Sondheimer: Looking back on six decades of covering high school football

It’s high school football season No. 48 for someone who loves telling stories about Southern California teenagers making a difference on and off the field.

Sitting on a beach far, far away this summer and listening to the refreshing sounds of waves rolling over pristine sand, my football memories are coming back:

1977

Granada Hills is facing Palisades in a City Section quarterfinal playoff game that has gone to overtime. The two quarterbacks, John Elway and Jay Schroeder, will one day play in the Super Bowl. But on this day, they have to figure out how to win a California tiebreaker, where the ball starts on the 50-yard line and when the last play comes, the team that advanced the ball farthest on alternating plays wins.

It’s the era of San Fernando Valley greatness at the quarterback position. Tom Ramsey is at Kennedy, Tom Tunnicliffe at Burroughs, Mike Owens at Van Nuys, John Mazur at El Camino Real, Elway at Granada Hills. The City Section has powerhouse programs at Carson, Banning and San Fernando. Neighborhood kids go to neighborhood schools. San Fernando and its wishbone attack is dealing with rising passing schools.

On the seventh of eight plays, Elway completes a 28-yard pass to Scott Marshall to clinch victory. Granada Hills wins 28-27. The Elway legacy is just beginning.

1986

A former Pop Warner coach who sold insurance as his main job but was a star player in the 1950s at San Marino was hired at Crespi. Part salesman, part comedian, part politician, Bill Redell brought in future coaching stars named Jim Benkert and Tim Lins. One of his players was Troy Thomas, a tough, dedicated defensive back who'd go on to coach multiple championships at Servite. Most importantly, Redell’s connections led to the most highly touted running back, Russell White, enrolling as a freshman at Crespi in 1985 and now he is finally eligible as a sophomore.

There have been few players past or future who lifted a team more. Crespi won the first and only Division 1 title (then called Big Five) by a Valley team, beating St. John Bosco in the final 49-14. White rushed for 256 yards and scored four touchdowns. Redell had ties to Ronald Reagan and should have run for Congress. But he had three sons who played football and every time he got to talk to a sportswriter it was better than standing at the White House press podium. He had the gift of gab.

1987

Carson is 11-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation. The Colts are playing Granada Hills in the City Section 4A championship game. Granada Hills wins 27-14 behind quarterback Jeremy Leach and coaches Darryl Stroh and Tom Harp, known for spitting out fire from their lungs. It's a shocking result. Granada Hills lost 42-14 earlier in the season to Carson, but it's a sneak peek of what's to come in City Section football, where the team that lost in the regular season would win the rematch in coming years.

1995

The Southern Section Division 2 championship game is between defending champion Antelope Valley with veteran coach Brent Newcomb and Hart, coached by the Herrington brothers — Mike, Rick and Dean. The Herringtons were just getting started in turning the Indians into a passing school. And yet, underdog Hart finds a way to win the first of its six Southern Section titles under Hall of Fame coach Mike Herrington by running the ball. The Indians attempted just 10 passes and gave the ball 31 times to Ted Iacenda, resulting in a 35-28 upset victory. Jermaine Lewis, Antelope Valley's star running back, gained 268 yards. It was a clear example of how the Herrington brothers would come to be so successful by adjusting on the fly.

1998

Near halftime of a football game at Westlake, the athletic director and the principal threaten to call the Ventura County Sheriff's Department to have me arrested if I don't leave the Westlake sideline. My crime in the minds of the administration: writing about their transfer students. Thankfully, Westlake's opponent, El Camino Real, invites me to stand on their sideline for the second half. It leads to one of my most enjoyable columns on how I need to bring a toothbrush to future games just in case there's another athletic director trying to deny access and send me to the slammer.

