Jerry Powell’s performance was typical of one with literally the last name in San Diego prep athletics.

Powell was the youngest of four brothers whose achievements resonated here and in professional ranks over three decades, beginning after World War II, when Charlie Powell first set foot on the San Diego High campus.

Charlie (football, basketball, track, baseball), Ellsworth (basketball), and Art Powell (football, basketball, track) starred for the Cavemen from 1948-56.

Charlie and Art went on to long careers in pro football and Charlie also was a heavyweight boxing challenger, rising to No. 5 in the ratings.

LEAVES THE HILLTOP

Jerry burst on the scene at San Diego in 1965, quarterbacking the junior varsity to a 9-0 record, but the youngest Powell transferred to Lincoln before the end of his sophomore year.

San  Diego never recovered and Powell created his own legacy at the school whose birth in 1949 (and Morse’s in 1962) eventually led to San Diego’s athletic decline.

Powell led coach Shan Deniston’s varsity to a 7-2 record in 1966.  One of its wins was 31-20 over Eastern League champion Morse, but upset losses to Hoover and St. Augustine knocked the Hornets out of the playoffs.

BOSSES TINKER WITH POSTSEASON

Not long after that season San Diego Section administrators made a decision that would have a profound effect on Powell’s senior year.

The bosses found a way to not extend the playoffs but to make them more inclusive.

They decided to anoint two champions.

The San Diego Section board of managers, made up of various administrators, did this by creating a playoff “Metropolitan Conference” of teams from the Eastern, Western, and Grossmont leagues.

A similar “County Conference” of teams from the Metropolitan, Avocado, and Palomar leagues  was put in place.

RULING FAVORS HORNETS

While the two-conference idea was not popular among prep football followers and purists (the format was for football only; the other major sports followed previous guidelines), coaches and players had an additional championship for which to compete.

The good news was that an “at-large” team from each  AA league was going to be invited to the postseason.

Lincoln was a beneficiary, as was Escondido.

The Hornets, who finished second to St. Augustine in the Eastern League and would have been an observer under the pre-1967 playoff setup, won the championship playoff of the Metropolitan Conference.

A longer, more maneuverable, three-week playoff season would come in the future.

Administrators were reacting, slowly.

REDEMPTION

Lincoln beaten, 20-13, when St. Augustine overcame a fourth-quarter deficit in the teams’ regular-season encounter, was Eastern runner-up but defeated the Saints, 28-0, in the championship rematch.

Lincoln first had to survive a scare against Birt Slater’s typically tough Kearny Komets.

After Chester Wells recovered a Lincoln fumble on the Hornets’ 28-yard line with 2:38 remaining in the game, quarterback Wayne Obereutter pushed Kearny to Lincoln’s one-foot line.

There the Komets expired, out of time outs and not able to run another play.

Obereutter dropped to his knees in frustration on the rain-soaked Balboa Stadium field.

MISMATCHED REMATCH

Powell rushed for 124 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown hike, and passed for 136 yards, including an 87-yard touchdown strike to Mike Chapman, and passed or kicked for four points after in Hornets-Saints II.

Powell was San Diego Section player of the year, all-state, and a prep all-America, but he shared Eastern League back-of-the-year honors with St. Augustine quarterback Reed Chastang.

San Diego’s Dale Davis was lineman of the year and one of St. Augustine’s all-leaguers was tackle Dave Gross, years later a four-decade head coach at San Diego section schools.

THE RIGHT CITRUS

Orange Glen topped Chula Vista, 16-7, in the County finals as quarterback Paul Moyneur, the Avocado League player of the year, ran for 171 yards in 19 carries and scored on runs of 23 and 32 yards.

A winner-take-all, Lincoln-Orange Glen game would have extended the postseason into three weeks but that was not going to happen.

The 10-1 Hornets would have been favored over the 11-0 Patriots.

NORTH COUNTY FRENZY

Escondido High was 68 years older than Orange Glen and had won 242 games, compared with the Patriots’ 16 since they became the city’s second high school in 1963.

But their midseason battle for Avocado League supremacy was billed as the Super Bowl of the North County.

Escondido was coached by the legendary Bob (Chick) Embrey,  Orange Glen by Dick Disney, a standout running back in the early ‘fifties at Point Loma and a former assistant to Embrey at Escondido.

