Best High School Football Team EVER From San Diego County
Oct 3, 2016 16:26:18 GMT -8
aztecnails likes this
Post by The Aztec Panther on Oct 3, 2016 16:26:18 GMT -8
It was the 1985 Vista Panthers.
Yeah, I'm biased, but they also were as dominant a team as you'll ever see. You had the late, great Sal Aunese at QB, Roger Price and Tommy Booker as the running backs (Booker was still the backup as a Junior that year), you had Todd Baird at wide receiver (a speed guy who ran track - he scored a lot of touchdowns on medium passes after just outrunning the opposing team's DB's), and you had one of the best offensive lines ever to come out of San Diego (thanks to a rather large, strong, athletic group anchored by a couple Samoans). And then the defense was just dominant. Gaining yardage, let alone touchdowns, against that group was difficult at best.
Led by Head Coach Dick Haines that group was just phenomenal.
Years later I ran into Coach Haines while I was working at Circuit City, and he told me that the 1985 team was by far the best team he ever had (and he had not just one, but two State Championship teams). He also told me an interesting story - After Vista crushed Helix 35-7 in the Championship game in 1985 they were ranked in the Top 10 Nationally, and he challenged the team at the top of the rankings to an unofficial, "National Championship Game," in Vista in the first week of January, 1986 (on Vista's dime). The head coach and AD for that school were interested, and requested game tape. Haines overnighted it to them, and called them back a couple days later. "No thanks," was their response. Haines was really proud that his team was so good and so dominant that the AD & head coach of the #1 team in the country wanted nothing to do with playing Vista that year. They were content with taking that mythical #1 spot and keeping it much more than proving it on the field against the Panthers.
Haines told that story with a huge smile on his face. He was so proud. He was beaming.
And when it comes to the best player he coached, he was clear:
Now, again, I know I'm biased, but I'm not the only one who picks that team as the best all time from the county...
www.partletonsports.com/1985-the-best-ever/
hs.utpreps.com/news_article/show/185407-pirates-making-a-bid-to-be-among-the-best
I was there to see that team first hand. They were completely, utterly dominant. They looked like a JC team playing against high school teams. Hell, I think they could have beaten some JC teams. They were that good. I just wish I had video of that team...
Yeah, I'm biased, but they also were as dominant a team as you'll ever see. You had the late, great Sal Aunese at QB, Roger Price and Tommy Booker as the running backs (Booker was still the backup as a Junior that year), you had Todd Baird at wide receiver (a speed guy who ran track - he scored a lot of touchdowns on medium passes after just outrunning the opposing team's DB's), and you had one of the best offensive lines ever to come out of San Diego (thanks to a rather large, strong, athletic group anchored by a couple Samoans). And then the defense was just dominant. Gaining yardage, let alone touchdowns, against that group was difficult at best.
Led by Head Coach Dick Haines that group was just phenomenal.
Years later I ran into Coach Haines while I was working at Circuit City, and he told me that the 1985 team was by far the best team he ever had (and he had not just one, but two State Championship teams). He also told me an interesting story - After Vista crushed Helix 35-7 in the Championship game in 1985 they were ranked in the Top 10 Nationally, and he challenged the team at the top of the rankings to an unofficial, "National Championship Game," in Vista in the first week of January, 1986 (on Vista's dime). The head coach and AD for that school were interested, and requested game tape. Haines overnighted it to them, and called them back a couple days later. "No thanks," was their response. Haines was really proud that his team was so good and so dominant that the AD & head coach of the #1 team in the country wanted nothing to do with playing Vista that year. They were content with taking that mythical #1 spot and keeping it much more than proving it on the field against the Panthers.
Haines told that story with a huge smile on his face. He was so proud. He was beaming.
And when it comes to the best player he coached, he was clear:
Haines was quick to identify a favorite team and player from his career. Both go back to 1985, when the late Sal Aunese quarterbacked the Panthers to a 13-0 season.
Aunese, who directed a devastating option attack and later played at the University of Colorado, died from stomach cancer in 1989.
"Sal was the greatest football player I ever saw . . . not coached – saw," Haines said the day he announced his retirement.
Aunese, who directed a devastating option attack and later played at the University of Colorado, died from stomach cancer in 1989.
"Sal was the greatest football player I ever saw . . . not coached – saw," Haines said the day he announced his retirement.
Now, again, I know I'm biased, but I'm not the only one who picks that team as the best all time from the county...
www.partletonsports.com/1985-the-best-ever/
hs.utpreps.com/news_article/show/185407-pirates-making-a-bid-to-be-among-the-best
I was there to see that team first hand. They were completely, utterly dominant. They looked like a JC team playing against high school teams. Hell, I think they could have beaten some JC teams. They were that good. I just wish I had video of that team...
