From 1933 to today … a 90-year anthology of football at Mariposa County High School
Contributed by
Trace DeSandres
Former teacher, coach
and athletic director
at MCHS
In September of 1933, Mariposa County High School (MCHS) launched its first football program. The Grizzlies competed in the Tri-County League against Raymond and Le Grand and had practice games against whatever team they could schedule from season to season. Non-league opponents included the local “town” team, Merced, Los Banos, and Chowchilla.
Under the guidance of Coach John “Pop” Ryan, a teacher at MCHS, Mariposa had its first team and first head football coach. Having played football at Oregon State and Stanford, the powerfully built Ryan was highly qualified for the job.
In the inaugural season, the Grizzlies got their first win, beating Raymond, and finished the season with a record of one win, three losses, and one tie. The teams that Mariposa played in 1933 all had established football programs. Coach Ryan, who taught English, history, social science and physical education also coached football, basketball, baseball, track and tumbling. He would coach football for a total of four seasons before departing Mariposa. His four teams compiled a total of 11 victories, 14 losses and 3 ties. Significantly, Mariposa won two Tri-County titles during the 1935 and 1936 seasons, going 5-3 and 4-4-1. Ryan, like so many teachers who also filled coaching roles, did not stay in the Mariposa community very long.
With Coach Ryan’s departure at the end of the 1937 school year, Mariposa hired its second football coach. Del Henrich was hired to teach history, English and physical education as well as coach football and baseball. In Coach Henrich’s first year the Grizzlies went 3-5-1. In his second and final year, his team won two games and lost five.
Due to a heavy freshman enrollment and low numbers of upperclassmen plus a low turnout for football, Mariposa was relegated to the “B” league. I imagine that’s what we call our junior varsity today, and in fact MCHS ended the season playing six-man football. Coach Henrich moved on after the 1938/39 school year finishing with a two-year record of 5-10-1.
The 1939 season saw Mariposa hire its third football coach in its first seven seasons of existence. Coach Julius Langlo took over football, basketball and baseball, while teaching history and science. With a low school enrollment, the Grizzlies had only eight players. Mariposa played six-man football again.
Going 5-2-1, Mariposa won the league championship in the six-man league. Continuing to play six-man football the next season, Coach Langlo’s 1940 team only played four games but won them all capturing a second consecutive and fourth overall league championship.
Coach Langlo was well liked and respected by his players. In his third and final season at MCHS, Langlo led the Grizzlies to a 3-1 record, still competing in the six-man league. Like the two previous teachers/coaches, Langlo moved on after the 1941-42 school year. His 12 wins and only three losses with one tie in six-man football gave MCHS a feeling of school pride at a time that must have been very tumultuous in the county’s history.
With Coach Langlo’s departure, Mariposa hired E.A. Grant to coach the football team. It appears that the 1942 season may have been canceled due to low enrollment (MCHS went from 250 students to 120) due to World War II.
It seems that rather than playing football and having other extracurricular activities, Mariposans were worried about rubber drives, scrap metal and paper drives with the possibility of the West Coast being invaded. Between the 1942 and 1945 seasons, Grant continued to coach and teach at Mariposa High.
Like previous seasons Mariposa did not have enough players to field an 11-man team. Low enrollment due to the war seems to be the main reason for limited numbers and participation. The only team Mariposa played during those three seasons was Le Grand. Coach Grant’s teams played the Bulldogs twice in 1943, three times in 1944 and three times in 1945 winning seven of the eight games, with one game ending in a tie. Coach Grant left Mariposa after the 1945/46 school year, finishing with a 7-0-1 overall record. Mariposa lists these as championships on its football banner. Since these championships were all against Le Grand the Bulldogs are now firmly established as the primary MCHS archrival.
The high school finally went back to 11-man football for good in the 1946 season. With the war over, enrollment began to grow. Under new coach Phil Goettel and assistant Pop Moore, the Grizzlies had an amazing 27 players on the roster, the most ever for an MCHS team.
Mariposa increased its unbeaten streak to 13 games (if you include six-man football) by going 5-0 and winning another league championship, its eighth title to date. Unfortunately, Goettel who taught biology, history, business, and math as well as coaching football, basketball and baseball left after only one year at MCHS. Goettel, who always wore a coat and tie no matter what the sport, was another of the many qualified teachers/coaches who left after such a short period of time. One must wonder why Mariposa couldn’t keep long term teachers/coaches.
During the 1947 season Mariposa hired James Simerly to fill the position left by Coach Goettel. While Simerly coached basketball and baseball and taught, he did not coach football. John Lewis, who did not teach at MCHS led the Grizzlies to a 3-5-1 record. It appears that coach Lewis was the first non-teaching walk-on coach at the high school.
Coach Simerly and Coach Lewis left at the end of the school year. The 1948 season saw yet another new football coach on the Mariposa campus. R. Bareuther was hired to teach history, civics, general science, and international studies and to coach football, basketball, and baseball. A total of 35 players turned out to compete for the football team.