The undefeated, 6-0 new school, 4 ½ miles away on the city’s East side, played its home games at Escondido High and were taking on the tradition-strong Cougars, 5-1.

Bill Center of The San Diego Union reported a turnout of 12,000 persons as Orange Glen defeated the Cougars, 14-7.

“We played Escondido before 11,500 in a stadium that seats 8,500,” said Disney, who claimed that he “looked around to send in a play one time and there was a 45-year-old lady sitting on the bench.”

Orange Glen defeated Chula Vista before 8,000 persons at Aztec Bowl.

WITHER BREITBARD GAME

Bob Breitbard’s annual College Prep All-Star game, a fixture on the sports calendar for 19 summers, passed into history after Grossmont’s Brian Sipe led the County all-stars to a surprising, 13-7 win over the City.

Sipe, 1966 San Diego Section co-player of the year with Hoover’s John Morstad, completed 13 of 26 passes for 210 yards and 2 touchdowns as the County evened the series at 2 wins apiece.

A crowd of 9,721 first announced at Balboa Stadium by Breitbard officials, was amended to 7,477.

STARTED IN 1949

The game had come under criticism from junior college coaches in 1966.  The coaches  did not like the event date (usually late August) and were fearful of injuries to players who would be reporting within a week.

Bob McInerney, the Breitbard Foundation’s executive director,  was defensive when addressing questions from the media and seemed to challenge  anyone to come up with a better solution.

The popular game made its debut in 1949 and hewed to a format of all-Southern California against all-Los Angeles City through 1955.

The game became San Diego County versus L.A. City in 1956, and finally went to the San Diego City-County format in 1964.

Insurance costs for liability and some occasional rowdyism at the teams’ training camps, Marine Corps Recruit Depot and Naval Training Center, were two of Breitbard’s reasons for bailing.

UPWARDLY MOBILE?

University left the  suburban Avocado League for the urban Western circuit and found that the cost of living had gone up, taxes were higher, and real estate more expensive.

The Dons were 40-17-4 since 1960 as members of the Southern Prep or Avocado leagues but fell to 2-5-1 this season, the poorest record in coach Bull Trometter’s 13 seasons.

Trometter sensed a long season when, trailing Lincoln only 13-0 after three quarters in the season opener, the Dons fell apart as the Hornets erupted for 26 fourth-quarter points in a 39-0 victory.

NO “CARRYOVER”

Marian  coach Jan Chapman declared that “when we tied San Marcos, 20-20, we proved to ourselves that we can play with anyone in the Palomar League.”

The Crusaders finished 5-3-1 and had 17 returning lettermen but would finish only 4-4 in 1968 and lose to perennially powerful San Marcos, 27-6.

Monte Vista was walking proud at the start of the season, having won four consecutive Grossmont League games at the end of the 1966 campaign, ending a streak of 34 consecutive league losses; the school opened in 1961 and the Monarchs never had won a league game.

The success of 1966 meant nothing.  The Spring Valley school was 0-6-1 in Grossmont play.

UNDERMANNED

Bonita Vista, adding an 11^th grade in its second year, played a varsity schedule in its first attempt at football.

Schools that did not have a complement of grades 10, 11, 12, often tried playing a combined junior varsity-varsity slate, or all JV except for 1 or 2 majors.

The Barons fielded a varsity without any seniors. As expected, coach Wayne Whitby’s youngsters looked and felt as if they’d run a gauntlet of baseball bats.

Things looked fairly promising after a 19-10 loss to Calexico in the opening game, which was followed by a 40-7 victory over Wildomar Elsinore.

Reality set in.

The Barons dropped their next game, 47-0, to Brawley and gave up 287 points in their last 7, limping to the finish line with a 1-8 mark.

HARD ROCK

Barren, unlevel, cement-like fields at Mount Miguel, Monte Vista, Helix, Escondido, and La Jolla were cited by coaches.

“It worries me to just to be on one of those fields,” said Grossmont’s Pat Carroll.

“There’s  a lack of grass, uneven surfaces, and overwork,” said another Grossmont League coach who didn’t want his name in the newspaper.

