“I played high school football.” – Al Bundy
Here is another high school football story. I was really fortunate in my high school football days… I played all four years and never played on a team with a losing season. Statistically, it was likely that I would. It’s not always easy to find a lot of data or numbers for losing high school football programs because the focus is on championships and the “winningest” teams in prep history. Even with the advent of MaxPreps and the ease of reporting, head coaches are not apt to publish negative results. I did a quick and admittedly unscientific study looking at how high school teams fared over the course of a typical football season. It seems like year in and year out, 40 to 50% of teams post a sub .500 W-L record. So, unless a kid plays on a perennial superpower, the odds of playing on a team with a losing record at least once in four years seems likely. I did not. Like I said… I was really fortunate.
That brings me to a special game in my senior year at Glendora High School. A game played almost 55 years ago. Unlike Al Bundy, I was not the star of the team. I didn’t score the winning touchdown in any game. I was usually slogging it out in the trenches. However, our 1970 game against the La Puente Warriors stands out in my mind for other reasons.
Football coaches at all levels will tell you that they do not have a crystal ball, but they do. In their minds, they see the outcome of a game before it is actually played including the likely score. They just don’t advertise… very often… those predictions. Why? Too many times such predictions are way off.
My alma mater, Glendora High School, played in a very tough league. In my senior year, it was a toss-up between the Glendora Tartans, West Covina, and La Puente for the Sierra League championship. Although our league was in the second tier “3A” CIF Southern Section, we played as tough as some very good 4A schools. In fact, in a tri-scrimmage before the 1970 season, we spanked two 4A stalwarts. There was a team in our league, Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights, California, which did not win a league game during the school’s first three years competing in the Sierra League. After I graduated, the CIF Southern Section realigned its divisions. Los Altos and some other Sierra League teams moved up to 4A status. A year later, Los Altos won the 4A championship. They went from doormat to dominance. Los Altos repeated as 4A champs in 1973. It was clear that the Sierra League played a good brand of high school football during the late 1960s and into the 1970s.
Back to the La Puente game… in his pregame pep talk, our head coach, Ralph Chalifoux, told us that we would not lose to La Puente. He said it with conviction. Coach Chalifoux was an intense man who lived for football. He was a cross between Bill Belichick’s tenacity and Bobby Knight’s “demonstrativeness.” Back in the day, a lot of high school football players imbued their head coaches with God-like qualities. If Coach Chalifoux said we would not lose to La Puente, then that’s the way it was going to be. Every coach in America wants to send players onto the field thinking they can win, but that night, Coach Chalifoux went a step further… out came the crystal ball.
Coach said both teams would score two touchdowns, but we would not lose. He explained that we were a running team, and we can move the ball with consistency. Our opponent, La Puente, passed the ball a lot more than we did. The difference between running the ball and passing would determine the outcome of the game. Then came the most prescient part of his pep talk. Coach repeated that we were a running team and that La Puente had a better kicking game. However, no team can stop us from making a two-point running conversion twice in a row. That meant we would score at least 14 points. If La Puente scored twice and kicked two PATs, the game would end in 14-14 tie. That was back when games could end with a tie score. Here was our coach’s prediction… both teams would score two touchdowns, but Glendora would not lose.
It kinda happened that way… while Glendora never trailed on the scoreboard, the early part of the game pitted two evenly matched teams slugging it out near the midfield stripe. In the second quarter, with the score knotted at 0-0, we drove 70 yards mostly on the legs of our star halfback, Dave Lecocq. He plunged over the right side of the line… that was my side… for a 1-yard touchdown run. You know we’re going for two points. Glendora quarterback Todd Gordinier rolled to his right… he can sprint across the goal line or toss the ball. He completed a short pass, and we took the lead… Glendora 8 – La Puente 0. Our opponents answered by marching down the field primarily on the arm strength of the Warriors’ quarterback, Dan Carriaga. He was good. He fired a 15-yard pass for La Puente’s first touchdown of the evening. Remember, La Puente is a kicking team, but they were facing the possibility of Glendora adding two-point running conversions for every touchdown we scored. The Warriors coach called for a pass play instead of kicking the PAT. Our defensive line hurried Carriaga and his pass fell incomplete. At halftime, the score stood at Tartans 8 – Warriors 6.
In the third quarter, Glendora drove 66 yards… all run plays with the ball carried each time by Lecocq. He bulled his way ahead for another 1-yard score. Our side of the stadium cheered loudly its approval, especially Dave’s sister, Ariane… my steady girlfriend. The Glendora faithful in the bleachers didn’t know what the Glendora players on the field knew… it was beginning to look like Coach Chalifoux’s crystal ball prediction would come true. Then, our coach made a decision that turned the game in the direction he wanted. We were a running team, but coach sent our kicking team into the game for the PAT attempt. If we make this kick and La Puente scores their second touchdown, they cannot win the game with a two-point conversion. We would prevail 15-14. If we miss the kick, La Puente will have to turn away from their strong kicking game and try another two-point conversion just to tie the game at 14-14. Coach’s prediction was coming true… both teams would score two touchdowns, but Glendora would not lose. We made the kick and extended our lead to 15-6.
La Puente was not going to roll over. They started a drive for that second touchdown. With less than a minute left in the third quarter, Carriaga was rushed out of the pocket and missed completing a pass to a teammate. In frustration, he kicked a Glendora defensive lineman right in front of a referee. The ref ejected Carriaga. That lineman was my brother, Buck. Things did not look promising for La Puente until Carriaga’s replacement stepped up in a big way. He took control of the Warrior offense, and mixed running and passing plays successfully to set up a 15-yard 4th quarter touchdown pass. The Warriors trailed 15-12. A two-point PAT pass will not win the game for La Puente. If that pass fails, they will need a last minute field goal just to tie the game. However, if the Warriors kick is good, they will trail Glendora 15-13. That means they would have a chance to win the game 16-15 with a field goal in the closing minutes. In that scenario, La Puente does not need a third touchdown to win. La Puente can beat Glendora with two kicks. If things went La Puente’s way, both teams would score two touchdowns but Glendora would lose. So, the Warriors’ coach decided to stay with his team’s strength and kick the PAT. The kick was good, and the scoreboard now read: Glendora 15 – La Puente 13.
Glendora could not ice the game and run out the clock. We had to punt and La Puente came storming back. With time running out, the Warriors had the ball on the Glendora 29-yard line. They had to get closer to attempt a game winning field goal, but Glendora’s defense stiffened, and the Warriors could not advance the ball. La Puente turned the ball over on downs and time expired… Glendora 15 – La Puente 13. Coach Chalifoux was right… both teams would score two touchdowns but Glendora would not lose. That’s quite a prediction.
Copyright © 2025 by Ray Fowler
