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1945
Coaches: Merle Briggs, varsity football, basketball and baseball. Walter Wattenburg head track and assistant in football. Stevens, tennis.

1945
FOOTBALL Practice games: Los Gatos 0-0, Santa Clara 15-6, San Jose 6-25, Salinas JC 7-7. Practice record: 1-1-2. League: Salinas 14-12, Hollister 10-19, Carmel 33-0 and Monterey 13-13. League 2-1-1. Season 3-2-3

It was a successful season this year, winding up in a tie for second with Monterey at a 2-1-1 league record. Only loss was to the undefeated Hollister team after a good fight.

Starting lineup: ends, Roy Johnson, Wood and Silvio Azzaro; tackles, Jumbo Edwards and Al Demos; guards, Bill Casalegno, Silva and Whitney; center, George Miley; backs, Ray Hunter, Ed Withrow, Ed Dysle and Jerry Harn.

Some of the big plays during the season. Ed Withrow’s long runs. First game he had a 76 yard touchdown run. Against Salinas a 65 yard punt return and in Monterey game a 95 yard return for a touchdown. Ray Hunter was an excellent punter. Ray could also throw the ball as well, hooking up with Roy Johnson for good gains. Ed Dysle was a power on the ground driving for 83 yards against San Jose.

Four Cards made the ALL CCAL team: Ed Dysle, Roy Johnson, Ed Withrow and Alvin Demos.

LIGHTWEIGHTS had a down year scoring a total of 13 points for the whole season. Most of the offense came from the passing of Johnny Motta and Henry Chin. A box and occasionally a wing formation were used.

Starting lineup: ends, Talaio and Mori; tackles, Slaughter and Rich Rampone; guards, Wallach and Kirksey; center Millslagle; backs, John Motta, Marvin Gangloff, John Amin and Lawrence.

BASKETBALL practice games: Santa Clara 19-28, 28-21; Los Gatos 36-24, 37-14; Pacific Grove lost, Campbell lost. Practice record: 3-3. League: Monterey 26-31, 18-25; Salinas 33-16, 36-18; Hollister 42-25, 47-7; Watsonville 24-20, 29-24. League record 6-2, second place. Season 9-5.

League standings: Monterey 9-1, Pacific Grove 7-1, Santa Cruz 6-2, Carmel 5-3, Watsonville 5-5, King City 4-4, Salinas 4-6, Gonzales 0-8, Hollister 0-10. Monterey won their second straight title by beating Pacific Grove during league play and having played more games. The CCAL officials voted against having an A and B league playoff this year.

Cards Defeat Wildcats 24-20. SC Changes offense. After scouting the Watsonville-Monterey game, the coach changed the Card offense and completely baffled the Wildcats during the first quarter. The Cards played exceptionally good ball, except for their shooting. They worked the ball well and their passing was the best it has been all season. The game was close all the way through. At half time the score was 12-11 in favor of SC. At the beginning of the second half Noren, Hunter and Withrow combined to score 10 points for a SC lead of 22-16 at the end of the third quarter. The last quarter, the Cards just kept possession of the ball by snapping it around, Withrow to Hunter to Silva to Johnson to Noren and around again, keeping the ball out of Watsonville’s reach. Len Noren’s shooting, passing and follow up were outstanding and he led the scorers with 10 points. Ray Hunter was close behind with 8. While not scoring many points, Roy Johnson played fine ball, especially in following up. Withrow and Silva were breaking up the Wildcat fast break and taking the ball off the back boards.

Monterey Trims Cards 25-18. Most of the game was played at a slow pace, but at the beginning of the second half the Cards moved fast, made good passes and scored five points in about two minutes. It put SC within two points, 13-15 and then things slowed down for the Cards again, as they only scored 3 points the rest of the game. Scoring: Withrow 8, Hunter 7, Silva 4, Noren 1, Johnson and Rampone 0.