The coach pointed out that the situation at Mount Miguel resulted from “ten weeks of drills, varsity and JV games, and Pop Warner activity.  Then the field was patch-worked (with) dead clumps of sod.”

Granite Hills’ Jim Symington pointed out the danger of sprinkler heads.  “They’re two to three inches above the ground,” he said.  “Those are really dangerous.”

The solution would be more fields and artificial surfaces in the future.

HAIL, MONTEZUMA!

Gil Warren was named head coach at Castle Park and Dave Lay at Sweetwater, pairing as rivals two former San Diego State teammates.

Lay, a tackle from Grossmont High, and Warren, a wingback-defensive back out of Sweetwater, were on Don Coryell’s first Aztecs team in 1961.

Each coached 11 years at his respective school.  Warren had a record of 87 wins, 23 losses, and three ties for a .783 winning percentage and was 7-3-1 against Sweetwater.

Lay was 82-30-4 (.724) and, including another head coaching stint at Orange Glen, compiled a career mark of 101-35-5 (.734) in 13 seasons.

Warren’s 28-year record at Castle Park (he returned, from 1992-98 ), San Diego Southwest, and Olympian, was 218-88-5 (.709).

Lay liked to run the ball.  Sweetwater rushed for 525 yards in Lay’s first victory, 34-7 over La Jolla.

QUICK KICKS—St. Augustine’s 32-6 win over Hoover gave the Saints their first Eastern League title and first league championship in the 42 years the school had been playing football…for most of that time the Saints played an independent schedule…several Lincoln players went on to play college football and safety Doug Jones had a six-season  career in the NFL…Jones was  Kansas City’s sixth-round draft choice in 1973 out of Northridge State and played for three teams…Oceanside’s 19-game Avocado League winning streak ended with a 14-0 loss to Orange Glen…the Pirates also were stunned in the season opener, losing, 38-20, to El Capitan as the Vaqueros’ 150-pound workhorse, Fred Hight, rushed for 285 yards in 41 carries and scored 4 touchdowns…Hight also averaged 12 yards on three pass receptions…the eight teams in the playoffs had a combined, 59-9-3 record:  St. Augustine,  9-0,  Orange Glen,  9-0, Lincoln, 8-1, Kearny, 6-1-2,  Escondido, 7-2, Grossmont, 7-1, and Chula Vista, 6-3, and San Marcos, 7-1-1…future all-pro cornerback Willie Buchanon was an all-Avocado League end at Oceanside…all-league tackle Pete Shmock of San Dieguito held the County shot put record at 64 feet, 11 inches, for several years, was best man at the wedding of  University of Oregon teammate Dan Fouts,  and earned international status when he qualified for the 1980 Olympics…his lifetime best was  69-3…more often than not, Shmock’s name was misspelled Schmock in the media…George Hoagland announced his decision to retire after Madison’s seventh straight loss…the Warhawks were 18-35-1 under Hoagland, the school’s first coach who started the program at Madison in 1963 after years at San Diego High… “I can’t stand to get beat,” said Hoagland…”I came from the school of winners and I can’t be anything else.”….

Helix received 19 first-place votes and Mission Hills 3 in the first, 2015  Union-Tribune football poll.

The Highlanders open their season at 2 p.m. Saturday at Cathedral against Arizona’s Scottsdale Chaparral in one of the annual “Comrade in Arms” games, while Mission Hills takes on visiting Los Angeles Crenshaw Friday at 7.

Game of the week is Friday night at 7:30, when Rancho Santa Margarita, ranked 13th in the Los Angeles Times, visits Cathedral.

Other interesting intersectionals include Carlsbad versus Phoenix Brophy Prep Saturday at 7:30  at Cathedral; Christian at Brawley Friday at 7:00, and Phoenix Desert Vista  at La Costa Canyon Friday at 7.

Most appealing matchup of preseason Top 10 teams has El Capitan and Madison meeting at Cathedral Friday at 5.

