STORIES FROM THE PAST
50 years ago
PALMDALE — The Calipatria Hornets saw a holding penalty stop a fourth quarter drive inside the Paraclete Spirits 20-yard line Saturday night.
The penalty killed the drive and forced the Hornets to give the ball to Paraclete, and the Spirits just ran out the clock without making much of an effort to score.
As a result, the Hornets and Spirits are co-champions of the California Interscholastic Federation, Southern Section, Small School Division for 1967.
While the tie was a disappointment to both teams, it was better than a loss — especially for the Spirits. Paraclete is just in its third year of existence and has gained a championship in that short span.
Duplicate awards will be presented to both teams by the CIF. Although Paraclete had a slight lead in statistics, the game goes down as a tie and the teams as co-champions.
Paraclete ended with a 9-2-1 record. Calipatria finished with an 8-2-2 mark.
40 years ago
Master planning and masterful individual effort led the Holtville Vikings to the 1977 SCIF Class AA Girls Tennis Championship on Thursday at Corona del Mar High School.
Carrot Capital coach Madeline Magin sent her Desert Valleys League champions against Carpenteria High School and the Vikings recorded an 11-7 victory.
Holtville concluded the net campaign with a spotless 19-0 record. The Vikings closed the wars by claiming victories in five straight Playoff duals.
“It might not be enough to say we are happy with the win,” Magin said, “but these girls did a sensational job of representing Holtville throughout the season.”
The Vikings had to win the title on the road, although the match was staged at a neutral site. Holtville earned a spot in the title dual by beating Brawley 11-7.
30 years ago
El Centro Police Chief Ralph Cordova has deputized the Central Union High School administration in an effort to cut down the number of residential burglaries believed to be committed by truant youths.
Cordova said Wednesday he has given Central’s administration authority to cite youths loitering on school grounds. At the same time the police are going to start picking up truants and handling them over to the school, where if they fail to go to class they can be cited for loitering.
“We’re finding ... about 80 percent of the people who commit daytime residential burglaries in El Centro are youthful offenders,” said Cordova.
The law, Cordova said, gives police little jurisdiction over truants. But it does allow the arrest of youths loitering on or around the campus during school hours.
20 years ago
The Mexicali Halcones Pee Wee squad will make history today as it kicks off its first game in the Pop Warner national championship at the Disney world Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla.
The Halcones (Falcons in English) were selected as the first team from the Imperial Valley Pop Warner League to ever attempt the national competition.
“We are very excited to have a team compete at this level,” Imperial Valley Pop Warner Commissioner Daniel Romero said. “It’s just great that they are able to attend the national competition.”
The Halcones advanced to the national championship after defeating the Bullhead City (Ariz.) Chiefs 30-6 in the Wescon Regional Football and Cheer Championships on Nov. 22-23 in Tucson.