Yosemite High School celebrates 30 years of football

(Updated Wednesday, August 16, 2006, 3:14 PM)

It's been 30 years since the community of Oakhurst opened the doors to

Yosemite High School.  And now as the anniversary of the

historical occasion nears, many who were part of that transition are

remembering what it was like to rise in the morning to catch a bus to

Sierra or Mariposa High Schools before sun-up and not return home

until the sun had set. The United States had justcelebrated its

Bicentennial birthday that July, Jimmy Carter was the nation's president,

music groups like Aerosmith, Earth, Wind and Fire andThe Eagles were

played on eight-track tape players and Star Wars ruled at the box office.

On Sept. 9, 1976, 340 students showed up at Yosemite High School, about

75 more than the faculty had expected.

The sports teams of Yosemite High School were to be known as the

Badgers, "which was the final name the students came up with. Runner-up

was the Mountaineers, and the mascot would have been Yosemite Sam,"

explained Eric Hansen, the school's first head football coach.

"Many of us (faculty) were hoping that it would have been the latter as it

would have been a little more unique. The school colors were primarily light

blue and white."

When officials let the students choose the name and colors, they allowed

them to make it their school.

"The development of the football program was slow but interesting," Hansen

said.

"We advertised the starting of the new program at YHS in the Sierra Star and

the Mariposa Gazette, and had a good response from local kids. (the

students who attended Mariposa, Chowchilla and Sierra were allowed to

finish their high school years at their present schools)."

Hansen went on to say, "we went with players that had little or no football

experience and the same could be said of the coaches. I had a tough time

getting experienced coaches since the school did not hire but one or two

coaches, one for varsity and one for JV's.

The rest was left up to the head coach to try and find assistant coaches on

his own from the school or from the community.

It was rough going. The coaches were new along with the players. We had

around 35 players at both varsity and JV levels. I was the head coach and

Bob Larkins was the JV coach.

My assistant coach was Art Lopez who was hired to be the basketball coach

but had no experience in the area of football but he gave it his best shot."

When the school opened, there was no lighting on the football field, so all of

the team's games had to be played during the day. The Athletic Department

budget was less than $30,000 per year.

The team's locker room was in a 40 foot mobile, (there was no gymnasium at

that time). The grass was just growing in, and there were no goal posts until

the day before the first game. The team uniforms arrived three days before

the first game. The jerseys were light blue with white pants.

"We did not look very intimidating to say the least. Our school was around

300 students at the time so we were scheduled with Mariposa, Firebaugh

and Laton High schools," Hansen said. "Looking back the other teams would

get so distracted because deer would run across the end zone."

The football program, like the school, went through some hard times for the

next few of years. A number of things were going on at the high school of

which football was but one of the least problems.

The first game ever played by the new Badgers was against a familiar

neighbor, the Mariposa Grizzlies, who were the 1975 Southern League

champions.

More than 1,000 fans packed into Badger Stadium, all sitting on the grass

and the hillside where the bleachers would eventually be placed.

"We were very, very inexperienced," Hansen explained. "Many juniors and

seniors who could have helped the program decided to finish their football

careers at Sierra High School."

The game was anticlimactic as the Grizzlies tamed the Badgers 26-0.

Yosemite received the opening kickoff and followed that with three

consecutive first downs, before the wheels came off and, after a fumbled

punt, Mariposa dominated the Badgers.

"Our travels were long and tiring and not only that but I had to drive the bus

with my team aboard. My best support came from my equipment manager

and the team Doctor, Doc Tashiro. (By the way, we were not remunerated for

our coaching, it was all gratis)," Hansen said.

That first season the team played in six games and lost all of them by a

collective score of 145 to six. The lone touchdown came in game number

five, when the Badgers hosted the Laton Mustangs in a 19-6 loss.

The Badgers scored with 18 seconds remaining in the game on a 10-yard

touchdown pass from Jim Lowry to Ray Romaine. The JV team defeated the

Mustangs, 7-6 for the first ever football victory at Badger Stadium on a threeyard

run by Ted Adkins.

"When we did finally score, (Ray Romaine), our fans went wild and because

Laton was ahead by 21 points, their fans could not understand what all the

commotion was about," Hansen said.

"Quite honestly the fans and parents were very patient with us most of the

time and we ended the football season with our heads high. Most of the

players were seniors and so when they graduated it still left us with a team

that had little experience but now with experience coming up through the

ranks from the JV's."

The Badgers would not experience another score until the first game of the

1977 season. In the team's home opener against St. Elizabeth's of Oakland,

the Badgers scored a touchdown in the third quarter on a 58-yard run by

Chad Standlee.

The game ended in a 6-6 tie. But on Oct. 8, 1977, the Badgers tasted their

first victory, fittingly at Badger Stadium. Yosemite defeated Tranquility 8-6 on

193 rushing yards (116 by the 5-foot-4 inch, 140 pounds Standlee). The

Badgers would finish their second season at 2-4-1, but that's another story.

As for Hansen, he remained a part of the high school until 2004, when he

retired after 28 years. In his final year at Yosemite, he was teaching biology

and was the coach for the boys' golf team. During his years at YHS, Hansen

has taught nearly 8,000 students.

"I enjoy watching kids grow, achieve and go on with their lives," said Hansen,

adding that it is also rewarding as a teacher to bump into people who had

previously been his students and to hear their gratitude. Nine teachers

currently at YHS were Hansen's students. He stated, "It has been fun to see

kids go through our system and become successful."

Besides teaching biology and golf, Hansen has also taught physical

education, general science, math, astronomy, oceanography, drivers' training

and drivers' education and photography and was the high school's first

football, wrestling and girls' golf coach. He is also responsible for starting the

league's first girls' golf program.