Week 1:

#	Team (1st place votes)	Points	’14 W-L	Previous
1.	Helix (19)	217	10-3	3
2.	Mission Hills (3)	198	9-3	4
3.	Cathedral	150	10-2	5
4.	St. Augustine	134	8-5	6
5.	Oceanside	101	14-1	1
6.	Madison	84	9-4	9
7.	Eastlake	77	7-4	10
8.	El Capitan	51	14-1	2
9.	Torrey Pines	43	6-5	15
10.	Carlsbad	39	5-6	NR

Others receiving votes (points, 2014 record & ranking in parenthesis):                               San Marcos (27, 10-2, 12^th), Rancho Bernardo (22, 10-3, 7^th), Christian, 18, 13-1, 8^th), Ramona, 13, 8-3, 13^th), Steele Canyon (10, 7-4, NR), Bonita Vista (5, 5-6, NR), Valhalla (5, 4-7, NR), El Camino (4, 7-6, 16^th), La Costa Canyon (4, 7-6, NR), The Bishop’s (3, 13-0, 11^th), Granite Hills (1, 9-4, NR).

Twenty-two media and CIF representatives vote each week: John Maffei (U-T San Diego), Steve Brand, Terry Monahan, Don Norcross, Jim Lindgren, Tom Saxe, Rick Hoff (U-T San Diego correspondents), Bill Dickens, Chris Davis (East County Sports.com), Steve (Biff) Dolan, Rick (Red) Hill (Mountain Country 107.9 FM), John (Coach) Kentera, Ted Mendenhall, Bob Petinak (The Mighty 1090), Rick Willis, Brandon Stone (KUSI-TV), Rick Smith (partletonsports.com), Jerry Schniepp, John Labeta (CIF San Diego Section), Bodie DeSilva (sandiegopreps.com), Drew Smith (sdcoastalsports.com), Lisa Lane (San Diego Preps Insider).

FINAL 2014 POLL

#	Team (1st place votes)	W-L	Points	Previous
1	Oceanside (19)	13-0	190	1
2	El Capitan	13-0	160	3
3	Helix	10-3	150	5
4	Mission Hills	9-3	118	4
5	Cathedral	10-2	107	2
6	St. Augustine	8-5	84	NR
7	Rancho Bernardo	10-3	64	7
8	Christian	13-0	64	8
9	Madison	9-4	43	NR
10	Eastlake	7-4	27	6

LIKE FATHERS, LIKE SONS

David Justice, Jr., is a sophomore quarterback at St. Augustine and the son of the former major league outfielder of the same name who hit 305 home runs in a 14-season career.

Cathedral quarterback Tate Haynes is the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Mike Haynes, who intercepted 46 passes in his 14-season NFL career.

Scripps Ranch quarterback Zach Podraza is the son of Tim Podraza, veteran NFL game official

CARDINALS PUBBED

Hoover was featured in Fuel, a magazine dedicated to high school football. Coach Jerry Ralph and two of his players were selected for  the magazine cover.

Ralph was interviewed for an article that described a cooperative effort with school faculty. The idea was to improve Cardinals players academics and ensure their eligibility.

The Cardinals are 25-11 in Ralph’s three seasons and he is one of 41 coaches in the San Diego Section who have won at least 100 games.  Ralph is 121-68-2 for a .636 winning percentage in 16 seasons at four schools.

Hoover’s opening game Friday is against Ron Hamamoto’s Monte Vista’s Monarchs. Hamamoto is the leading active San Diego Section coach with 201 victories.

QUICK KICKS—Bobby Hatchett replaced Brandon Hawkins as coach at San Ysidro as preseason training was beginning…Hawkins stepped in as head coach for Terry Tucker in Week 3 of 2014…former NFL linebacker Na’il Diggs is an assistant coach at Point Loma… Diggs, a ninth-round draft choice out of Ohio State by the Green Bay Packers in 2000, finished a 12-season, 170-game career with the San Diego Chargers in 2011…the field at La Jolla is under repair and the Vikings will play their home games at the new Mission Bay layout, some 60 seasons after Mission Bay began playing  its home games at La Jolla…Kearny returns home to a new stadium…Crawford will be on the road as the football field and the baseball diamond exchange places…

 

Seeking  head job?  Apply here.

At least 18 football vacancies have been filled in the San Diego Section as 96 schools await the first week of action Aug. 28-29.

The 18th newcomer will be Darryel Neal of Salton City West Shores, which is back in the Citrus League, in which it was a member from 1998-2007 before moving to the Southern Section.