1998

Former Crespi quarterback Randy Redell is a captain in the Air Force and he takes me up in his F-16 fighter jet in Sumter, S.C. My two goals are to avoid using the parachute and not use the barf bag when he makes a left turn and the G force reaches nine times the force of gravity and my face feels numb. “All that time on the football field prepares you for things like this,” he says while trying to reassure his terrified passenger. The F-16 has an air-conditioning system so powerful Redell jokes “it can spit out ice cubes.” He compares the ride to riding a magic carpet or gliding around on a broomstick. He's right. The story ends with, "One unforgettable F-16 flight was enough for me. Especially after Redell revealed, 'My preferred altitude position is upside down.'"

1999

Mater Dei, led by Matt Grootegoed, has traveled to Mission Hills to play Bishop Alemany in a Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinal playoff game. Mater Dei wins 45-14 in the final game for Alemany quarterback Casey Clausen. Afterward, Clausen passes my test when checking to see how mature high school athletes are after defeat. He's in tears but shakes hands with players, thanks teammates and talks about his emotions. He goes on to start 44 of 47 games for Tennessee and returns to be a high school football coach at his alma mater. Brother Rick goes on to play quarterback at Taft and Tennessee while brother Jimmy plays at Oaks Christian, Notre Dame and in the NFL.

2001

There's a crowd of 17,321 at Long Beach Veterans Stadium and a national TV audience to see the game of the century, Long Beach Poly vs. De La Salle. Future pros filled the field, from Marcedes Lewis to Maurice Jones-Drew. It was a coaching matchup of Raul Lara vs. Bob Ladouceur, whose program won a national-record 151 consecutive games. It was an electric atmosphere. De La Salle won 29-15. The event changed high school sports. ESPN got involved in televising high school football. A book was written. And teams figured out they could travel around the country to play games made for TV.

2001

The strangest ending in City Section championship history is about to happen at the Coliseum and no one sees it coming. Taft has a 14-13 lead over Dorsey with seven seconds left. It's fourth down. One last Taft punt and it's Toreador celebration time. What could go wrong? Everything for Taft. Dorsey blocks the punt, the ball bounces perfectly into the hands of Henry Madge, who goes 25 yards for the touchdown and a 19-14 Dorsey victory. "The ending was the craziest I've had," Hall of Fame Dorsey coach Paul Knox said.

2006

The first CIF state championship bowl games are taking place in Carson. Unbeaten De La Salle is such a heavy favorite to win Division 1 that the bookies in Las Vegas probably wouldn't have taken any bets. De La Salle is facing Canyon Country Canyon, whose coach, Harry Welch, was about to make believers in his ability to bring out the best in any team he coaches. Canyon beats De La Salle 27-13 in front of 13,813 fans.

It's as big an upset as I've ever seen and listening to the roaring crowd as Canyon celebrated in the locker room still rings in my ears. “There weren’t a bunch of future college football players on [Canyon] but a lot of good high school players,” Welch said.

Welch would go on to coach state championship teams at St. Margaret's and Santa Margarita and win nine CIF championships, giving him a remarkable record. No moment could have been more satisfying than playing "Cowboy football" to take down "unbeatable" De La Salle.

2009

There's pouring rain at Gardena Serra for a playoff game. The No. 32 jersey for Oaks Christian running back Malcolm Jones is covered in mud. Oaks Christian hasn't lost a playoff game since 2002 and went in with a 34-game winning streak. Both teams are 13-0 and the talent level is astounding, from future NFL players Robert Woods, Marqise Lee, Paul Richardson and Bené Benwikere at Serra to Cassius Marsh at Oaks Christian. The game ends in overtime with Serra winning 42-41 on a conversion kick by Francisco Olloqui. Sitting in Serra's small, cramped press box, you could hardly see the overtime period through the foggy windows. Jones finished with 295 yards rushing in 39 carries and scored four touchdowns.

2009

Crenshaw is playing De La Salle in the CIF Open Division state championship bowl game. A City Section team is supposed to compete with America's best? Oh yeah. Crenshaw has the electric De'Anthony Thomas. He stuns De La Salle by running for two touchdowns and a 14-0 lead. But Thomas goes down because of an ankle injury in the second quarter. De La Salle wins 28-14. Never forget what Crenshaw overcame to get there.

