team…geography meant nothing, but the West defeated the East, 22-14, in the Grossmont League  carnival…the West’s Granite Hills, 11 miles East of Helix, outscored the Highlanders, 9-0, in the fifth and final, 12-minute quarter… announced attendance was 12,205 at San Diego Stadium for Kearny and Lincoln…the winning Hornets arrived to a welcoming crowd of more than 700 on campus…Gov. Brown would not sign a bill that shifted the burden of malpractice suits from team doctors, who volunteered their time and service, to school districts and, ultimately, to taxpayers…lawyers got involved and the issue wasn’t settled before the season, but doctors were given some leeway and continued to staff games…the Grossmont District superintendent came under fire when he suggested banning all interscholastic sports because of budget woes….

Balboa Stadium’s days were numbered.

When construction was completed in 1915, the concrete horseshoe seating more than 23,000 was the largest municipally-owned stadium in the world, according to Don King, author of “Caver Conquest.”

The 1933 magnitude 6.3 earthquake that destroyed 230 school buildings in Southern California, including many at Long Beach Poly, resulted in the Field Act, government legislation that was specifically for schools in California.

The Field Act mandated that all pre-1930 buildings be demolished unless they were of earthquake resistant construction.

Since Balboa Stadium was owned by the City of San Diego, the edifice did not come under the Field Act.

But after San Diego Stadium opened in 1967, the city leased Balboa Stadium to the San Diego Unified School District, a move that put the aging facility in the crosshairs of the Field Act.

The hastily constructed second deck added in 1961 to accommodate the San Diego Chargers was found to be unsafe by earthquake standards.

By 1974 repairs allowed for use of Balboa for two years, but the extension ran out and major improvements, mostly to the second deck, were not made. Had there been no second deck , the stadium, anchored against a canyon, would have been useful for years.

A condemned Balboa Stadium soon would follow Russ Auditorium and  many campus buildings and the gymnasium at San Diego High that were bulldozed beginning in 1973.

Gov. Brown’s office ruled that only the playing field could be put to use. The Stadium became dark on Friday nights this year as City schools played elsewhere.

Lights were turned on only once, when private schools St. Augustine and University met in the “Holy Bowl”.

The end was near.