Calvary Christian Vista either is closing or not fielding a team.

New coaches and those they succeeded:

Name	School	Replaces	’14 Record
Nehemiah Bronson	Army-Navy	Fran Fanene	1-9
Sean Johnson	Calexico	Joe Bielma	2-9
David Wong	Calexico Vincent Memorial	Daniel Galvez	10-2
Brennan Petree	Calipatria	David Shaw	1-9
Daryl Butterfield	Chula Vista	Drew Westling	2-8
Parris Piscona	El Cajon Valley	Norm Whitehead	3-9
John Mitosinka	El Centro Southwest	Joe Connor	4-7
D.J. Walcott	Francis Parker	John Morrison	6-6
Will Gray	Kearny	Kenny Nears	0-10
Bernard Vann	Mountain Empire	Bill Dobson	5-5
Dave Rodriguez	Oceanside	John Carroll	14-1
Darryel Neal	Salton City West Shores	David Guillen	0-8
Charles James	San Diego	Knengi Martin	1-9
Paco Silva	San Diego Southwest	Frank Paredes	0-10
Bobby Hatchett	San Ysidro	Brandon Hawkins	3-7
Sergio Diaz	Serra	Brian Basteyns	2-8
Rali Schwartz	The Rock	Scotty James	3-6
Edward Wean	Warner	Charlie Cheek	4-5

 

 

 

San Diego Section bosses, unlike their successors 40 years later, were determined to keep the playoffs short and sweet and the season’s length to their liking.

The administrators came up with a format that was surprisingly agreed to by St. Augustine and the 11 city schools and created an odd regular-season conclusion this year.

The final week’s schedule, described by some in the media as the “lame duck card,” offered no title-deciding or playoff-qualifying contests.  All Eastern and Western league action was nonleague.

The two city circuits had completed league play a week early.

Games and opponents for the final slate  were shuffled to allow for a “private playoff” between Morse, champion of the Eastern League, and Western League winner Point Loma.

This was possible when San Diego and Mission Bay, Morse’s and Point Loma’s regularly-scheduled opponents, were switched and San Diego played Mission Bay.

The Cavers-Buccaneers contest freed the Tigers and Pointers for their postseason “play-in” game.

The playoff format was complete after Point Loma defeated Morse, 21-14, to gain the round of four the following week, assuring a postseason run of no more than two weeks.

SCHOOLS “PLAYED”

Harlon Bartlett of the Evening Tribune came out swinging in September, writing that the 12 Eastern and Western League members “fell victim of the hoodwink before the first missed block.

“It all happened last winter when city administrators allowed  the SD-CIF council to allocate one playoff berth to the finest football flesh in the CIF,” said Bartlett.

Bartlett meant that the talent in the Eastern and Western leagues was superior to that of the other major alliances in the County and that the two city entities had agreed to a ridiculous proposal.

“That (Eastern or Western) team then will join with the Metro (Chula Vista),  Grossmont (Helix), and Avocado (Oceanside) champions to form the usual, four-team field,” Bartlett continued.

The Avocado League, designated as small school since it was formed in 1953, became the fifth major loop this season.  This could have thrown a wrench into the council’s desire to begin the postseason with only four teams.

“I don’t know what will happen after this year,” said CIF commissioner Don Clarkson.  “I know the senior high principals requested a change be made for next year.  The only answer to this thing probably is re-leaguing or expanding the playoffs.”

AN EIGHT-TEAM BRACKET?

By adding league runners-up (Bennie Edens’s suggestion in 1965), the following second place teams would be in the postseason this year:  University (8-1), Grossmont (7-1), Kearny (6-3) and either Hoover (6-2-1) or St. Augustine (4-4).

Not exactly a flood of mediocrity and adding only one week to the season.

Other teams that finished lower than second place, such as Lincoln (7-2). Carlsbad (7-2), Granite Hills (6-2),  and La Jolla (6-3) would have been on the outside, looking in.

CAVERS, BUCCANEERS  JOUST

The game had school pride ramifications.

By winning, Mission Bay would finish with a  4-4 record, its first nonlosing campaign since 1958.

By winning, San Diego High would avoid its worst season since the Hilltoppers first teed it up in 1891.

