Sidelines: Catching up with Harbor heroes

Don Cantrell

Although many oldtimers have lost track of one Daily Pilot Sports

Hall of Famer named Jerry Keithley, Class of 1935 at Newport Harbor High,

his presence has finally been detected on the horizon.

Keithley, an outstanding wingman and punter for the Tars in the early

‘30s, now lives in La Quinta, Calif., according to his old teammate, Al

Irwin, who later became a coach at Newport, Orange Coast and UC Irvine.

Irwin, who always had lofty words for Keithley, linked up with him a

second time in 1936 at College of the Pacific.

Keithley, who always displayed the marks of a polished administrator,

created an impressive record after his years in college. In fact, he came

to serve as a city manager of Stockton, Palo Alto and Oakland. His

achievements were impressive.

Irwin did not describe Keithley as a rugged, hard-hitting gridder, but

praised his smoothness and skill in dealing with rivals.

Amusement arose from perusing an old note from years ago via the

memory of Irwin. He was coaching a fine team at Valencia High in 1947 and

had a superb punter named Don Angel.

No doubt Angel’s distance improved after Irwin taught him how to

capitalize on his “Rocker Step” concept. It featured one step back, one

step forward, but allowed the punter to station himself closer to the

line before punting.

In time, former Harbor High coach Dick Spaulding heard about its

success at nearby Fullerton High and paid a call at Valencia.

Irwin agreed to display the concept and allowed Spaulding to ask any

questions. He was satisfied.

The smile came later after he learned that Spaulding had installed the

new step for his Indians. Unfortunately, the first two punts were

blocked, which quickly led Spaulding to dismiss the idea.

Some party asked about a chap named John Severson recently. For the

moment, it is hard to say, but last time we saw him he announced that he

was heading for Hawaii.

Severson, who lived in San Clemente and attended Orange Coast College,

was a two-time world champion surfer and also published The Surfer

magazine. He was very successful.

One of his most notable good luck stories arose after Richard Nixon

resigned as President of the United States in the ‘70s.

Basically, Nixon faded from the limelight and temporarily closed off

from public life. About the only view that anyone could have near his

home in San Clemente was next door at the Severson residence. One day,

Severson, with camera in hand, took a number of photographs from his

perch, which caught Nixon below on a seaside balcony. Severson offered

the pictures to Life magazine and was paid $50,000 for the work.

An interesting item was found from a 1937 article by the late Eddie

West of the Santa Ana Register. In assessing the ’37 All-Sunset League

team, he said Harbor High fullback Rollo McClellan rated as, “the best

blocker in the league.” He had high credit as a runner before, but not as

a blocker. That upped his value among county writers and coaches.

The word has been slow in coming, but we finally learned that a fine

gentleman named Bill Kelter, Class of ’55 at Harbor High, has passed on

due to cancer at his home in Iowa.

Kelter was an outstanding basketeer in the mid-50s, teaming with the

likes of future pro Syracuse Nationals ace Paul Neumann and the Raney

center Bill Inloes. Neumann also made his mark at Stanford.

The Kelters were well-known in the harbor area since his father was a

noted dentist for years on Balboa Island.

Although many had not been informed, Dick Reddick, Class of ‘55, and

publisher of the Paso Robles Daily Press had conveyed word to his

classmates seven weeks ago. He is the son of the late Ben Reddick, a

publisher in Newport and one-time county supervisor in Orange County.

Dick maintains a constant touch with his classmates.

In fact, one of his classmates, Gary “Salty” Green, made a long trip

last year to visit Kelter on his Iowa farm. Green was a member of Coach

Al Irwin’s ’53 Harbor High grid team and makes his home in Alsea, Ore.