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About this episode

Hello my name is Steve Schroder and I graduated from Orange Glen High School in 1973. I fondly remember the high school football games, especially the games against Escondido High School. Superbowl V was an especially memorable game! The game took place on October 29, 1971 at Escondido High School. At that time, Escondido High School and Orange Glen High School were cross town rivals. The showdowns between Escondido and Orange Glen were legendary. The games typically drained Escondido's homes and businesses as everyone met up at the field. The games were so legendary that they became known as the Escondido Superbowl. On the night of October 29, there were over 9,000 Escondido residents at the game. The population of Escondido at that time was around 35,000. In previous years the game had drawn as many as 16,000 and could only be played at Escondido High School because of the size of the crowd. In those days the junior high schools in Escondido fed both High Schools. During this era both Escondido and Orange Glen were in the Avocado League. The league consisted of Orange Glen, Escondido, Fallbrook, Poway, Carlsbad, Oceanside, San Dieguito, Vista and San Marcos High Schools. Escondido was the only town with two high schools. As such the football talent in Escondido was divided in half where the other schools in the league had only one high school. Had there been only one high school in Escondido, that school would most likely have dominated both the Avocado league and perhaps the county championship. The biggest thing I remembered about Superbowl V was how cold it was. The Times-Advocate reports that the temperature at Friday's game was 27 degrees. During the game, the fans huddled in blankets trying to keep warm. It was so cold that you could see everyone breathing. It reminded me of the small town football games in the Midwest. The newspaper noted that "fans feared that if they bought coffee at the concession stand, by the time they returned to their seats they'd have to stir it with an ice pick." I remember some of the notable players from each school. Orange Glen players included the best quarterback in the league, Ron Coppess. In addition, Jay Arenz, Bob Garret and Darryl Dunn formed one of the best receiving sets in the County. Darryl Dunn would figure prominently in this game. On the defensive side of the ball for Orange Glen, Darryl Henry, Alan Tannner, George Torres, Jed Johnson, Richard Williamson and others formed a great defense. The coach for Orange Glen was Dick Disney, who wore short-sleeved shirt despite the freezing temperatures. He actually changed into a sweatshirt later when he realized freezing to death would not win the game for Orange Glen. Disney took Superbowls very seriously and had the Orange Glen players practice the plays in the gymnasium in order to make sure the plays were kept a secret. Escondido had a great team that was led by Dan Embrey, Joe Rotta, Ted Walsh, Don Bakerrink, Dennis Beede and Chris Fuller. I knew all of these guys growing up and attending Del Dios Junior High School. The Escondido High team was led by legendary coach and father of Dan, Robert “Chick” Embrey. In the spirit of cross town rivalry, the Orange Glen players broke through a banner featuring a man with a wood screw through his midsection as the entered the field. Orange Glen Principal Patrick Ross was livid! Up until the final quarter of the game, it appeared as if Orange Glen would be losing another Superbowl versus Escondido. The score was 12-0 in favor of Escondido. Escondido had executed a great game plan and had limited Coppess and team until that final quarter. However, that all changed in the final 3 and a half minutes of the game. Bob Garrett whom Coach Embrey called the most dangerous player on the Orange Glen team caught a critical pass to set up the initial Orange Glen score. On the scoring play, Orange Glen went to the line without a huddle and Coppess passed threw deep to Jay Arenz on a 73 yard scoring play. Jay Arenz was among the fastest players in the county and ran away from the Escondido defense. With Escondido controlling the ball, the game appeared to be over as Orange Glen was still down 5 points. Then a miracle happened. Escondido fumbled the ball and Richard Williamson recovered the ball at the Escondido 41 with two and a half minutes left. In the last minute of the game, Coppess threw a pass to Daryl Dunn who caught the ball in the end zone resulting in the game winning touchdown. The catch was phenomenal in that Darryl had to jump above Ted Walsh and using his baseball hands, snare the pass from Coppess. Darryl only caught two passes in the game, but from a personal perspective Darryl caught the pass over his friend and grade school student from St Mary's Catholic Church, Ted Walsh. Because of the significance of this game, and the game winning catch, Darryl was named Avocado League player of the week. The game was not over, as Orange Glen had to withstand a final drive by Escondido. Darryl Henry, Alan Tanner, Ron Coppess and Darryl Dunn repelled the final attack by Escondido. A fun part of the game was actually trying to get home after the game. Broadway was a celebration road for Orange Glen on this evening with everyone honking their horns and celebrating the victory. Orange Glen's players left the game on their bus chanting, yelling and celebrating. This was a great year for both Orange Glen and Escondido High football. Many of the players continued down separate paths after this year. For Escondido, the real success happened a year later as they won the league title. For Orange Glen, this year was the best. Ron Coppess continued to play football at both Palomar and Florida State University. He is now a contractor in North San Diego County and Riverside County. Bob Garret is considered one of the best 5th grade teachers in the City of Escondido. Allan Tanner is a respected surgeon. George Torres heads up a major food processing plant in Escondido. Darryl Dunn went on to USD on a baseball scholarship and subsequently became a lead sales representative for AT&T. Unfortunately, Darryl passed away two years ago from Cancer. Dan Embry graduated from Biola and runs an avocado processing company in Escondido. Joe Rotta graduated form San Diego State University and is a very successful investment counselor in North San Diego County. Coach Disney retired as head football coach that year and remained athletic director. He has since passed away. In honor of Coach Disney, the football field at Orange Glen bears his name. Coach Embry still lives close the Escondido High School, and later had the fooball field named after him. It was a great time to be alive in Escondido - the games were special and everyone always looked forward to the Orange Glen-Escondido Superbowl. As the city has grown, this rivalry has changed with the addition of San Pasqual High School.

• Category

• Release Date

  May 25, 2010

• Runtime

  08:03