This story comes from longtime staffer Jim McConnell, the man we call, "The King" around the office. He writes a weekly Then & Now column. This week he writes how a Covina Court ruling changed CIF.
These days, probably a week doesn't go by without someone suing or threatening to sue at least one of the state's CIF sectionals.
But in 1932, when the CIF-Southern Section was less than 20 years old, litigation was indeed a novelty. Then a debt unpaid and a long-standing grudge put the CIF-SS and little ol' Covina High School on a courtroom collision course.
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To set the stage for the Covina versus CIF-SS lawsuit, we need to go back a bit further. Specifically, to the fall of 1925 when a young man named Wallace "Chief" Newman arrived on the CHS campus.
Newman, fresh from the campus of USC, joined the Covina faculty. He was assigned a couple of typing and physical education classes, but there was no doubt what his major duties on the CHS campus were - to coach football.
Newman had played three years of varsity ball for coach "Gloomy Gus" Henderson at 'SC. Before that, the Riverside native had graduated from Sherman Indian Institute, where he had been a standout athlete. Newman was an American Indian, hence his nickname. However, at Covina he became a real chief, running the Colts' football program with a strong hand and but one goal - to win games.
The Colts had experienced some success under Newman's predecessor, Don McIntosh. Under Newman, they hit the big time in a big way.
Covina started slowly in 1925 as the players struggled to learn Newman's sophisticated system. But by mid-season the team was excelling. They won the San Gabriel League title. Then they swept through the CIF-SS playoffs, winning the championship with a 13-6 victory over San Diego (a school with twice the enrollment of CHS). That game, played at Covina, drew a crowd of more than 6,000. That was an especially notable turnout in that the population of the City of Covina in 1925 was only 3,000.
It should have been a highlight of history in the small town, but from that game emerged a couple of unfortunate developments. For one, Covina's citrus growers complained that the huge influx of people into town had resulted in a high loss of fruit from the groves that surrounded the high school. For another, San Diego complained that several of the Covina players appeared to be considerably older than your average high school student.
That touched off an investigation, of sorts, by the fledging CIF-SS. The CIF was unable to prove conclusively the charge of overage players, but did come across an interesting fact. Two of Covina's best players, Jerry Cole and Willie Roy Arenas, were transfers from Newman's alma mater, Sherman Indian. The Covina district allowed them to play because Newman had adopted them.
Eventually, it was decided to allow Covina to keep the title, with the understanding that Cole and Arenas were to be dropped from the Colts roster and Newman was to refrain from "raiding" Sherman Indian for any more players.
The loss of Cole and Arenas didn't slow Covina down in 1926, as the Colts again won their league and marched through CIF-SS opponents, successfully defending their title by besting Inglewood, 7-0, in the championship. That game was held at the Coliseum - much to the relief of Covina's citrus growers.
Covina was then extended an invitation to play for a CIF state title. At the time, the CIF-SS was cool to the notion of a state championship, but Covina officials decided to accept anyway. The state title game was held at San Mateo, and the Colts lost, 20-0, but it proved to be a memorable road trip for Covina players and a very profitable one for the school's coffers.
Newman's Colts missed out on a CIF-SS title in 1927, but were right back in the title game in 1928. Playing long-standing rival Pomona, which had beaten Covina during the regular season, Newman's charges avenged that loss and regained the CIF-SS championship trophy with a 7-0 victory at Pomona College.
That earned Covina another invite to a CIF state title game. The Colts once again trekked northward, this time to Bakersfield. There, they lost a heartbreaker, 14-13, to Bakersfield. Not heartbreaking was the attendance for the game, estimated at more than 30,000, or Covina's share of the take.
The 1928 state title game turned out to be Newman's final game at Covina. In the spring of 1929, he was offered the job of head football coach at Whittier College. He accepted, sad to leave Covina, but glad to escape the ongoing wrath of CIF-SS officials.
Taking over for Newman for the 1929 season was Ted "Butter" Gorrell. Like Newman, Gorrell was a graduate of USC, where he had stood out for coach Howard Jones' teams in 1925 and '26. Clearly, he had a very similar approach to Newman when it came to the CHS program. Winning was not only desired, it was expected.
The 1929 Colts won their league and again made the CIF-SS playoffs, but lost in the first round. They were back again in the 1930 CIF-SS playoffs, advancing to the semifinals before losing to Redondo, 31-6. And they returned to the playoffs in 1931, taking a 11-0 record into the Southern Section title game at the Coliseum where they lost, 34-0, to Santa Ana.
Clearly, Covina's football team was wildly successful, artistically and financially. Perhaps too much so.
Southern Section commissioner Seth Van Patten had Covina in his sights since 1925 and "Chief" Newman's adopted players. Now surfaced a charge that didn't involve players, but did involve dollars and cents.
Van Patten alleged that Covina had withheld $1,616 in gate receipts from the 1931 playoffs that should have gone to the Southern Section coffers under the CIF bylaws then in effect. Covina officials responded with words to the effect that Covina, not the CIF-SS, would handle the bookkeeping, thank you. Further, Covina officials felt the Southern Section had done little or nothing to earn any or all of the $1,616 in question. Covina refused to pay, and Van Patten suspended the Colts from the CIF, effective immediately. Thus, a lawsuit was born.
In October of 1932, Covina sued the CIF-SS, demanding reinstatement. Unfortunately for the Colts, while the lawsuit dragged on, they were unable to play football against any other CIF team. Ultimately, a judge ruled in Covina's favor and the CIF-SS was forced to reinstate the school as a member, but not before Covina had seen its 1932 football season reduced to a series of scrimmages.
Van Patten was clearly not happy with the L.A. court's ruling, and instructed the CIF-SS's lawyer to file an appeal. When it became apparent that the lawsuit could be tied up in the appellate court system for another year - effectively wiping out yet another football season for Covina - calmer heads prevailed. The case was settled out of court, with Covina being reinstated and the CIF-SS receiving its cut of Covina's 1931 playoff take.
Bottom line, it became apparent that the CIF-SS could do without Covina, while Covina couldn't do without the CIF-SS. Although, technically, the CIF-SS had lost the court case, in reality the ultimate outcome greatly strengthened its standing as the ultimate arbiter on California prep sports.
Newman's coaching career was certainly not hindered by his controversial stint at Covina. At Whittier College, he built a series of championship teams in the 1930s. The college's football field is now named in his honor.
At Covina, football returned in the fall of 1933. Unfortunately, the championships did not. Under Gorrell, the Colts would not return to a CIF-SS title contest until 1938, and they lost that one, 13-0, to Santa Barbara.
After that, Covina - like the surrounding citrus groves - was gradually subdivided. The opening of Baldwin Park High, in 1954, and West Covina High, in 1956, effectively ended the Colts' run as a major CIF-SS football power.
jim.mcconnell@sgvn.com
(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2383