Cardinals Beat Salinas 33-16. Hunter Leads SC with 14. At the end of the first quarter the score was 3 to 2 in Salinas’ favor. Then Hunter sank three nice shots followed by Noren and Johnson with one each, for a half time score of 12 to 5. Rich Rampone substituting for injured guard Ken Silva, really played good. Although he is short for heavyweight basketball, Ramp had good foot work. One time he dribbled down the length of the court and scored an easy dump shot, while Salinas looked on. Scoring: Hunter 14, Noren 8, Johnson and Taylor 4 each, Rampone 3, Larsen, Grossi, Thorn, Withrow and Miley 0.

Cardinals Defeat Haybalers 42-25. In a battle which seemed more like a football game than basketball, SC continued Hollister’s three year losing streak by defeating them 42-25. Hollister used a sort of half football, half basketball theory in their play and every few minutes there was a pile up on the floor. The Hollister boys were rough, but off the court they were a bunch of good “guys”. They took the SC players and fans to their cafeteria and gave them a big feed. Scoring: Noren 18, Hunter 10, Johnson 8, Withrow 3, Larsen 2, Miley 1, Grossi, Silva, Taylor and Rampone 0.

Hunter Leads Cards to Easy Victory over Santa Clara Panthers 28-21 in a rough game at the Civic. The Cards won their fifth straight game. This was a revenge game as the Panthers had beaten them earlier in the season. The Cards looked good the first half. Their passing was excellent and their shooting and defense good. The half time score was 22-8. The second half was a completely different story. During the entire second half, the Cards failed to make one ringer and were held to six free throws. Ray Hunter was hot the first half scoring 15 points over half the Cards final total for the game. Len Noren had 9. Between the both of them they scored 24 of the Cards 28 points. Most of Santa Clara’s points came on long set shots as the Card defense would not let them penetrate.

Watsonville Defeated. Santa Cruz Wins Final Game 29-24. A standing room crowd, with people above the back row of seats and in the door ways, plus others sitting on the stage. It was one of the largest basketball crowds in auditorium history. Watsonville could not pierce the SC defense and could not hit the ringer. It was not until the second quarter that a basket was made in the game. Ray Hunter broke fast for a set up in the hole for the first score. Len Noren scored three free throws and both Ed Withrow and Roy Johnson followed with ringers to give SC a 9-6 lead at half. The second half started off fast and the Cards held a 19-14 lead at the end of the third quarter. The last quarter ended with each team scoring 10 points for the final score SC 29-21. Scoring: Noren 11, Johnson 8, Withrow 6, Hunter 4, Silva, Rampone and Taylor 0.

After starting the season losing a close game to Monterey, the Cards finished strong winning six of the next seven games. The league record was 6-2 for second place in the A league. Monterey won the title with one loss. The important thing is the team beat Watsonville twice.

The team was paced by captain and team MVP, Len Noren, sophomores Ray Hunter and Roy Johnson, all normally in double figures scoring or close to it. Practically the whole team was over 6‘ tall. Len Noren at center; Ray Hunter and Roy Johnson at forwards; Silva and Wood at guards. First players off the bench, Rich Rampone and Doug Thorne.

Ray Hunter led the team in scoring with top games of 10 to 15 points. Len Noren had a top game of 18. Roy Johnson was in the 8 to 9 range.

In the yearbook: Captain Len Noren at center and Ray Hunter at forward were outstanding.

The Lions Club each year gives a trophy to the Most Valuable Player chosen by the team. This year they were presented to Len Noren for the varsity and Bernie Berger of the lightweights in front of a crowd of 1350 at the auditorium at half time of a game between the Naval Hospital down by the Board Walk and the San Francisco Olympic Club.

LIGHTWEIGHTS Practice games: Santa Clara 22-23, Practice record 3-3. League: Salinas win by one, 18-37, Monterey 21-25, Hollister 23-9, 23-19; Watsonville 24-34, 15-40. League record 3-5 Season record 6-8. Could not find all the scores. The final records are what the Trident reported.

League standings: Watsonville 10-0, Pacific Grove 7-1, Salinas 7-3, Carmel 5-3, Monterey 5-5, Santa Cruz 3-5, Gonzales 2-6, King City 1-7 and Hollister 0-10.

