Download complete file with overview and stats: 1928

1928
Coaches:
Ralph Morrison, football, varsity basketball and baseball
Howard Firebaugh, lightweight football and basketball and track.

Santa Cruz High School won six league titles this year: varsity football, track, tennis, and baseball, and lightweight football and track.

SC won its first league championship in 1924. However, that year both SC and Hollister finished the season with a 2-1 record. The teams played two playoff games, both ended in ties. Finally, the schools were named co-champions and a coin toss decided which went to the NCS playoffs. A coin was flipped and Hollister went to the playoffs.

The high school carpentry class built a new score board at Memorial Field. Later, they constructed a score board in the gym too. Unlike today, it was common for students to do a lot of work at the school. At that time, hands on skills were highly valued.

FOOTBALL – The Santa Cruz Cardinal
SC won its first individual heavyweight football championship.
Practice games:
(listed as the team Santa Cruz High played then the score SC-rival)
San Jose 26-0
Centerville 0-0
Hayward 0-26
Palo Alto 6-6
Los Gatos 26-0
Practice record 2-1-2
League:
(listed as the team Santa Cruz High played then the score SC-rival)
Salinas 12-6
Hollister 7-6
Watsonville 6-0
League record 3-0
The Cardinals played Monterey, the winner of B League, to see who would advance to NCS playoffs, they lost 0-7
Season record 5-2-2.

Notes:
Monterey applied to become an A league member.
Louis Rittenhouse was elected captain of the football team. He played two years as a lightweight, and last year played as a varsity lineman. Returning varsity players beside Rittenhouse are:
Fullback: Anthony Antonneti
Center: Sebe Caldwell and the largest Cardinal at 190
Guard: Tom Vanatta

The starting backs are:
Quarterback: Bud Beasley
Halfbacks: Arne Iverson and Antonneti
Fullback: Vernon Anthony
Linemen: Joe Langtagne, Burton Nutter, Eugene Trask, Converes Stone, Caldwell, Vanatta, Stevens, and Binley
Others who played were: Messick, Metcalf , Bob Moore, De Toy, Stieger, Stocking, Stevenson, Kiff and Jim O’Conner.

“All CCAL” football players
Lantagne, end
Vanatta, tackle
Antonneti, half back
Vernon Anthony, fullback
Bud Beasley, and Frank Trask were named “All CCAL” honorable mention.

LIGHTWEIGHTS
SC lightweights won their forth championship in a row and have gone undefeated in the league games for four straight years. In practice games, the SC Cardlets even beat Sunnyvale’s varsity team 13-6. They also rolled over the Del Monte Military Academy, winning 45-6.
Practice record 2-0
League scores:
(listed as the team Santa Cruz High played then the score SC-rival)
Salinas 6-6
Hollister 36-0
Watsonville 12-0
The playoff game with Salinas ended in regulation time 0-0 tie. The ensuing over time was settled by each team taking five plays each, alternating possession of the ball after every play, the team gaining the most yards won the game. SC gained the most yards to win the game 2-0.
League record 3-0.
Season 5-0.

Starters:
Quarterback Louie Facelli
Halfbacks: The speedy and hard running team captain Carl Mann, Ed Oshe, and Les Voorhees
Fullback: Lloyd Miller
Linemen: ends, Pollard Rittenhouse, and David Beaver, also a running back
Tackles: Henry Leibbrandt and Alan Matley
Guards: Alger Fast, Allan Ledford, and Theilla
Center: Nick Sinnott
Others on roster for play-offs: George Pearson, Ken Stewart, McFadders, and Wesley Mc Giff.

BASKETBALL
practice games:
(listed as the team Santa Cruz High played then the score SC-rival)
Sequoia 39-22
Palo Alto 21-14
San Jose 12-24
Watsonville 19-10
Stanford Frosh 13-25 (not counted in record).
Practice record 3-1
League:
(listed as the team Santa Cruz High played then the score SC-rival)
Salinas 26-6
Gonzales 48-6
Pacific Grove 28-4
King City 30-21
Monterey 26-17
Watsonville 16-17
League 5-1, second place
Season 8-2

Varsity squad was tied with Watsonville at 4-0 going into the final game of the season. Watsonville won by one point.

Sebe Caldwell was the starter at center, captain and top scorer in a game with Sequoia with 27 points in a 39-22 victory. It was pay back time for Caldwell, Mann, Antonetti, and Beasley as three years earlier, in their freshman season, they lost the NCS finals to the same school in lightweights.

