San Diego Prep Review : Runners Work as Team to Save People in Burning House

San Diego High School running backs Damon Carson and Jim Kegler, juniors who have become a team in the backfield this season, worked together last week to alert the occupants of a downtown house that was on fire.

Returning home from a Caver junior varsity game at Mission Bay High Thursday, Carson, Kegler and four members from the San Diego junior varsity team noticed smoke billowing from a house at the corner of 15th and C streets. Carson, Kegler and Marcus Cummings, a Caver assistant varsity coach, entered the house.

“We saw the smoke and we were just going back to watch the fire,” Carson said. “Coach (Cummings) joked around about us saving somebody and I guess we took it seriously, because when we parked we all got out and ran toward the house.”

Carson and Kegler ran upstairs, where they helped an elderly occupant of the Victorian-style house to safety. “He looked real scared,” Carson said. “I guess he was in shock.”

Junior varsity team member Bill Davis alerted the remaining five occupants, who had just started to eat dinner apparently oblivious of the flames in the front of the house. The fire, caused by faulty pipes, caused an estimated $15,000 damage.

“I think it was good for me, as a black student athlete from Southeast San Diego,” Carson said. “All you ever hear about are the gangs and drugs and violence down here, and for us to help somebody and save somebody’s life . . . some of the little kids have something to look up to and say they can be something (in life) instead of being a drug dealer.”

Carson and Kegler are leaders on the field as well. Coach Steve Hembera said he originally couldn’t decide which player to start, so he began alternating Kelger and Carson each series. The strategy has worked. Carson, whose father, Kern Carson, was a standout running back for San Diego State from 1961 to 1963, has gained 312 yards in four games with 5 touchdowns. Kegler has rushed for 289 yards and 3 touchdowns.

“If I were the opposing team, I would take notice,” Carson said. “Because we never get tired. It gives us that one-two punch. It’s hard for teams to stop us.”

Carson said he and Kegler take the rotation in stride, never competing for the starting job.

“Jimmy and I are the best of friends,” Carson said. “We just take it like it is. We know that both of us can get the job done and we just go from there.”

TV Star, Too? Jeff Gaya, a former Santana catcher who was drafted by the California Angels last spring, also has made a name for himself off the field.

During commercials on local cable broadcasts of ESPN in Salem, Ore., Gay appeared daily during the Salem Angels’ season urging fans to support the team.

Gay, who saw limited action for Salem this year while batting .286, and pitcher Roberto Hernandez were the only members of the team featured in the 30-second spots.

“At first I didn’t want to do it,” Gay said. “Then it took me three or four times to get it right. It was weird seeing myself on TV every morning.”

Angel trainer Bill Durney picked the players randomly.

Gay is in Mesa, Ariz., playing for the Angels in the Arizona Instructional League.

Prep Notes

Debbie Shively, who led La Jolla High School to Section 2-A victories in 1982 and 1983, is having a good season with the Idaho State University volleyball team. Monday, she was named the Mountain West Conference player of the week for her performance in Idaho State’s conference opener against Weber State. In two matches last weekend, Shively, a junior, had 83 assists, 21 digs and a .469 hitting average.