HIGH SCHOOLS : After 8 Years, Sweetwater Honors Fulfillment of a Dream

Coincidence or foresight? When Sweetwater High dedicated an entire page of its 1984 yearbook to senior Gail Devers, the headline read, “Gail, a model of an Olympian,” and Devers wrote, “Follow your dreams.”

Eight years later, Devers became a model of an Olympian by following her dreams to Barcelona and capturing the 100 meter Olympic gold medal in July.

She did so after a serious bout with Graves’ Disease, which nearly caused her to lose both feet.

On Oct. 19, Devers will be honored with a parade down Highland Avenue in National City and various presentations at Sweetwater.

The parade, scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., will travel south along Highland, west on 24th Street and south on F Avenue into Sweetwater’s football stadium.

There, Devers will receive presentations from National City and her former schools, Ira Harbison Elementary, National City Middle School and Sweetwater.

A reception, in the Sweetwater gymnasium, and the dedication of Sweetwater’s Regional Occupational Center conclude the day’s events.

ONLY GAME IN TOWN

Haven’t checked out high school football in a while? Ever? Tonight is as good an opportunity as any in San Diego County.

Go on, try it. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to get hooked. Consider it a quick fix, something to get you by until next weekend. After all, consider your alternatives.

San Diego State idle. Chargers idle. University of San Diego at Whittier. Palomar College at Fullerton.

Now then, for roughly the face-value price of one Charger ticket, a family of four can attend a high school game, buy a program, four hot dogs, four soft drinks and at least four bags of a favorite junk food.

Parking, in most instances, is plentiful and free.

And hey, Charger fans, you might even see a touchdown.

AD RATE

A credit card-sized advertisement in the Montgomery football program last Friday read:

“I wasted $25 on No. 25. Chris Weaver you better make me proud!!!”

Weaver, Montgomery’s safety and part-time quarterback who wears No. 25, returned a blocked punt 25 yards for a touchdown, recovered a Castle Park fumble which led to his one-yard touchdown run, ran in a two-point conversion and rushed for 41 yards in Montgomery’s 21-14 upset of the 10th-ranked Trojans.

Imagine what Weaver might have done had the anonymous advertiser wasted $100.

PASS HAPPY METRO

Six weeks remain in the regular football season, but it looks as though a Metro Conference quarterback will lead the county in passing for the third consecutive season.

O’Brian Woods of Southwest is leading all 2-A and 3-A players with 230.8 passing yards per game and eight touchdowns.

Hilltop’s Jorge Munoz, the Times’ All-County selection at quarterback last year, led the county the past two seasons. Munoz, who is starting at Southwestern College this season, threw for an average of 226 yards in 1991 and 227 in 1990.

PIRATE HAT TRICK

Oceanside scored three touchdowns last week, then missed a pass, a run and finally a kick while attempting conversions. All this came after Hugo Canseco kicked field goals of 31 and 24 yards in a 24-0 victory over Ramona, which still hasn’t scored this year and managed only 22 passing yards Friday.

12TH MAN

On a 79-yard touchdown run during Mt. Carmel’s 24-10 upset of No. 8 Orange Glen, Sundevil running back Marlin Carey appeared to have gotten an assist from one of the referees.

Said Carey, as quoted in the Escondido Times Advocate: “I don’t know, but I got a great block from somebody.”

OLD NEWS

A press release from the Kinney Cross Country Championships lists Milena Glusac of Fallbrook and Margarito Casillas of Glendale Hoover as the top returning girls and boys runners for the Dec. 5 Western Regional Championships at Fresno.

The top eight boys and girls from the regionals will qualify for the national championships, Dec. 12 at Morley Field.

The same release states: “Casillas . . . is expected to be challenged in Fresno by fellow Kinney finalists Daniel Das Neves, Helix High . . . “

Das Neves, while he is a senior at Helix, turned 20 on Sept. 22 and is therefore ineligible for high school competition and the Kinney race.

THE FINAL COUNT

John Acosta helped account for every one of Monte Vista’s points in a 17-6 victory over Santana last week. Acosta threw two touchdown passes and kicked two extra points and a 40-yard field goal . . .

Paul Murphy of Valhalla tied a Section 11-man record by recovering three fumbles in the Norsemen’s 26-14 victory over Mt. Miguel last Friday. Three other East County players have also turned the trick, including current Santana Coach Doug Coffin (Santana, 1968). In all, Valhalla recovered seven of nine Mt. Miguel fumbles . . .

Chula Vista is 30-0-2 in its last 32 Metro Conference games but plays No. 9 Montgomery tonight. Both teams are 2-1-1 . . .

Only one team in the eight-member Palomar League has a losing record. Rancho Buena Vista, which was ranked fourth before the season, is 1-3 after losses to highly-ranked Morse, El Camino and Fallbrook. The Longhorns have lost 10 of their last 16 games . . .

Grossmont has had three different starting quarterbacks this year, Vinnie Curran (broken collar bone), Christian transfer Andy Herbert and last week’s debut starter Robbie Coddington, who was eight for 12 for 96 yards in a 10-0 victory over West Hills.

Statistical Leaders TEAM OFFENSE

School G Pts Avg. University City 4 138 34.5 Helix 4 129 32.3 Poway 4 123 30.8 Fallbrook 4 112 28.0 St. Augustine 4 110 27.5

TEAM DEFENSE

School G Pts Avg. University City 4 0 0.0 St. Augustine 4 12 3.0 Poway 4 13 3.3 Torrey Pines 4 22 5.5 Mission Bay 4 25 6.3