Dana Hills High School students and alumni celebrate a Homecoming win over San Clemente
They came out dressed in crisp blues and glowing whites, ready to support their gridiron hopefuls and set to celebrate another Homecoming. Dana Hills High School students, fans and alumni made it to Dolphin Stadium on Friday, Oct. 23, amidst a smoky backdrop of tailgate parties, long ticket lines, and dusky vanilla skies eyeing not only a Homecoming win against long-time rival San Clemente, but a chance at seeing familiar faces both past and present.
“This is a huge crowd for us,” second-year Dana Hills High School Athletic Director Matt Reid said. “We’re definitely a full house tonight and then some. Both of these teams are playing well and we’re looking to break a very long losing streak against San Clemente.”
This was a game for the ages with the Dolphins’ most recent win against the Tritons dating back to 1991–a year in which grunge music made it’s most popular breakthrough off albums like Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and Pearl Jam’s debut hit album “Ten,” and a time when the first war in Iraq was commonly known as Desert Storm. Suffice to say there was a lot on the line for the Dolphins on yet another cool fall evening by the sea.
“I’ve received a lot of calls from past alumni wanting information on this game in particular,” Reid said. “It just speaks to a school that’s been around for a long time and is a lot of people’s anchor and a home where they can come back to.”
Charting their way through the traffic of people, linked at the arms, were three former Dolphin cheerleaders who exemplified old school spirit.
“We didn’t even have a football field when we we’re here–we had to use San Clemente’s for our home games,” class of 1979 alumni Ginger Mueller said. “It’s great coming back to this school—once a Dolphin always a Dolphin.”
Her partner in cheer expressed similar sentiments. “We all just loved each other so much that’s it’s just fun to get together again at these kinds of events,” class of 1979 alumni Doreen Barber said. The third former cheerleader was attending the game with a bit of a heavy heart. “I’ve got mixed feelings because my daughter goes to Aliso Niguel High School, so this is kind of hard for me,” class of 1979 alumni Sue Blount said.
As game time approached and pre-game entertainment the likes of the school dance team, color guard and band came to an end, the Dolphin football team made their way onto the field. Bursting through their wide school banner with savage ferocity, Dolphin tensions ran high as blue, silver and white balloons exploded skyward in celebration of the start of the game. With both sides filled to capacity, the roar of the crowd filled the night air as the ball sailed across the turf field for the opening kick-off to Tritons.
Things started off perfectly for the Dolphins, as they quickly built a 24-0 lead on their coastal neighbor. A blocked punt on the Triton’s opening drive led to an early 3-0 Dolphins lead, courtesy of a 29-yard field goal by Dolphin kicker Brenden Beckley. Dana Hills (2-0 SCL, 6-1) then poured it on, starting with a 3-yard touchdown by Taylor Haefner a few possessions later to go up 10-0, then another TD, this time a 6-yard scamper off the I-formation from running back Brandon Howe after a Triton turnover on downs for a 17-0 lead.
On the ensuing kick off, Tritons running back and return specialist David Espino fumbled the ball giving the Dolphins a short field at the San Clemente 26-yard line. Another 5-yard dash into the end zone by Dana Hills running back Cole Altuzarra put the Dolphins ahead 24-0 with 4:57 left in the first half.
The Tritons (1-1 South Coast League, 4-3 overall) finally got on the board after a touchdown pass by quarterback Chase Rettig found a man-on-man match up to a leaping Jordan Micalef in the middle of the end zone capping a 68-yard drive as the Dolphins ended the first half cruising with a 24-7 lead.
The halftime show featured large groups of students from all levels at the high school, and four equally large and colorfully hand-painted canvasses carried onto the field and displayed to face the home crowd, in celebration of this year’s Travel Agency theme.
Class by class, all students involved gyrated to hip-hop beats and came together for an exhibition of school spirit unlike any other.
The freshman were dressed as a crew of chic-sailors for a boating theme, the sophomores put on their freaky garb as aliens and spacemen for their space shuttle festivities, the juniors donned their Hawaiian shirts and grooved with one another as the other part of their group were dressed as a flight crew in a airline vacation theme, and seniors sported their leathers and reflector wear for their own private biker club dance party.
After the dance skits concluded, the homecoming court was announced and made their way onto the field. Overall, the race was tight between six couples but in the end a dazzling Shea Gomez stood out amongst the rest and was named Homecoming Queen for 2009, while Matt Myers earned the selection as Homecoming King. The halftime show ended with a bright fireworks display at the east end of the field above the school.
San Clemente came out in the third quarter looking as though they had made the proper adjustments and marched 97 yards downfield on their first possession. Espino capped the drive with a 1-yard TD and helped San Clemente trim the lead to 24-14 with 4:03 left in the third.
But the Dolphins responded, posting two more touchdowns in a major statement victory to snap an 18-year drought against San Clemente.
Howe slashed another one in from 17 yards out for paydirt, breaking three tackles and switching field direction to put Dana Hills up 31-14 late in the third, while wide receiver Chris Kearney caught a 14-yard touchdown over the middle from back-up quarterback Trent Mason for Dana’s final points on the night and a 38-14 win.
“This is a great win for us,” head coach Brent Melbon said. “I’d heard about our losing streak to (the Tritons) a few times all week and didn’t think of it as a big deal. This battle was won up front with some really good and physical play from both of our lines.”
Big man senior Nick Kaspar also thought the effort was huge from Dana’s offensive and defensive fronts.
“I’m just really proud of the guys on both sides,” Kaspar said. “We put in the work all year and this win wasn’t a surprise. We knew we could get it done and we did tonight. It’s nice that this win came my senior year. Since we were all freshman we kept telling each other that this was it–this is the team that could finally do it.”
No. 5 Dana Hills did have one major injury concern after quarterback Josh Dean was upended on a hard hit late in the third quarter injuring his left knee. Though the Dolphins scored two plays later, the senior standout did not return.
In any event, the Dolphins finally broke a bad streak and also did so on their coach’s birthday.
“We call them the Filthy 40 for a reason,” Melbon said. “They’ve got such a great work ethic and all of us coaches are just so proud of them. It’s definitely a good birthday present–I was hoping for it.”
As the rest of the crowd made their way to the exits, players, coaches, students, fans and other alumni remained scattered across the Dolphin side of the field, laughing, joking and relishing a moment that finally came to its fruition—and helped make Homecoming 2009 truly memorable.
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Posted by Great story
October 30, 2009, 2:50 pm
Thanks DP Times for this piece. What a great nice for us Dolphins alum!
Vol. 2, Issue 44, October 30-November 5, 2009
Add A Comment
Thanks DP Times for this piece. What a great nice for us Dolphins alum!