Flashback : Maybe The Best : It has been 20 Years Since Santa Ana Valley Won the Section’s 3-A Championship, Which Secured the Falcons a Place in County Prep Football History

Twenty years? Could it really be that long? The newspaper clippings turned yellow a long time ago, photos are curling up at the edges, pounds have been added, hair lost and specifics exaggerated. Memories of Santa Ana Valley’s 1974 Southern Section 3-A championship team remain vivid, even after 20 years of standout football tams in Orange County. The passing seasons have seen dynasties rise and fall, great players come and go, records set and broken.

Comparisons are inevitable, of course. Los Alamitos won Friday and extended its unbeaten streak to a section record-tying 46 consecutive games. Master Dei, Edison, El Toro, Esperanza, Fountain Valley, Servite and Valencia, among others, have fielded dominating teams since ’74.

Could any of them have beaten Santa Ana Valley’s team?

It’s eminently debatable.

There is no question the ’74 Santa Ana Valley team is one of the county’s best, however.

For the record, the Falcons finished 11-1-2, crushing a previously unbeaten Colton team in the 3-A title game, 47-14, with a stunning rushing attack that had to be seen to be believed.

At the time, it was the finest backfield in county history. Twenty years later, it still ranks as one of the best.

Myron White, a senior tailback who shifted into gears others couldn’t match, and Fred Morales, a poised junior quarterback, controlled the pace of most games. Many times, they did what they pleased, took what they wanted. Late in the season, it appeared almost comical.

Against the backdrop of the Watergate hearings, President Nixon’s resignation and the kidnaping of newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst, Santa Ana Valley began the ’74 season hoping to measure up to the ’73 team that won the Irvine League championship before losing in the second round of the 4-A playoffs.

In the off-season, Santa Ana Valley was moved to 3-A and placed in the Freeway League.

And, after a few stumbles, it became apparent that this team was far superior to past squads.

Coach Dick Hill recently said the 1974 team had only one weakness and when an inexperienced offensive line began to make progress and mature, it also became outstanding.

“Our line was young and innocent,” Hill said. “That’s why we got beat and tied a couple of times early.”

By midseason it was clear there was little chance of stopping the Falcons. They simply had too many great athletes. Once they jelled, they were unbeatable.

The backfield stands out most of all.

Any discussion of the team’s strengths begins and ends with White.

He was the finest back of his era. According to Hill, he could have put many rushing records out of reach. Instead, Hill pulled White when the game was in hand. There was no sense running up the score and subjecting White to cheap shots and possible injury, Hill figured. Fact was, White missed two early-season games because of the terrible pounding he took in games.

In the end, White rushed for 4,164 yards in his three-year varsity career, an Orange County record that stood for more than 10 years. He was 3-A player of the year in 1974 and was the first player to be named The Times’ Orange County back of the year in consecutive seasons.

And if there was any doubt about his greatness, his final two games in the playoffs secured his status as a prep legend.

Against Monrovia, in the semifinals, White rushed for 250 yards and three touchdowns in an 18-7 victory. In the final against Colton, he gained 204 yards and scored three touchdowns despite playing only a few downs in the second half.

“As fine a running back as I’ve seen in a long time,” said former Falcon Athletic Director Larry Arason, then a coach at Santa Ana.

“He had so much natural ability,” former Falcon baseball Coach Herschel Musick said. “He could have excelled in anything.”

Said Hill: “Boy, was he a competitor. Myron got beat up some of the time because in those days you could spear, and I hated that. Some great football players got really beat up. They’d come in with the helmet with second hits and there was nothing you could do about it. Some games they worked Myron over.”

White simply kept running.

“If Myron would have gone to UCLA, we would never have heard of Wendell Tyler,” Morales said.

Wilbert Haslip played fullback, running free and clear when opponents focused too sharply on stopping White.

Haslip, who earned all-county honors as a linebacker, was strong and tough. “Tremendous,” is Hill’s recollection of Haslip.

He had two touchdowns in the championship game, although Hill remembers Haslip’s defensive contributions more fondly.

“We shut Colton out in the first half and that was awesome,” he said. “They were undefeated and had killed everybody. They were so physical it was almost scary.”

Noble Franklin, a wide receiver and defensive back, was another standout.

