Gridders Get to Settle the Score --for 75th Time

Before the Rams, the Angels and the Mighty Ducks came to town, sports fans countywide flocked to the biggest, most anticipated game in Orange County: Fullerton College vs. Santa Ana College football.

Players donned leather helmets while crowds waited in line for hours to get tickets to the main event on the gridiron each Thanksgiving Day. The year 1916--the first time the Fullerton Hornets and Santa Ana Dons faced off--marked the launching of a local tradition and the longest-standing community college football rivalry in the nation.

“It’s part of my heritage,” said Fullerton Mayor Chris Norby, 47, who began attending the annual showdown when he was 8 years old. “This is rah rah. This is spirit. This is community. It was the turkey day game.”

In fact, the big battle on the gridiron took place on Thanksgiving Day every year from 1925 to 1958, when the rivalry was at an all-time high. Thousands of families would attend the afternoon contest before heading home for Thanksgiving dinner. After 1958, the games shifted to Fridays for a while and then eventually ended up on Saturdays, when the majority of college football games are played.

Because Fullerton didn’t always field a team, there were no games from 1917 to 1920, in 1923 or 1924, or in 1943 because of the war. There was no game scheduled in 1944. In 1945, however, the contest became an annual affair up to the present.

Today, the Hornets and Dons will play for the 75th time and, though attendance has waned over the years, fans in both cities are hoping it will renew enthusiasm for community college football to keep alive its historic significance.

“This is a big deal,” said Santa Ana’s head coach, Dave Ogas, who gets a handful of calls each year from people wanting to know the date of the next Santa Ana-Fullerton game. “It’s the oldest rivalry in the country, and there’s a lot of people in their 60s and 70s who remember it back during the Turkey Bowl days. It was the thing to do here in Orange County.”

Fullerton College was established in 1913 and Santa Ana College came along in 1915. It wasn’t until decades later that Orange County’s seven other community colleges were built.

Ogas has been coaching the Santa Ana team since 1976, but his football roots date to 1964 and 1965, when he was a Hornet offensive lineman and his team beat the Dons both times.

Make no mistake over which team he will be cheering today, however.

“Santa Ana College has paid my mortgage for the past 21 years, so I have a lot of allegiance to this college,” Ogas said. “Go Dons!”

For his team, today’s game will be especially memorable because it’s the first time in 12 years that it will be played under the name of Santa Ana College. The institution was renamed Rancho Santiago College in 1985, leaving alumni infuriated until this year, when its original identity was restored.

The game will be special for the Hornets as well. It’s their homecoming, and the pep squad plans to perform a halftime dance with a nostalgic theme featuring tunes from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.

Community leaders are contributing to the hoopla as well.

Leonard Lahtinen, president of the governing board that oversees Fullerton College, and Phillip E. Yarbrough, a trustee of the board that governs Santa Ana College, have made a wager. If Fullerton loses, Lahtinen must wear a Santa Ana cap at his next board meeting, and if Santa Ana loses, Yarbrough will wear a Fullerton cap at his next meeting.

The fire chiefs of both cities are planning a private bet. Neither would divulge details.

Norby, who will lead a tailgate party before the game, and Santa Ana Mayor Miguel A. Pulido Jr. are set to present the victor with the “Key to the County,” a new perpetual trophy that will go to the winning team each year. On one side is painted Santa Ana’s team colors--red and black--and displays all of the team’s wins. The other side lists Fullerton’s wins on a blue and gold background. Santa Ana leads the series with 36 wins. Fullerton has 34 victories. There have been four ties.

The key-shaped steel trophy was painted and donated by Tony Bushala, a Fullerton businessman and former Hornet running back. He was named the best running back in the league in 1979, the year the Hornets lost 21-19.

“We were very, very upset,” Bushala, 38, recalled. “To this day, out of all the games I ever played, that one loss sticks out the most in my memory.”

Winning this year would be meaningful for him and many local residents who follow the sport, he said. “Go Hornets!”

As of this morning, Santa Ana leads the Mission Conference Central Division with a 4-0 record. Fullerton, at 3-1, is tied in second place with Saddleback and Riverside community colleges. Whoever captures the division title earns an invitation to play against an opponent of another division in the championship Dec. 6.

Given their standings so far, it’s going to be a close fight for supremacy, Fullerton Coach Gene Murphy said. He said that if Fullerton wins two more games, it will play in the Dec. 6 bowl game, which is attended by hundreds of university recruiters. If Santa Ana wins the next two games, the Dons will be the champion.

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A Grand Tradition

The storied football rivalry between Fullerton and Santa Ana colleges stretches back 74 games. Santa Ana leads the series 36-34, and there have been four ties. How the series has played:

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Year Score Winner 1916 0-0 tie 1921 35-0 Fullerton 13-0 Fullerton 1922 25-0 Santa Ana 1925 13-0 Santa Ana 1926 13-0 Santa Ana 1927 6-0 Santa Ana 1928 20-6 Fullerton 1929 19-13 Santa Ana 1930 13-13 tie 1931 19-12 Fullerton 1932 14-13 Fullerton 1933 6-3 Santa Ana 1934 6-0 Santa Ana 1935 7-0 Fullerton 1936 12-0 Santa Ana 1937 20-0 Santa Ana 1938 13-13 tie 1939 14-7 Santa Ana 1940 14-7 Santa Ana 1941 6-0 Santa Ana 1942 13-12 Santa Ana 1945 7-0 Santa Ana 1946 19-14 Santa Ana 1947 20-6 Fullerton 1948 22-6 Santa Ana 1949 34-6 Santa Ana 1950 18-18 tie 1951 14-0 Santa Ana 1952 7-6 Fullerton 1953 20-0 Fullerton 1954 29-26 Fullerton 1955 55-7 Fullerton 1956 42-7 Fullerton 1957 6-0 Santa Ana 1958 16-13 Santa Ana 1959 33-21 Santa Ana 1960 19-6 Santa Ana 1961 47-16 Santa Ana 1962 36-12 Santa Ana 1963 27-0 Fullerton 1964 39-0 Fullerton 1965 28-13 Fullerton 1966 35-21 Fullerton 1967 34-7 Fullerton 1968 28-7 Fullerton 1969 34-9 Fullerton 1970 21-13 Fullerton 1971 9-7 Santa Ana 1972 24-14 Fullerton 1973 19-0 Fullerton 1974 34-7 Fullerton 1975 13-7 Fullerton 1976 33-0 Fullerton 1977 42-7 Fullerton 1978 48-21 Santa Ana 1979 21-19 Santa Ana 1980 15-10 Santa Ana 1981 19-12 Fullerton 1982 37-0 Fullerton 1983 33-7 Fullerton 1984 43-33 Fullerton 1985 27-24 Santa Ana 1986 26-23 Santa Ana 1987 27-17 Santa Ana 1988 24-17 Fullerton 1989 35-10 Santa Ana 1990 44-22 Fullerton 1991 34-7 Fullerton 1992 29-28 Santa Ana 1993 41-35 Santa Ana 1994 34-7 Santa Ana 1995 24-17 Fullerton 1996 24-3 Santa Ana

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Note: Fullerton did not field teams in 1917-20, 1923-24 and 1943. No game was scheduled in 1944.

Source: Fullerton and Santa Ana colleges; Researched by MIMI KO CRUZ / For The Times

Los Angeles Times

* OLDEST RIVALRY

Santa Ana and Fullerton play for the 75th time in football today at Cal State Fullerton. C17