Other starters for most of the season were:
Guards: Bob Stevens, and Antonetti
Forwards: Carl Mann, and Vernon Anthony
Off the bench as first subs were: Carl Camis, Bud Beasley and Bickley.
The rest of the roster: Reese, Messick, Metcalf and Kirk.

Notes:
Sebe Caldwell and Bob Stevens were selected “All CCAL”.
Carl Mann and Antonetti were selected second team.

LIGHTWEIGHTS
SC lightweights had an experienced strong team.
League scores:
(listed as the team Santa Cruz High played then the score SC-rival)
Salinas 28-12
Gonzales 27-14
Pacific Grove 15-25
King City 26-19
Monterey 17-16
Watsonville 12-24
League record of 4-2, taking third place.
According to the Trident the season record was 7-3.

Starters: Captain Joe Lantagne, John Hurst, Fred Whaley, Henry Leibbrandt and Johnny Davis.
First subs were Dayton Horner and Rusciolelli.

BASEBALL
Santa Cruz and Salinas shared the championship this year.
Practice games:
(listed as the team Santa Cruz High played then the score, SC-rival)
Palo Alto 2-8
Los Gatos 5-6
Watsonville 4-5, 10-7
San Jose 3-2
Hayward 5-7, 10 innings
Practice record 2-4
League games:
(listed as the team Santa Cruz High played then the score, SC-rival)
Hollister 17-6
Monterey 5-8
Salinas, SC won
Watsonville 2-0
League 3-1 Co-Champions with Salinas
Santa Cruz won the playoff game with Salinas 6-2 for the right to go to NCS. At NCS Santa Cruz lost the first game to San Jose 4-6
Overall record 6-5.

Players:
(listed by the batting order, number of hits followed by the times at bat and their positions for the last game of the season)
Joe Lantagne 2-4, SS
Hedgepeth 2-3, P
Anthony 2-5, 3B
Mann 0-4, 2B
Bickley 1-4, C
Caldwell 1-4, OF
Bud Beasley 1-4, 1B
Rusciolelli, 1-4, OF
Harry Costello 0-3
Subs in outfield: Stevens 0-1, Jim Costello 0-1 and Patterson 0-1.

Captain Hedgepeth was a steady pitcher. By the end of the season Hedgepeth had a two-hitter and four-hitter to his credit. He also pitched a string of 25 innings of shut out ball. Hedgepeth was a good batter, his batting average must have been in the 400 range.

TRACK
Santa Cruz were the CCAL champions in both varsity and lightweight and placed third at NCS

CCAL
The SC varsity team won the CCAL for the second year in a row.
CCAL meet scoring:
Santa Cruz 44
King City 30
Salinas 16
Watsonville 15
Gonzales 15
Hollister 9
Monterey 4
Pacific Grove 1

Notes:
At the CCAL league meet the top SC performer was Clive Stevenson. Stevenson broke two CCAL records, the high hurdles in 16 seconds and the low hurdles in 26 seconds. Stevenson also took second in the high jump for a total of 13 points.
Glen Sindel won the mile.
Seborn Caldwell won the pole vault and took third in the javelin.
Vernon Anthony took second in discus and third in high hurdles.
Ralph Dufflemyre took first in shot put and third in the discus.
Bob Floyd took first in the 880.
Marshall Mosher took third in the 440.
Marquis took third in the high jump
There were 12 lightweights entered at the CCAL meet.
Captain, Charles Whaley broke 2 records, one in the 100 (10 2/5 seconds) and the other in the broad jump (20’8”). He also won the 220 and ran on the winning relay team. Whaley earned 16 points at this meet.
Bob Stevens won the pole vault and tied Steve Horner for first in the high jump for a total of 8 points.
Nutter took third in the 440.
Ludikee took third in the shot put.
Although these athletes qualified, for some reason they did not go to the State meet. It could be that their times and marks were not competitive at the State level, or there was not enough money in the athletic fund to send them.

NCS
The SC varsity team took third place at the NCS meet. They competed against the top 11 schools in the section.
Top scores:
Berkeley 26
San Jose 23
Santa Cruz 21.

Notes:
At the NCS meet Stevenson won both hurdles. Sindel won the mile. Anthony third in high hurdles. Caldwell fourth in javelin.

State
At the State meet SC took a fourth place for one point.
Lightweights took first in the CCAL meet, and 5 first places and 2 third places at the NCS meet.

