Frogs Win in Ribetting Performance

Last Saturday my wife and I drove up to La Canada High School to watch a game between the Ribet Frogs and the Antelope Valley Christian Eagles.

Our granddaughter is a Frog. When her family moved out of the Marshall High School district she had to change schools, and she elected to go to Ribet, a small private prep school in La Canada Flintridge. Having been a member of Marshall’s classy cheerleading team, she immediately joined Ribet’s six-girl team.

Our daughter-in-law Jacqueline had called us and asked us to go to the game. “Mr. Smith,” she said in her beguiling way, “it’s such a little school. They really need support.”

She said she had not chosen the school because the name was French. It was just a coincidence. I wondered how my wife would feel about cheering a team called the Frogs. Being of French descent, she had once slapped a schoolmate in elementary school for calling her a frog.

We picked up our son in Linda Vista to take him to the game. Jacqueline and our granddaughter had gone on ahead. Our son said the game was to be played on a field in Oak Grove Park, a heavily wooded park below the Jet Propulsion Lab. “It’s supposed to be north of La Canada High School,” he said.

We drove past the high school and turned into Oak Grove. We wandered over dirt roads that meandered through the oak trees, looking into this clearing and that. No football field.

“I don’t see any goal posts,” I kept saying. Finally we asked a forest ranger. He gave my son some arm directions. They led to another dead end. Then we noticed that we had picked up a tail. Four cars were following us. They were looking for the field too.

Finally we went back to the entrance to start over (the other cars still following). A small sign nailed to a tree said the game was across the street on a field north of the school. We missed the kickoff.

The field was only 80 yards long. There were no goal posts. The Frogs wore green jerseys, the Eagles white. There was a small grandstand across the field for the visitors. It held about 50 people. Ours held about 100. Our granddaughter’s pep team was off to one side, running through their drills. They wore white sweat shirts and short white skirts. They chanted:

Frogs in the front,

Let me hear you grunt;

Frogs in the back,

Show us where it’s at--right here!

The Eagles had a big back who seemed to be pummeling the Frogs. There were only eight players to a team, and six or seven reserves on each bench. I was afraid the Eagles were going to demolish the Frogs.

Suddenly a Frog broke through and ran 30 yards for a touchdown. It was called back for clipping. Later, on defense, a Frog back intercepted a pass and ran it back 35 yards for a touchdown. There being no goal posts, they had to go for two points. The Eagles held: 6-0 Frogs.

The girls ran through another drill:

GO! Let me hear you say GO!

That’s right, UNITE!

Let me hear you say FIGHT!

WIN! Let me hear you say WIN!

Together, again!

Let me hear you say GO! FIGHT! WIN! The Frogs had two very fast backs. Twice they broke away for long touchdowns. I couldn’t tell whether they were inspired by the girls or not. Across the field four little girls in checkered miniskirts were cheering the Eagles.

There were no food stands. At halftime my wife and our daughter-in-law and I drove up Foothill Boulevard to a McDonald’s and bought four hamburgers and four Cokes. We missed the kickoff again.

The Frogs were too good for them. Late in the fourth quarter it was 34-0. Then the Eagles scored, and just as the Trojans were to do that same day up at Washington State, they passed for the two points and made it.

Final score: Frogs, 34, Eagles 8.

Going back on Linda Vista we ran into the UCLA-UC crowd heading for the Rose Bowl.

I didn’t see anything about our game in the Sunday paper.