Staring at a possible 0-9 finish, the Cavers faced the ignominy of being less than the 0-6-2 club of 1961, the 0-5-1 of ’08, and the 0-3-1 of ’00.

Quarterback Leonard Simon, whose brother Steve was the signal caller in San Diego’s last championship run  in 1959, passed 47 yards to Howard Johnson for one score and three yards to Howard Chase for another in the fourth quarter as the Cavemen rallied to a 19-14 victory.

Perhaps just as memorable, a dustup started on the last play of the game and erupted into what observers described as a “wild melee”.

Order was restored and San Diego stayed out of the history book.

THEY SAID IT

Helix’ Warren Vinton, on  his playoff opponent’s offensive specialty unit:  “We’re a little worried about Point Loma’s ‘Dirty Dogs’, but (defensive coach) Bill White has come up with a rabies defense….

Bennie Edens on returning 21 lettermen from the 1965 team that went to the San Diego Section finals:  “We had a good year, so we lettered everybody.”

Hoover’s Roy Engle on his reluctance to talk about injuries:  “After all, there are 500 mothers of Hoover High kids who won’t let their sons play football.”

Edens on some assertive ball carrying by John Cervinsky in a 25-6 playoff win over Oceanside:  “He ran like a Tiger, and I don’t mean a Morse Tiger.”

Point Loma quarterback Bill Gable, after the Pointers rushed for 337 yards against Oceanside:  “I didn’t think they were very good.”

San Diego’s Joe Duke:  “If I had all of the players at San Diego, Lincoln, and Morse, I’d have a pretty good club.”

HORNETS’ GAIN

San Diego’s most painful loss was quarterback Jerry Powell, the last in a long line of great athletes from the same family.

Powell transferred to Lincoln as a junior and led the Hornets to a 7-2 record after guiding the Cavemen’s junior varsity to an undefeated season in 1965.

MORSTAD OR ADAMS?

Hoover’s John Morstad, the County’s third leading scorer with 16 touchdowns and 4 points after for 100 points, was being compared to previous Cardinals standouts.

“John Adams was a lot bigger (215 pounds) and could run over people,” said Morstad’s coach, Roy Engle, “but I don’t think Adams had the mobility Morstad has or John’s ability to score from anywhere on the field.”

Morstad, 6 feet, 175 pounds, also had a 50-yard average on 6 kickoff returns.

Adams scored 108 points in 1954 and generally was considered the school’s all-time best, along with George Stephenson (1951).  Bob Miller set the school record with 126 points in 1947.

Engle tied for the County lead with 57 points when he led Hoover to a 7-1-1 record in 1935.

THE CATHOLIC BOWL

St. Augustine, playing football since 1924, and University, playing football since 1957, met in Balboa Stadium in the first game between the San Diego Section’s largest Catholic institutions.

Uni had been trying to get on the Saints’ schedule since Robert (Bull) Trometter became the Dons’ head coach in 1960.

As writer Jim Lindgren pointed out, “It turned out to be a case of dreadfully poor timing for the Nutmeg Street gang.”

Uni Quarterback Steve Dunning passed for two touchdowns in the first six minutes and the Dons’ defense allowed only two first downs as the school located across Linda Vista Road from the University of San Diego scored a shocking, 30-7 victory.

As far as timing  was concerned, it was a down year (4-4) for St. Augustine and an up year (8-1) for Uni.

Dunning was the number two selection in the 1970 amateur baseball draft, picked  by the Cleveland Indians out of Stanford University.  Dunning became the  second player in draft history to bypass the minor leagues and go directly to the majors.

Dunning pitched seven seasons for five teams and held the distinction of hitting a grand slam home run off the Oakland A’s Diego Segui in 1971. The feat was not duplicated by another pitcher until the Seattle Mariners’ Felix Hernandez turned the trick in 2008.

A star running back on Dunning’s University team was Mike Carey, destined to  become one of the NFL’s most respected game referees.

ROWDYISM

City schools’ superintendent Ralph Dailard imposed an embargo on night football.  All games of Oct. 8 were played in the afternoon at the suggestion of police chief Wesley Sharp.