Unfortunately, the Grizzlies had a disappointing season going 2-6-1. Coach Bareuther’s tenure lasted one school year and like every other teaching coach Mariposa has employed was gone after a very short stay. I can’t help but think living in an isolated area such as Mariposa while being asked to teach three or four different subjects and coach three sports over the course of the entire school year would wear someone down very quickly. Fortunately, that was about to change.
The 1949/50 school year started like so many others. A new teaching coach was hired to coach football, basketball, and baseball, and teach U.S. history, civics, general science, and biology. Long-time MCHS administrators Cleo Adelsbach and J.L. Spriggs had to wonder if new hire Don Hixon would be another “one and done” like the previous three coaches before him.
This was not to be the case as Coach Hixon quickly made it clear that he was here for a while. Hixon soon established himself as a well-liked and respected teacher and coach among his students and players. An avid outdoorsman, Hixon spent a great deal of time in the Yosemite backcountry. He established close ties with many long-time Mariposa families. While his football coaching record was not great by any means, the consistency and continuity he gave to Mariposa athletics was something MCHS desperately needed.
In his eight seasons of coaching Grizzly football, he compiled a 24-36-1 record. His 1952 team had a 6-1 mark and a league title. From 1951 thru 1954 Hixon’s teams won 20 games, lost seven and tied two. Coach Hixon left Mariposa after the 1956/57 school year moving to San Luis Obispo where he continued to teach. Coach Hixon passed in February of 2021 just shy of his 100th birthday. I would have liked to have known him and talked to him about his career at MCHS.
With the departure of Hixon, Mariposa hired Coach Vern Peter for the 1957 season. Peter, like almost every other coach, would teach several subjects and coach three sports. His 1957 team went 4-5, good enough for third place in the league. The 1958 season saw coach Peter’s team post a 7-1-1 record, narrowly missing a league title. The Grizzlies did defeat league champion Hilmar but lost to Ripon and the one tie cost them a share of the championship. Peter coached varsity football for three more seasons, but never had the success of that 58 team. He finished his five-year varsity career with 15 wins 25 losses and three ties. It should be noted that Coach Peter continued to coach junior varsity football at MCHS and his 1964 team went a perfect 9-0 for the season. This group of Grizzly athletes gave football fans a glimpse of what was to come.
With Coach Peter moving to the JV team, Don Smith became the Grizzlies’ 10th varsity football coach. His team went 3-5 in the 1962 season. He did stay on as vice principal and coached varsity basketball for a year.
New teacher/coach Lee Wise took over varsity football for the 1963 season. Wise had come from Placerville where he had also coached. His only season coaching the Grizzlies did not go well as Mariposa finished with an 0-8 win-lost mark. Wise left Mariposa after the 63/64 school year.
With Wise leaving, the varsity football position went to Bob McMahon. Coach McMahon taught social studies and Spanish and had coached eight-man football at his previous school. Unfortunately, things did not improve as the Grizzlies finished with an identical 0-8 record for the second consecutive season. Coach McMahon did not return and it seemed as if Mariposa was returning to a pattern of one and done with coaches.
However, sports at MCHS were about to change for the better for years and years. In 1964 Mariposa hired Loyd Hobby to teach and take over the responsibilities of coaching basketball. Hobby convinced then principal Carsen Wilcox to hire Ed Vegely to teach and coach varsity football and baseball. With those two new school employees, the course of Mariposa athletics, specifically football and basketball, was set for the next 30 years.
Between 1933 and 1965 Mariposa employed 12 football coaches. Those teams won 94 games, lost 124, and tied 14. Over the next 17 seasons, coach Vegely’s teams won 93 games while losing only 56 with five ties. His teams won or shared six Southern League championships, while appearing in one Sac-Joaquin Section final.
In what I believe is the greatest Grizzly football game of all-time, Vegely’s 1975 squad upset unbeaten and number-one-ranked small school, Central Catholic of Modesto, 13-10, in front of the largest and loudest crowd the Gold Bowl at the Mariposa County Fairgrounds has ever seen. The 1965 season saw his team go 8-1 to share a co-championship with Hilmar. Trailing Orestimba High, 20-7, in the last game of the season his 1966 team scored three second half touchdowns to cap a perfect 9-0 season.
Narrowly missing a third league title in 1967, his 1968 team went 7-2 overall and 4-1 in Southern league play to win its third championship in four seasons. Coach Vegely’s first four years saw his teams win 29 games while losing just five with two ties. His league record was an amazing 16-3-1 during that four-year span. Vegely’s 17-year league mark was 47-38-3. I know many Mariposa County kids, myself included, who wanted to grow up and play for “Veg” and Hobby.
Coach Vegely and Coach Hobby were the first inductees into the Grizzly Hall of Fame in 1999. Coach Vegely retired from football after the 1981 season, but continued to coach baseball until 1997. He retired from teaching after the 1998 school year with 34 years of service to Mariposa students and athletes.
(Look for Part II of the 90-year anthology of MCHS football in the next edition of The Mariposan.)