Lightweights had a rough time, being the smallest team in the league. They were in there trying all the time and upset Salinas by one point early in the season. Watsonville was undefeated in league.

The big game of the year for the Cardlets was an upset win over second place Salinas by one point early in the season.

Cardlets 21, Monterey 25. The Cardlets started out slowly, scoring only 6 points in the first half.
Gangloff and Motta got hot near the end of the game, sinking some nice long shots, but they started too late to make up the low scoring first half. Scoring: Gangloff 8, Motta 6, Juhl 4, Hart 2, Berger 1, Kirksey and Silva 0.

Poor Hollister. They lost again 23-9. Santa Cruz held Hollister to no score during the entire first half and held Hollister to only two field goals in the second half. The first half score was 13-0. Scoring: Juhl 12, Gangloff 7, Ralston 2, Hart and Berger 1 each, Chin, Motta, Silva and Kirksey 0.

SC Cardlets lose to Salinas 18-37. From the beginning it was easy to see that the Cowbabes
were going to win as they had no trouble penetrating the Cardlet defense. The first quarter ended 4-11. Salinas was bigger and faster and controlled the backboards. Scoring: Juhl 9, Berger 4, Gangloff and Hart 2 each, Kirksey 1, Motta, Ralston, Silva, Chin and Blain 0.

Cadlets Lose Thriller. Santa Clara kept their 14 game win streak alive winning 23-22. John Motta started the game off fast for the Cardlets, when he scored 10 points the first period. John finished the game with 13 points over half of his teams score. If the Cardlets could have kept the pace they started with, they could have won the game.

Wildkittens Win 40-15. In the last game of the season, the Cardlets lost to a tall, fast and well balanced Wildkitten team, which made good shots, even though the Cardlets played very good ball in the 15-40 loss. John Motta led the team in scoring with 7.

The starting lineup: forwards, Marvin Gangloff and captain Bernard Berger; center, Wes Juhl; guards, John Motta and Charles Kirksey. Subs: Bill Hart, Ralston, Alvin Silva, Bill Troyer and Earl Blain.

BASEBALL undefeated league champions. Camp McQuaide 5-1. League: Monterey 11-0, 4-2; Watsonville 10-0, 4-2; Carmel 9-0, 16-0. League champs 6-0. Undefeated season 7-0. Salinas and Hollister did not compete this year.

Len Noren was an exceptional high school player. In the seven games this year he struck out an average of 13 batters a game, gave up 1.4 hits and 0.43 runs a game. His top strike out game was against Watsonville, when he struck out 19 out of 22 batters that faced him. It was his top strike out game. Only 3 players even touched the ball and only one was a base hit. Len was a hitter, who drove the ball hard. (He extended his stay in professional baseball by playing other positions to keep his bat in the lineup. He also managed in the minor leagues.)

Grossi’s Homer Wins Game For SC. Noren twirls one hitter. SC beats Monterey 4-2. Grossi’s homer in the sixth inning after taking two strikes, scored Noren who had doubled, putting the Cards ahead again 4-2. Monterey had scored two runs in the top half of the inning to tie the score 2-2. The Cards first scored in the second frame, when Grossi hit a double and scored when Martin hit a sharp single through second base. The other run was scored by Ed Withrow, who singled and advanced to second on an infield out. After going to third on a wild pitch, he scored when he slid in under the Toreadors catcher. Martin got two nice hits in a pinch. Grossi also had two hits.

Cards Defeat Padres. Noren Fans 16, Walks 2 and 2 hits. Martin, Noren and Harn each had 2 hits. Extra base hits: Noreen a triple and Harn had a double. Singles were by Obert, Casalegno, Grossi, Vomvolakis, Motta and Withrow.

Players: Ed Dysle C; Bob Grossi, another heavy hitter at 1B; John Motta and George Vomvolkis 2B; Ron Martin 3B; Roy Johnson SS; Outfielders Bill Casalegno CF; Ed Withrow RF; Smee LF; George Quadros, Obert and Jerry Harn. (most athletes at this time played on more than one team at a time in the Spring.)