Notes:
Occurred at Selma, CA (close to Fresno)
Stevenson took fourth place in 120 high hurdle.
Sindel, while running the mile in the 98 degree heat in the Valley, collapsed part way in the race.

Tennis
Santa Cruz won the league championship for the twelfth time.

The number one player was Charles Sperry.
The number two player was Homer Davis.
Winning in doubles was Fred Grellman and James Carrothers.
Rounding out the singles spots was Wesley McGiff and Fred Whaley.

Notes on important individuals from this year
John Caldwell and Verner Anthony both won 4 letters this year.
According to the Trident, Caldwell was the greatest athlete at SCHS. Caldwell was a key first string player on 3 championship teams and a close second string on a fourth team. He lettered in football from 1925-28 as a first string football center and fullback. Caldwell played center on the basketball team form 1925-28, and was All CCAL in basketball in 1928. In his biggest game, Caldwell scored 27 of the 39 points scored in a game against Sequoia. In track Caldwell made it to NCS three years in a row, setting a record in the discus 160’. Additionally, Caldwell played on the baseball team for two years, 1927-28.

Verner Anthony won 4 letters this year. Anthony played on the football team for 4 years, in 1928 he was All CCAL. He also played basketball from 1926-27, baseball from 1927-28, and was on the track team in 1928.

Oreal “Tex” Beasley has been honored with the prestigious gold SC letters. Beasley has received every honor possible while at SCHS, including student body president. Beasley participated in sports and in school leadership activities throughout his time at SCHS. He also continually supported his classmates in both planning school activities and in their personal endeavors. In his freshman year at UCLA Beasley played frosh football, scoring a touchdown in his first game.

Arne Iverson played on the baseball team from 1925-28, winning the championships with the team this year. Iverson was also a member of the track team from 1925-26 and a lightweight basketball baseball player in 1928.

Glen Sindel ran the mile this year and won.

Louie Rittenhouse was on the football team for three years and was captain this year. Rittenhouse participated in the track team in 1925.

Wesley McGriff played on the football team in 1928 and on the tennis team from 1927 to 1928.

Joe Kirk played on the football team from 1926-28 and participated on the track team for two years.

Swimming is a non-league sport that SCHS students compete in independently. From 6 to 8 SCHS swimmers work out 2 days a week. Ernie Kiff was the high point man in swimming this year, scoring 17 points. Kiff also dives and participates in the Seaside Carnival of Swimming events. He was also the top scorer in the interclass meet this year, scoring 21 points.

James “Rabbit” Bradshow, an All WESTERN halfback at the University of Nevada, was called Rabbit because of his “slipperiness”. Bradshow is the only player to score against the Cal Wonder team. Bradshow has been hired to coach football at SCHS. Prior to coaching at SCHS, Bradshow coached football in Kansas City and Redwood City. He later coached the Stanford frosh and varsity football teams at Fresno State.

Former SCHS Sports Players
Jack Manildi played football at SCHS in 1924. Manildi is now captain and quarterback at Pomona College of the Southern California Conference. He has been called the best safety in that league.

Leo Harris was the best defensive back in the league. Harris played at Stanford and lettered as an All Coast tackle in 1925 and 1926. He also played for the semi-pro-like Santa Cruz Legion team against other Legion and military teams in the area. After Stanford, he went on to coach at Fresno High for 5 years, where he built up two power house football and basketball teams. Harris’s football teams made the Valley section finals three times, winning once aginst Taft and losing twice to the oil town and perennial champions, Bakersfield. In basketball Harris won two Valley Section titles and the league title for all five years that he coached the team. Harris’s success at Fresno High earned him a promotion to frosh football coach and head basketball coach at Fresno State. Sentinel of 1934, “Leo Harris brings his Fresno State team, to practice at Pasatiempo golf course.” Harris went on to hold the title of Athletic Director at the University of Oregon for 25 years. Additionally, he was a member of the NCAA rules committee for football.

Raymond Kirby was the fastest back and an all around good football player in the league. While at SCHS, Kirby played baseball for SCHS and on one of the local semi-pro teams. An article in the Sentinel remarked that a couple of hot shots to the hot corner gave the young third baseman some trouble. Later in life Kirby had three sons who were all top athletes at SCHS. They were Rich, who led the football team in scoring in 1948 and was a pitcher, Bill, a pitcher and fielder on the baseball team and an All CCAL lineman in 1950, and, his youngest son, John, played football, basketball, and baseball, making All CCAL in all three sports.