Sharp described a postgame beef at Morse after the Tigers’ game with Point Loma on Sept. 30 as “a near riot” and complained that he didn’t have enough patrolmen available to handle possible problems involving night football games every Friday.

Sharp was criticized publicly by one parent who said, “If police do not have the manpower to handle disturbances, then there should be a priority in developing the police budget.”

Parent Louise Dyer added that  it was “extremely unfortunate” that police at the outset did not make it clear that students were not involved in the disturbance.”

An investigation showed that  three students were involved and were expelled from school.

The school board, with Dailard pushing, lifted the ban after one week.

Sharp, who came in for criticism throughout the process, said he was “sorry the board of education did not agree with my recommendation.  We will continue to police the games to the best of our ability.”

CIF commissioner Don Clarkson estimated that city schools lost about $7,000 in revenue by going from night to day.

HYPERBOLE

Coaches engage in  glowing adjectives.

Pick a season.  Pick a coach.   “Best I’ve ever seen,” is popular.   So is “best we’ve ever had.”

Bennie Edens was more specific when he declared lineman Bill Alexander “the best pulling tackle I’ve ever had.”

Joe Duke was more general, boasting that the Cavemen had “more backfield speed than I’ve ever had.”

Helix’ Warren Vinton called Mark Brown “the best all-around running back we’ve ever had.”

NEW RULES

–The official clock stopped each time a team made a first down, to allow for the down markers to be moved.  It probably added 4 or 5 minutes to the game.

–Coaching from the sidelines was legalized.

BASEBALL’S HIS GAME

Harry Elliott  played centerfield for the pennant-winning, Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres in 1954.  Elliott had 224 base hits and his .350 average led the league.

Elliott joined the St. Louis Cardinals  and made the team in 1955 as an extra outfielder and pinch hitter.  He returned to the Padres for the 1956 season and retired after playing for Chattanooga in the Southern Association in 1958.

Elliott used his college degree and began a long teaching career at El Cajon Valley High. He was named the Braves’ baseball coach in 1960, but answered the call from principal John Cornelius when football coach Ed Foster left after the 1965 season.

Elliott, who played football at the University of Minnesota in the 1940s for the legendary Bernie Bierman, wore two hats for three seasons, one for baseball and and other for football,

Elliott’s first football team this season was 0-9 after returning one letterman and losing the other two from the 6-2-1 team of  ’65.

Elliott was able to devote all his time to baseball after posting a 3-21 record in three seasons in football.

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Escondido’s Bob Embrey rushed for 79 yards in 13 carries and scored a touchdown in the Cougars’ 26-7 win over Coronado.  Beaming on the sideline was his father, head coach Bob (Chick) Embrey.

Morse end Ernie Mallory’s dad played an important role in San Diego’s prep basketball history.  Ernie Mallory, Sr., was the top player on the 1935-36 San Diego High team that won the Southern California major division championship, the only such title ever won by a local school.

QUICK KICKS

The coaching landscape changed with 12 new bosses among the 42 schools playing …Oceanside’s 9-0 regular season represented the Pirates’ most successful since the 6-0 team in the war-shortened 1943 campaign…Helix,  9-1, enjoyed its best year since the 8-1’s of 1956 and ’61… Grossmont’s 7-1 was the best since a 9-1-1 record in 1947…San Marcos’ 340 points were divided by 17 players…the Knights defeated Marian, 47-13, for the  Class A championship…San Marcos had a scare during the season when it pulled out a 7-0 victory over the same team…The San Diego Union  student correspondent Anthony Cunningham kicked an extra point as the San Miguel School tied La Jolla Country Day, 13-13,  and won the Southern League championship…Hoover and Kearny opened against each other for the fourth successive season, the Cardinals winning, 26-24…Mission Bay had dropped 15 consecutive Western League games since 1963 and 14 in a row overall before Gary Myron passed five yards to Matt Maslowski on the last play of the game for a 20-19 win over La Jolla…Mar Vista tied Chula Vista, 7-7, on a spectacular, 82-yard, tackle-eligible play…Mario Alcantar passed 15 yards to to 200-pound Bill Homer, who lumbered 67 yards for the Mariners’ touchdown…Point Loma had its “Dirty Dogs” on offense, but defense was the Pointers’ game…Roger Wagar stopped Crawford possessions with 4 interceptions and Glenn Killingbeck ran 73 yards with a fifth  in the 14-6 victory over the Colts…Granite Hills’ 40-7 win over El Cajon Valley was its first over big brother…the Eagles’ campus, which opened in 1960, is located at 1719 E. Madison Avenue in El Cajon…the Braves’ home, opened in 1955, is at 1035  E. Madison, a separation of 1.8 miles….

