San Dimas: 20 – Bonita: 14
Friday, September 23rd, 1983
Starting off the 12th Smudge Pot game with the ball on their own 26 yard line, San Dimas drove the ball 74 yards on 11 plays. The Saint’s scored off a two yard run by Shawn Clark for the touchdown. The Saint’s dominated the offensive side of the ball, rolling up 214 yards rushing and 122 yards passing for three touchdowns and the 20-14 victory over the Bearcats.
After two shutout quarters, Bonita had finally managed to counter with a lateral pass made by QB Charlie Burton to receiver Dominic Mistone, who then had a nice 43 yard pass to Jon Coulson, putting them at the Saints 7 yard line. The Saints pushed them back all the way to the 26 yard line, making Bonita have to settle for a Ron McJunkin field goal.
The Saints, seemed unstoppable as quarterback Dennis Watson put together a 12 play 77 yard drive for a touchdown. McJunkin kicked a 39 yard field goal as the half came to an end to get the Bearcats within six point. San Dimas was winning 12-6 at the start of the second half.
With five seconds remaining in the third quarter the Saints, Eli Mack scored on a two yard run. The play was set up by an amazing 71 yard screen pass from quarterback Dennis Watson to Mack. The Saints also went for the extra two points instead of a field goal to get the score to 20-6.
All hope seemed lost for the Bearcats as the time to catch up to the Saints was running out, but within the last four minutes the Bearcats managed to make an amazing play. QB Charlie Burton put away a 68 yard pass to Dominic Mistone, who scored for a touchdown. The Bearcats also went for the extra two points, putting them down only by one touchdown, with a score a of 20-14. However, this was not enough to bring the Bearcats back against the Saint’s strong defense for the rest of the game. Burton completed eight of 27 passes for 141 yards while John Vitale ran for 81 yards on 11 carries.
The Saints took the Smudge Pot home with the final score at 20-14. Mack gained 88 yards on 22 carries for San Dimas while Clark rushed for 66 yards on 15 totes. Saint’s coach Don Warhurst stated that “[this] was a tough way to win it but we kept our ground game and went with that. We’re happy with the win. This is the biggest game in town and is always very emotional.” With that well said statement from the Saints coach, the 1982 Smudge Pot game was indeed a tough one that kept everyone on the edge of their seats.
Varsity Bearcats
Top row: Jon Coulson, Jeff Smith, Ron Palmer, Bill Tarbox, Henry Giano.
Row 2: Head Coach Dan Castanon, Ron McJunkin, Brad Irish, Charlie Burton, Francisco Ibarra, Coach Bob Barone.
Row 3: Coach Dave Ramos, Kurt Crick, Jim Trudeau, David Garcia, Mike Hamparsomian, Gary Deal, Coach Brad Davies.
Row 4: Daryl Stephens, George Galvis, Jim Stanfill, Eric Lotz, Ed Jones, Gary Fortier, John Vitale.
Bottom Row: Gary Allison, Dominic Mistone, Ralph Aguirre, Art Arias, David Emon, Ralph Barwig.
While sitting on the hard wooden benches you could hear the clash of helmets and pads as the Varsity Football Team pushed face-to-face with another challenging opponent. The team started its practice last spring with weight training every- day after school. Then, over the summer all football players had to practice in the sweltering heat each day. Charlie Burton, as captain and quarterback of the football team, had the responsibility of leadership and keeping spirit high. This was very hard because many students gave up on the team after the first few games. People only thought of the actual game, not all the valuable time spent practicing over the summer. Even though the football players were let down by their fellow stu- dents, each game they were on the field trying again. Many games were close, like the Smudge Pot Bowl. The smudge pot was lost but Head Coach Castanon is determined to get it back from San Dimas next year. Some of the outstanding soph- mores were Dominica Mistone, Jim Stanfill, Ralph Aguirre, and Jeff Nickens. Along with juniors, Gary Deal, Ron Palmer, Jon Coulson, Jeff Smith, and Daryl Stephens, and seniors, David Gar- cia, Ron McJunkin, Eric Lotz and John Vitale we had a well rounded team.
–Echoes, 1984
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Varsity Saints
Front: Leon Galloway, Jesse Canada, Mike Webb, Darin Mer- ry, Scott Casamassa, Ernie Price, Jerald Farrell, Lincoln Oro, Bob DeVee,
Row 2: Aki Davis, Eli Mack, Sammy Forte, Tony Ash, Dennis Hauptman, Enrique Mason, Bob Napoli, Sean Hicks, Larry Foley, Mike Gardea, Bill Lee, Jim Spears, James Spallino.
Row 3: David Sturrock, Chris Marshall, David Hill, Brian Winkler, Keith Epstein, David Misch, Eddie Piercy, Neil Reclusado, Robert Landreth, Jeff McDonald, Tommy Reclusado, Jim Wilson, Mike McKnight,
Row 4: Steve Dorsey, Anth- ony Criscione, Sean Clark, Mike Stanley, Paul Larson, Brian Bunnell, David Morehouse, Kieth Gissel, Bob Torrance, David Herrara, Justin Brunell, John Moore, Martin Rodriguez, Robert Alo,
Back Row: John Walker, Paul Alvitre, Shane Monson, Paul Miller, Tim Lilley, Tim James, Paul Davis, Stan Strickland, John Troyano, Bill Wuertz, David D. Price, Tim Metcalf, and Mark Wood.
Varsity Excels Despite Injuries A record-setting offense and a hard- hitting defense led the Saints to a fine 8-2 record, 6-1 in Montview League. The offense averaged a school re- cord 30.4 points per game. Mean- while, the defense gave up an average, of only 12.2 points per game. These numbers are even more impressive considering the team lost 10 starters for a total of 39 games due to injuries; four players missing six or more games each. First team All-League back Jessie Canada led the team in rushing behind an outstanding line featuring five All- Leaguers: seniors Tim Lilley, tackle; Paul Miller, tight end; David Price, center; and juniors Paul Davis, guard; and Bill Wuertz, tackle. Balancing out the attack was All-League quarterback Dennis Watson who threw for a school record 1237 yards. Darin Merry also set a school record with 12 touchdown receptions on his way to secure team All-League honors. All-League performers Paul Miller and Sam Forte led the front four, nick- named the “Fearsome Foursome” and the “Smurf” secondary, respectively. These two groups performed well, allowing the linebacking corps to improve after suffering the loss of seniors Michael McKnight and Jerald Fer- rall and junior Lincoln Oro. Other players receiving All-League recognition were second team defensive linemen Stan Strickland, Mark Wood, and Tim Lilley, all seniors; as well as honorable mention junior defensive back Eli Mack; and senior kicker Anthony Criscione. Special mention also went to senior Jim Spallino who was the only receiver to gain over 100 yards in a game. However, he suffered a broken ankle against Bonita, and was out the rest of the year.
–El Santo, 1984
Tripped up by Sun Devils
Finishing second in the Montview League enabled the Saints to return to the Cl.F. playoffs after a year’s absence. The team, which had peaked at #3, was ranked fourth in the conference going into postseason play. Traveling to the district field for the first round game was Apple Valley. The Saints trailed the Sun Devils 21. 13 in the fourth quarter, two of AV’s touchdowns having come on a fake punt and an interception return. San Dimas fought back, but finally lost a 28-27 nail biter.
