Playing it with a straight face

ROGER CARLSON

Second of two parts.

When you consider the subject, Bob Hassay, the longtime game

announcer for Estancia High’s football games, you might believe he’s

a rather neutral sort considering the balance he has developed over

39 years of getting out the information.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In all that time he’s been an Eagle. It’s just that when he does

his gig, he does it right, and that includes an equal measure of

respect for all.

Time has a way of blurring, but with some help from Art Perry,

another in the long line of Eagles, here are some observations from

Hassay, now a retired teacher, but still very active when it comes to

Friday Night Lights. He wraps up this season Thursday night at

Newport Harbor when the Eagles close out their season against

Pacifica in a nonleague venture.

The first is easy, it is the only game he has seen in that span

which was on the road and he was not announcing. The 27-25 victory at

San Clemente after Estancia, coached by John Lowry, trailed by three

touchdowns at halftime.

“The entire team cut their hair to ‘butches,’ and we won. Chuck

Perry was the quarterback and hit his tight end, John Woody, on

several passes,” said Hassay.

The 1969-72 era under Phil Brown brings forth the following:

“He was a professional, organized, innovative, a psychologist and

a gentleman. And he had an excellent staff with Paul Pedigo, Roger

Clark, Art Perry and Dave Knott.”

The 9-2 1970 team lost to eventual CIF 3-A champion Edison, 14-12,

and in the second round of the playoffs to USC-bound Allen Carter,

who led the Bearcats to a 15-14 victory.

“I really enjoyed our heated rivalry with Edison,”said Hassay.

“There was always a sense of excitement and the games were

hard-hitting with big plays and a lot of athleticism.”

Edison and Estancia went to the mat nine times from 1969 to ’80

and the Eagles won just once, a 16-13 victory in 1977. Edison escaped

in 1972, 7-6.

“Watching the brilliant running of diminutive Dan Princeotto was

always a highlight game for me,” said Hassay of the ‘72-73 era, “and

I recall in 1975 when we beat Marina at Davidson Field on the

‘lonesome man eligible’ trick play in the last minute of play.”

It was the season opener and Estancia prevailed, 15-14.

In terms of individuals, it’s a long list, but Hassay pared it to

the minimum and here’s some of those who still occupy a piece of the

memory bank:

From ’69 to ‘73, Mike Shaughnessy, Lee Friedersdorf, Cal Shores,

Curt Thomas, John Dixon, Lee Joyce, Vince Klees and Princeotto.

Klees, a center, went on to Notre Dame.

In 1976 and ‘77, the coach, Jim Bratten, the one-time Magnolia

High quarterback who left after just two years for Colorado, along

with Mike Camp, Dave Jeranko and Steve Cuniff. Riverside Poly ended

it with a 23-14 first-round CIF victory in ’77.

The memorable 1979 campaign under Coach of the Year Ed Blanton

when the Eagles went 9-3, won the league championship and finally

exited with a 33-15 loss to Esperanza in the second round of the

playoffs.

“Jeff Tracy was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year and we

had (sophomore) Jim McCahill, who went on to the University of the

Pacfic,” said Hassay.

A year later the Eagles finished in a three-way tie for the league

title and lost again in the second round of the playoffs to

Esperanza, 42-32.

It was another solid year in 1981 when the Eagles were 8-2-1 with

McCahill at quarterback, backed up by tackle Mike Smith, tight end

Jaimie Aiken, and running back Kurt Wenzlaff.

“We had a total of 10 players who made first- or second-team

all-league,” said Hassey.

Hassay remembers 1986 as the emergence of John Liebengood as coach

(the Eagles struggled that year with an 0-10 record), and in 1989

they turned it around with a 10-0 record through the regular season

before bowing in the first round of CIF, losing to La Mirada, 15-12.

“Chris Coons, a center, was a scholarship player, and we had

players like Kevin Thomas, Danny Uecker, Dan Petrone and Josh

Wojtkiewicz,” said Hassay.

The essence of the scene boils down to “watching players grow and

develop as they learn the nuances and fundamental movements of their

position.” And, calling games in dense fog at Newport Harbor High

always seems to hold water.

It’s Americana.

Announcing the Homecoming kings and queens, and the camaraderie of

once again seeing the return of past football heroes making an

appearance, all the things that seem so corny in the movies, but in

reality, fill one’s heart and fuels that familiar thought: Indeed,

these are “The Best of Times!”

Hey! See you next Sunday!

* ROGER CARLSON is the former sports editor for the Daily Pilot.

His column appears on Sundays. He can be reached by e-mail at

[email protected].