Terry Franklin, Noble’s brother, also played receiver.

Jim Tesimale stood 5 feet 11 and weighed only 190 pounds, but he earned all-section honors as an offensive lineman.

Mike Easley was a tremendous defensive lineman.

Morales led by example. He had poise and leadership qualities all right, but he was a big guy and nobody messed with him, Hill said.

He wasn’t counted on to throw frequently, but when he did the results were often spectacular. Again, teams that tried too hard to stop White paid the price.

One crucial play on the Falcons’ second possession in the title game proved the point.

“After that play, I knew the game was over,” Morales said. “We ran a blast pass. I faked to Myron running up the middle and threw a button hook to Noble Franklin for a (53-yard) touchdown.”

With a Colton defensive lineman lying on him, Morales heard the crowd’s roar and told the late-charging sacker, “The game’s over.”

By halftime, the Falcons led, 34-0, and Morales and his teammates had rolled up 332 yards.

“Every time we scored first, we dominated the game,” Morales said. “There was no stopping us. That team was just amazing. I consider myself very fortunate to be on that team.

“(Backup quarterback) John Holland was just as good. For some reason Coach Hill picked me.”

Like most teams of that period, Santa Ana Valley concentrated on its running game. Even if White and Haslip hadn’t been so good, Hill would have run more than passed.

“I don’t think there was a better backfield around,” Morales said. “I wouldn’t have to make any fakes. I’d just hand Myron the ball.

“When we did pass, we were very effective because our running game was so awesome. Noble Franklin was a great wide receiver. I could throw it at his ankles and he’d never miss a stride.

“The offensive line really came around. I had great protection. I got sacked only three or four times all year. We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Santa Ana Valley opened the playoffs with a 22-6 victory over Claremont, ripped Villa Park, 35-6, squeaked past Burbank Burroughs, 22-14, and outlasted Monrovia, 18-7.

Colton went into the title game undefeated, having averaged 41.5 points and scored 50 points or more five times.

Donald Markham, Colton’s coach, and Hill clashed on what to do when a game turned into a rout. Markham was eager to run up the score; Hill liked to play the substitutes.

The Falcons were probably the underdogs when the teams met Friday, Dec. 21, at Orange Show Stadium in San Bernardino. Certainly, they walked into unfriendly surroundings.

“We got to that Orange Show and they had that thing full on both sides,” Hill said. “We made them get off our side. We had buses filled with our fans.”

Hill sensed his players were scared before the game. When they hit the field, however, any intimidation factor melted away.

White carried the ball 13 times, scoring on runs of one, 52 and 61 yards. Haslip scored on 25- and one-yard runs. The Falcons led 47-0 before Colton scored midway through the fourth quarter.

“Boy, our kids came up to standards so high,” Hill said. “They were so good. It was one of the most gratifying experiences I’ve ever had.”

The next morning, the seniors awoke to read this lead in The Times:

Santa Ana Valley kissed an era goodby Friday night, but how sweet it was.

Indeed, they would never play football together again. Some drifted off to other sports--to basketball, baseball and track and field. Some played college football. Others never put on a pair of shoulder pads again.

White signed to play baseball with the Dodgers instead of accepting a scholarship to play football at UCLA. He never played in the majors, and a later bid to play football at the University of Hawaii never panned out.

On the night Ray Pallares of Valencia broke his county career rushing record in 1985, White was living in a small town in the San Joaquin Valley, far from the local football scene he once dominated.

“I should have been two people,” White told The Times in 1985. “If I’d cloned myself, I might have known which sport to play. The barbershop-type guys, the older guys around Santa Ana, the church folks, they say I should have played football. But if I had played eight years in the big leagues, what would they have said then? That I should have played football still? It’s a situation where I’ll never know.”

Morales went on to become the boys’ basketball coach at Bethel Baptist in Santa Ana.

Hill remembers many others, including Franklin and Haslip, playing college football.

In later years, Hill pumped new life into the program at Santa Ana, leading the Saints into the 1986 Southern Conference title game, which they lost, 26-10, to El Toro.

Hill, still at it after all these years, coached Orange to a 4-6 record this past season.

Santa Ana Valley hasn’t played in a championship game since 1974.