2010

Carson coach Elijah Asante, who wears a suit and tie on the sideline, invites me to go behind the scenes as the team faces Mater Dei. I'm on the team bus. I'm in the locker room. I'm on the sideline. It's incredible watching a City Section team upset the Monarchs 14-10 on the road. I shoot my favorite video of all time. “It’s a big shock for everybody because of the way people view the City Section," Asante says. "We have a kindred experience with other City teams. I know we got problems, but we’ve had great players. John Elway came from the City Section. Wesley Walker came from the City Section. We have a chip on our shoulder.”

2011

The Crenshaw auditorium is getting noisy. People are waiting for star running back De'Anthony Thomas to announce his college choice. Most think he's going to USC. I'm live streaming the event via Twitter and my phone feels as if it's about to break as it keeps shaking from alerts that another person and another is following the stream. He picks Oregon. It's stunning. "Today has been a long day," Thomas said. "I got at least 100 calls."

2013

Bernstein's football coach, Masaki Matsumoto, sends home letters asking parents to write something positive about their sons while expressing their love. It leads to tears by everyone involved and reveals what a simple letter can do to impact a teenager. It leads to one of my most emotional stories that ESPN turned into a documentary. I watch a player cry in front of me as he reads the letter filled with love from his mom. It's an unforgettable moment witnessing how one coach's idea can make a difference in the lives of a teenager and his parents.

2013

St. John Bosco (16-0) has just beaten De La Salle (14-1) in a thrilling 20-14 CIF Open Division state championship bowl game in front of a crowd of 16,791 at StubHub Center in Carson. The Braves' junior quarterback, Josh Rosen, goes into the stands and takes a photo surrounded by delirious students and fans. The emotion after reaching perfection can't be topped.

2014

Gardena Serra and Corona Centennial are playing in a Southern Section Division 1 playoff game in which two no-huddle offenses have gone crazy scoring touchdown after touchdown, leaving sportswriters exhausted trying to keep statistics and figure out a storyline when you don't know how many points will be needed to win. In the end, Centennial wins 68-64 in an astonishing offensive performance that produced 15 lead changes and 12 touchdown passes. It's pure madness.

2019

The Southern Section Division 1 championship game is pretty much over. At least it seems that way. My lead paragraph is written. Mater Dei leads St. John Bosco 28-5 in the second quarter and 28-12 at halftime. Then quarterback DJ Uiagalelei rallies the Braves to an improbable 39-34 victory, passing for 444 yards and five touchdowns at Cerritos College, beating future Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young. My fingers are furiously re-writing as my 10:30 p.m. deadline approaches.

2021

On my bucket list is going to Texas to watch high school football. They say everything is bigger in Texas, and it’s true, from the smoked brisket to the flags to the high school stadiums. Mater Dei routs Duncanville. My memory revolves around Pecan Lodge's brisket melting in my mouth and seeing Allen High's $62-million stadium.

2021

High school sports is back after being shut down in March 2020 because of the pandemic. So many senior seasons disrupted. So many dreams vanished. So many tests of perseverance and courage presented to teenagers and their parents. I wrote a look back at what was endured and how to move forward.

San Mateo Serra football coach Patrick Walsh had been fighting months for sports to resume. The answer was finally yes. “This is a journey that is one for the history books,” he said. “Something magical happened for the kids.”

2023

Birmingham has one final play left in its state playoff game at Del Norte before a long bus ride home. The ball is on the Patriots' 48-yard line. The Patriots trail 28-24. Quarterback Kingston Tisdell avoids the rush, steps forward and throws the ball over the middle to Peyton Waters. It goes off his hands and into the hands of Devyn Jackson for a touchdown. Call it luck, call it a miracle. Birmingham wins 30-28. “I don’t think a lot of people believe what happened,” Birmingham coach Jim Rose said.

What a run it has been. There's no slowing me down as long as I have a seat in the press box.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.