Some of Yesterday’s Stars Continue to Sparkle

Nearly everyone who follows local football knows Jamelle Holieway emerged as an exciting option quarterback at Banning High and signed with Oklahoma, where he took over the starting spot early this season and is now trying to lead the team to a national title as a freshman.

Holieway was the latest in a long line of Banning backs to win Times South Bay back-of-the-year honors and go on to the big time--Frank Manumaleuna, Freeman McNeil and Stanley Wilson are all former South Bay backs of the year.

What does the future hold for 1985 back of the year Mike Reddington? An update of the 1975 All-South Bay team runs the gamut from those whose playing days ended in high school to those like McNeil starring in the pros.

The back of the year in 1975 was West Torrance running back Glen Peterson, who led the Warriors to a 13-1 season. Peterson went on to play as a linebacker at El Camino College and Long Beach State. He’s now a contractor in the area.

The lineman of the year was Carson’s Julian Olivas Jr. Olivas played junior college ball but did not continue. He lives in the Carson area.

Two of the more illustrious players on the team were McNeil, a junior that year, and Carson quarterback Samoa Samoa, who went on to college stardom. Two selected to second team went on to pro careers: Gardena wide receiver George Farmer and Inglewood running back Jarvis Redwine. Samoa is coaching today in Samoa. “He’s our shuttle,” Carson Coach gene Vollnogle said with a laugh. “He sends us all our players.”

Carson had three other players on the 1975 team, all on defense: Michael Bean, Henry Williams and Tui Tauanuu. Bean played at Washington, Williams bounced from UCLA to Long Beach State and played two years as a pro in Canada, and Tauanuu played at San Jose State.

West Torrance’s outstanding team had three on the first team that year. Wide receiver Cory Hons went on to play at El Camino College and San Diego State and is now a salesman for a beverage company; defensive back Andy Center played at UCLA, then shifted to baseball. He is now in the leasing business; Rick Obbema went to UCLA, then became an assistant high school coach before moving north. He’s now in the computer business in the San Francisco area.

Fred Petersen, the coach at West High in 1975, rated Peterson the best ever at West then and says he would still rank among the top two, along with 1968 star David Boyd, now a law enforcement officer in Bakersfield.