December 16, 2023 - Mount View High School Football Team
1975 California Central Coast Section Champions
Nice looking apartments.
The statue and plaque ready for the unveiling.
At this point I should probably explain why a memorial is being put up for a high school football team that won a championship 48 years ago. And to a lesser extent, why I would fly coast to coast to attend the ceremony?
First of all, it was not just any championship. California was and still is a big state, too large to have a state high school championship tournament. So they divided the state up into Sections. Mountain View High School was in the Central Coast Section which included 128 teams. Winning CCS really was the equivalent of a state championship.
Secondly, it was a real Cinderella story. Sort of like the football equivalent of the Indiana basketball "Hoosiers" movie or the U.S. Olympic Hockey victory over the Soviet Union in 1980.
Mountain View was a small school. Despite allowing any senior who wanted to play varsity football to play on the team -- there were no cuts -- we only had a 29-man roster. Six players from the JV team joined the varsity for the playoff games. An amazing nine starters played both ways: offense and defense. Only two players were over 200 pounds.
Our team made the playoffs by virtue of winning our league -- the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League (SCVAL). However, we were far from dominent, having a 6-4 record. Nobody picked us to go far in the playoffs. Yet, unknown to everyone, our team had jelled late in the season. We had been up 20 to 0 on a team -- St. Francis -- that also made the playoffs and was a perennial powerhouse. Even though we ended up losing the game, we came away with confidence that we could play with good teams. The coaches, recognizing the morale, gave us T-shirts that read "Ya Gotta Believe" which we all wore in the playoffs.
Eight teams were in the playoffs, so you had to win three playoff games to win it all. All the playoff games were in San Jose State Spartan Stadium. Our first game was against Homestead who had a record of 10-1. In a wild game, we prevailed 13-6. Our second game was against a real powerhouse, Leland High School, which was undefeated, 11-0. We scored 13 points then hung on to win 13-7.
Our opponent in the championship game was everyone's pre-season pick to go all the way: Monta Vista High School. They were undefeated. They had never been behind in a game. They were the modern day "Alabama" of CCS high schools. I remember it being almost surreal that we would be playing them in the championship game.
Like the previous two playoff games, we scored first, but Monta Vista came right back to tie. When Monta Vista finally took the lead in the third quarter, 16 to 14, most probably thought the stars were now in proper alignment and it was over. But on a 4th and 28 yards to go, the coaches called a middle screen. It was perfectly executed and our star running back Jeff Melenudo scored on a 38-yard touchdown run. That must have stunned Monta Vista. Later, Monta Vista fumbled and Scotty Hamilton ran it back 55 yards for a touchdown. Monta Vista never scored again. Final score: 29 to 16. Biggest upset in football history!
It truly was a magical season and that's why it's altogether fitting that a memorial be put up recognizing the event.
For a more detail and pictures of the season, click here.
People starting to arrive.
The President of the Mountain View Historical Society was the first speaker. Next to her is Alberto "Corky" Olmos, a sophomore cornerback on the 1975 championship team.
Head Coach Ryerson's two grand-daughters. Coach Ryerson is 91 now and could not make the ceremony. He wrote a nice letter that was read to the audience.
48 years later, 14 members of the Championship Team.
From left to right: Albert Garcia, Dan Gunion, Scotty Hamilton, Rich Shaw, Tony Metcalf, Alfred Garcia, Joe Ziglius, Corky Olmos, Pete Passentino, Jeff Melenudo, Brent Nakamura, Tom Shuman, Leonard DeNux, and myself.
A close-up of some of the players.
Some never-before-seen color pictures of the playoff games.
Joe and I standing by the memorial.
After the ceremony at Eagle Park, we drove over to a bar/restaurant near Googleplex named the Sports Page.
Team members and spouses ended up at the Fraternal Order of Eagles clubhouse and bar on Castro Street. I've never heard of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, much less been to one, but I liked it.
Castro Street is Mountain View's main street. Back in the day, I remember it as nothing special. There was a Der Wienerschnitzel. But since this area became Silicon Valley, Castro Street has gone upscale, with many nice restaurants and stores.
They closed Castro Street to traffic as a temporary, short-term measure to save struggling restaurants under tight COVID-19 public health restrictions. But residents and businesses alike found they liked having no cars and have come out in support of keeping the street closed. So the street may become a permanent pedestrian mall. It reminds me a lot of Munich, Germany where they have done the same to two major streets in Old Town and it has been a major success.
Sunday morning I drove back to San Jose Airport, dropped the rental car, and waited to board my flight.
This time I was catching a connecting flight in Phoenix.
Taking off from Phoenix, we headed east and right away I recognized the Apache Pass area which Lynnette and I had toured in 2020. Link.
Originally an Apache trade route, the Apache Trail is State Route 88 and runs from the town of Apache Junction (northwest Phoenix) northeast to Theodore Roosevelt Lake. The Trail winds steeply through 40 miles of rugged desert mountains, past deep reservoir lakes like Canyon Lake and Apache Lake. The narrow, winding road is unpaved from just east of the town of Tortilla Flat to Roosevelt Dam; there are steep cliff drops and few safety barriers. The trail requires caution when driving.
You can't see State Route 88 but you can see Theodore Roosevelt Lake at upper right.
I wondered what this river running north to south was? I guessed it was the Rio Grande, and back at home via Google Maps I confirmed it.