The following members of the baseball team: Withrow, Johnson, Casalegno, Harn, Noren and Motta are part of the scorers on the track team.

TRACK In a four way meet: Santa Cruz 55, Salinas 44, Hollister 21 and Monterey 20.
In a three way meet with Pacific Grove and Monterey the heavyweights won with 39 points to the next team Pacific Grove 31. The next three way meet with Watsonville and Monterey, SC won again.

At the CCAL meet the scoring: Salinas 73, Pacific Grove 53, Hollister 41, SC 28, Monterey 23, Watsonville 11 and Gonzales 3. In the lightweight CCAL meet: Pacific Grove 79, Hollister 63, Salinas 31, Monterey 23, Gonzales 17, King City 9, Watsonville and Santa Cruz 3.

Part of the scorers on the team are also on the baseball team. They are Withrow, Johnson, Casalegno, Harn, Noren and Motta.

Scorers in a dual meet won by Pacific Grove by five points. In the absence of Roy Johnson, the team probable lost three first places as he would have been the favorite in the broad jump and both hurdles.
First place finishers: Jerry Harn in 220. Ed Withrow in 200 low hurdles, Parker Higgins in high hurdles, Len Noren in 440.
Second place finishers: Cassius Bly in 880, Jerry Johnson in broad jump. Gerry Harns in 100,
Third place finishers: Bob Millslagle in 880, Bob Thorp in pole vault, Ed Withrow in 100, Jumbo Edwards in discus, Jenkins in shot put.

Scoring at the CCAL meet. Ed Withrow finished first in 220 low hurdles 24.1 seconds.
Second place finishers Ron Hall in pole vault and Ted Ewald in mile.
Jerry Harn took third in 220.
Harry Jenkins, fourth in discus
Roy Johnson, fifth in high jump and broad jump

Other members who have been scoring in dual meets are: Len Wallach and Bill Casslegno in the mile; Bob Thorp in pole vault; Ed Dysle shot put; Jim Thoman in high jump and Jumbo Edwards in discus.

Lightweights CCAL meet Pacific Grove 79, Hollister 63 and SC 3 last.
CCAL placers were Kirchner fourth in high jump and Dick Nutter fifth in 440. Other members who score in the dual meets: Dash men, Henry Chin, Johnny Motta and Millslagle. Bill Trotts in hurdles. Earl Bland and Bob “Duke” McCullah in discus and shot put. McCullah also does the pole vault and high jump.

Lightweight in four way meet: Hollister 58, Salinas 31, Monterey 30, Santa Cruz 11.
Trotts took third in the 120 low hurdles and fourth in the 200 lows. John Motta took third in the 75 yard dash and third in the shot put. Others: Bill Trotts in hurdles; Earl Bland in shot put, discus and hurdles; Ron Hall in pole vault.

TENNIS Beat Pacific Grove 6-1 and lost to Watsonville 1-6 and to Monterey. Sports contests were cancelled due to the Presidents death 4/20/45.

TENNIS Listed in ladder order, first man, second man, etc. First man plays first man on the other team, etc. First, Vernon Troyer; second, Rich Rampone; vying for third Bob Peterson and Henry Chin; the following fill in the rest of the spots in this order: Courtney Graham, Wes Juhl and James Toman.

No golf information

INDIVIDUALS

Len Noren was an exceptional high school player. In the seven games this year he struck out an average of 13 batters a game, gave up 1.4 hits and 0.43 runs a game. His top strike out game was against Watsonville, when he struck out 19 out of 22 batters that faced him. It was his top strike out game. Only 3 players even touched the ball and only one was a base hit. Len was a hitter, who drove the ball hard. He extended his stay in professional baseball by playing other positions to keep his bat in the lineup. He also managed in the minor leagues.
This year in a dual track meet with Pacific Grove he won the 440. He was captain of the basketball team. Do not know if he repeated as a first team back this year in football. If he did he would be a four sport man.