 

 

 

 

Winston Yetta, who led Point Loma to a Southern California basketball championship in 1959-60, and Ray Brokaw, a member of Birt Slater’s first two teams at Kearny, have passed away.

Yetta, a three-sport performer—football, basketball, and baseball—was the catalyst in the Pointers’ surprising, five-game title run in the CIF Southern Section AA division.

Point guard in coach Hilbert Crosthwaite’s weaving, pass-first offense, Yetta scored 22 points as the Pointers defeated San Marino, 52-36, in the finals at Los Angeles State to finish the season with a 17-10 record.

Brokaw and his twin brother, Jay, were two-way linemen on Slater’s 5-4, 1959 squad that won the first championship of the Western League, upsetting Point Loma, 12-7, and earning a berth in the Southern Section playoffs.

The twins also were important contributors to the 1960 team that posted a 5-3 record.

The Brokaws were part of an eclectic group.

The 1960 team included all-league end Bob Mosley, who was a founding member of the band Moby Grape, and television newsman Harold (Red) Greene, reportedly the inspiration for the character played by Will Farrell in the movie Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

 

Ten active coaches are among the 41 who have won at least 100 games in the San Diego Section as teams  begin practice this week in advance of opening games Aug. 28.

Ron Hamamoto, 201-127-4 in 30 years at University, Rancho Bernardo, Lincoln, and Monte Vista, ranks eighth on the all-time list, 12 victories ahead of Rob Gilster, 189-117-5 at Orange Glen and Valley Center, 47 behind leader John Carroll, who retired at Oceanside after the 2014 season.

A 12-win season would tie Hamamoto with Jim Arnaiz, No. 7 all time with a 213-77-11 record in 27 campaigns at Helix.

At least two more could reach 100 wins this year. Damian Gonzalez is 92-77-3 in 14 seasons at Army-Navy and Poway, and Paul Gomes is 91-75-7 in 12 seasons at Escondido and Rancho Buena Vista.

Others moving up but still seasons away are Vista’s Dan Williams, 73-54-2 in 11 seasons, and Helix’ Troy Starr, 72-16-1 in six, and El Capitan’s Ron Burner, 70-44-2 in 10.

Damon Baldwin is 69-43-1 in 10 seasons at Ramona, Brian Hay 69-84 in 15 at El Centro Southwest, Hilltop, Mar Vista, and Sweetwater, and Tom Karlo 68-43-2 in 11 at Mount Miguel and Grossmont.

Go here for the complete “Coach 100 Club“, or click the Football menu item and then Coach 100 Club.

Please email Rick@partletonsports.com with corrections or additions.

The active leaders:

Name	School	Record	Pct.	Rank/Years
Ron Hamamoto (1)	Monte Vista	201-127-4	.611	8/30
Ron Gilster (2)	Valley Center	189-117-5	.616	11/26
Willie Matson (3)	Mission Bay	170-123-6	.573	12/26
Sean Doyle	Cathedral	155-79	.662	14/19
Gary Blevins	Mira Mesa	132-97-4	.575	20/21
Matt Oliver	Christian	128-56-3	.693	26/16
Chris Hauser (4)	Mission Hills	124-57-2	.680	28/15
Jerry Ralph (5)	Hoover	121-68-2	.636	30/16
Mike  Hastings	Point Loma	120-77-4	.607	33/17
Rick Jackson	Madison	100-31-1	.761	40/11

1) Hamamoto also was at University, Rancho Bernardo, and Lincoln.                                                                                                                   2) Gilster also was  at Orange Glen.                                                                                                                                                                           3) Matson also was at Kearny, Hoover, and University City.                                                                                                                                     4) Hauser also was at Vista.                                                                                                                                                                                         5) Ralph also was at Santana, St. Augustine, and Del Norte.