Tue.-Mon., Mar. 30 - Apr. 5, 2021
This was the week of what has become my favorite high school game of the year in Ventura County.
It was time for the 109th edition
of the Big Game
Santa Paula Cardinals (0-2)
at
Fillmore Flashes (1-1)
Don't worry about the less than glossy season records, this game will be much more intense than the usual high school game you might attend.
What I love about this game is the small town, one high school district nature of the two schools.
These two agricultural towns are separated by only nine miles on Highway 126 with nothing but citrus groves to be seen along the way.
This is definitely not a game between schools laden with transfer rich rosters as is so often the case nowadays at the high school level in Southern California.
The vast majority of the players on these two squads come from second or third generation families who attended one of these two high schools.
In other words . . .
. . . there is an Old School
feel to this rivalry
The two schools first played in 1924 and have played at least once, and some years twice, since then with four exceptions.
In 1942, because of World War II, all high school football was cancelled in Ventura County.
In 1968, the schools were placed in different leagues and could not find a mutually open non-league date to play.
The Maria Fire in the mountains surrounding Santa Paula forced the cancellation of the 2019 game.
Of course, the strict Covid-19 countermeasures made the 2020 contest and all high school football in California unplayable.
So, here we are in the third weekend of the unique Coronavirus inspired 2021 Spring Season finally getting these two communities back on the field.
As for the series itself, after 108 games, Santa Paula leads by a substantial margin of 61-40-7.
I was scheduled to do the color commentary for the Ventura Orthopedics/Ventura County Star Game-of-the-Week podcast of Saturday night's game with play-by-play announcer Joe Curley.
Thus, I headed first to Santa Paula to interview the Cardinals veteran and highly successful Head Coach Mike Montoya and watch their practice on Tuesday.
Feisty looking Cardinal mascot
Good set of rules for the
SPHS locker room
No roughhousing?
Isn't that the very essence of a boy's high school locker room?
Cardinals working on Kickoff Return
blocking in a 1-on-1 situation
Get-offs and Blocking out
of the chutes
As I suspected, even though they are 0-2 this Spring, today the Cardinals were focused and upbeat knowing that a win over the Flashes would cure a panacea of ills.
On Wednesday, it was on to Fillmore . . .
Frightening is the word
that comes to mind on gazing at
Fillmore's Flashman mascot
Guys with semi-Cyclops looks, spiked hair and lightning bolt tattoos wearing only Speedos have always intimidated me.
The Flashes were also upbeat
The Fillmore's positive minded, first year Head Coach Charlie Weiss would not allow the Flashes to practice in any other way.
Now on to a long Saturday of American football ...
Jorge Zaragoza was a lineman for us back in the day when I coached at Rio Mesa H.S. He is now the RMHS JV team's Offensive Line Coach and again invited me to be his guest at Saturday afternoon's Rio Mesa Spartans at Oxnard Yellowjackets game that kicked-off at 1:00 p.m. Since the Santa Paula-Fillmore game had a 7:00 p.m. scheduled start, I accepted his gracious invitation.
It must be remembered that in these Spring high school games each player and coach is only allowed two adult guests to be in attendance, no kids allowed.
It was a BEAUTIFUL day for
American football at Oxnard H.S.!
Both teams scored TDs in the last 65 seconds of the game as the Yellowjackets prevailed 13-12.
I really enjoyed the Second Half of the game sitting in the stands with longtime Rio Mesa boosters Linda Zilisch and Regina Voshell.
They are two wonderful ladies and we had a lot of fun catching up to be sure.
It was time to head over to Fillmore for the Big Game but I wanted to get there early enough to have dinner at one of my favorite Ventura County hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurants.
This is THE place in Fillmore
for a pre-game meal if you ask me
It is only a few blocks from Fillmore's stadium and their Burrito al Pastor is MUY BUENO!
The indoor seating decor is
fabulous as well
Fully sated, it was on to the Big Game . . .
The Big Game's Leather Helmet Trophy
It is a late 1930s style white leather helmet with alternating cardinal (SPHS) and blue (FHS) panels.
Fillmore's Victory Bell
Unfortunately for the home crowd, it would be silent tonight.
I've got to climb up THAT ladder to the
top of the Press Box to do our podcast?
If I were to lose my grip and fall to the left, it would be about a 50 foot drop to the asphalt below.
Thank goodness that I'm in top notch physical condition!
The view from high atop the Press Box
of the Fillmore warm-up
Santa Paula taking the field
Note the lack of visiting stands across the way at Fillmore. It is the same at Santa Paula.
The sharing of the only set of stands no matter who is the home team is another charming part of this rivalry.
The following photos are from the Ventura County Star's coverage of the game.
While Rock-em, Sock-em ground
games were the order of the day . . .
. . . there were some spectacular
plays made through the air . . .
. . . and sometimes almost made
In the end, Santa Paula sensational,
opportunistic defense paved the way
to a 28-16 come from behind victory
The Cardinals lengthened their series lead after the 109th edition of the Big game to 62-40-7.
Due to fires and pestilence, Cardinals and Flashes fans had to wait two years, five months and 15 days between series games 108 and 109.
Now, we are now only a few months away from the 110th renewal of this historic Ventura County rivalry during the normal 2021 Fall campaign.
Reading Is FUNdamental!
I really enjoy the BBC's televised
interpretations of the Father Brown genre
This book that included 24 Father Brown short stories was a bit more tedious.
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