Simply sharing. The 1956 Benicia High School varsity football team had a 7-1 record and were the Solano County Athletic League Champions. Benicia 25 Vacaville 6 Benicia 14 Pacifica 21 Benicia 31 Lick-Wilmerding 6 Benicia 20 Clarksburg 6 Benicia 40 St. Vincents 7 Benicia 20 Rio Vista 13 Benicia 27 Vacaville 0 Benicia 19 Armijo 6 196 65 Yes, they played Vacaville twice. The above scores are from the 1957 yearbook. The information in my possession which Coach Goettel recorded shows the following difference: Benicia 20 and Clarksburg 0. The Pacifica High School Spartans were from West Pittsburg. The season before (1955) Pacifica was in their first year of existence and showed power on offense and defense, but Benicia defeated them 25-0. For the 1956 season the entire Pacifica team returned and they defeated Benicia 21-14. Lick-Wilmerding High School was from San Francisco, and it was the first time the two teams played each other. It was the first game of the season for Lick-Wilmerding. Starting varsity lineup versus Vacaville High School, Friday, September 14, 1956: John Smith LE David Hamann LT Amos Cross LG Fletcher Pate C Richard Jensen RG Dick Garrigues RT Royce Brooks RE Rolland Van Blaricom QB John Galvan LH Bob Coen RH Larry Rich FB Varsity Roster: Jim Hope, Jesse Castillo, Ken Cline, Rolland Van Blaricom, John Smith, Al Globe, Bob Coen, Lyle Holland, Jerry Geer, Larry Watson, Carl Hewitt, Richard Jensen, John Wernex, Larry Lemas, Ken Winkle, Ken Franklin, John Galvan, Fletcher Pate, Paul Earp, Royce Brooks, Charles Martinez, Gerald Wakefield, Calvin Read, Sherill Dunagan, Jim Stubblefield, Amos Cross, Larry Rich, Jack Mittnacht, Bob Botti, Don Abbott, Dave Hamann, Dick Garrigues Junior Varsity Roster: Gary Bowden, Willie Castillo, Crag Clymo, Mike Conlin, Pete Cox, Billy DiAngelo, Hugh Dickinson, Bob Driscoll, Shelby Easterwood, Dan Foster, Ronnie Freeman, Bill George, Melvin Higginson, Ellis Paul Llewellyn, Mike Long, David McAlpin, Gordon McGuirk, Jim Parks, Gary Rafael, Jim Rose, Bill Thompson, John Unger, Hal Washington In the Lick-Wilmerding game, Rolland Van Blaricom ran for two touchdowns and passed for three. In that game, Ken Winkle started at LG and Charles Martinez at RG. Also, Bob Coen and John Galvan switched halfback positions. The roster for the Clarksburg game shows two deletions from the Lick-Wilmerding game: Jim Hope and Ken Franklin. The St. Vincents game saw some changes in the lineup from the Clarksburg game: Paul Earp started at RE, Bob Coen and John Galvan switched back to their initial halfback positions (LH/RH respectively), and Royce Brooks was moved to FB. Royce Brooks was filling in for Larry Rich who was injured. In the St. Vincents game Rolland Van Blaricom scored six TDs on his seventeenth birthday. Benicia scoring in the St. Vincents game: 1. Charlie Martinez recovered a fumble on the St. Vincent 34 yard line and on the first play Rolland Van Blaricom ran over right tackle for the TD. 2. John Galvan intercepted a pass and returned it to the St. Vincent 40 yard line. On the first play, Rolland Van Blaricom ran for 6 yards. On the next play he went the distance for the TD on a sweep around left end. Royce Brooks blocked out the last opponent to clear the way. 3. Charlie Martinez recovered another fumble on the St. Vincent 19. It took three plays to score: a pass which failed, a 17 yard run by Rolland Van Blaricom, and then his two yard run for the TD. 4. The next TD came on a 68 yard punt return by Rolland Van Blaricom. 5. Four plays after the next kickoff, St. Vincents punted again. Rolland Van Blaricom caught the ball on the Benicia 41 yard line. He ran to the right, was cut off, headed for midfield, and was not touched. 6. St. Vincents then scored on a 71 yard run by Ken McGillivary. Royce Brooks had a 39 yard run over right tackle to the St. Vincent 36 yard line. Then Rolland Van Blaricom ran to the 23 yard line. There was an off side penalty and then a pass from Rolland Van Blaricom to Jim Stubblefield to the 16. Then Benicia used a play they had not shown before on the season. It was a reverse screen play. Rolland Van Blaricom moved to his right and reversed to John Galvan who was going to his left. Then John Galvan threw a pass to Rolland Van Blaricom who was set up behind a wall of blockers. He ran for the TD down the right sideline. Fletcher Pate kicked four consecutive PATs in the game. The Rio Vista game began with the Rams going to the Benicia 2 yard line where John Galvan intercepted a pass and returned it to the Rio Vista 46 yard line. It took Benicia nine plays to score. Rolland Van Blaricoms pass to John Smith for 21 yards was the longest play of the drive and put the ball on the Rio 23 yard line. Five plays later, Rolland Van Blaricom passed to John Galvan at the 2 yard line. Royce Brooks scored from there on the second of his two tries. Fletcher Pate kicked the PAT. The first time Benicia gained possession in the third quarter they scored. Rolland Van Blaricom started on a sweep around right end, was hit, and the ball was knocked from his hands. He turned to his left and saw the ball bouncing away. He picked it up in full stride, sprinted to the opposite sideline and scored standing up on the 50 yard run. In the Armijo game, Rolland Van Blaricom threw a pass to Bob Coen who go his hands on the ball. Then the ball bounced off his chest on the 15 yard line, hit his knee on the 10 yard line, and came back into his possession on the 7 yard line where he was tackled. Royce Brooks picked up a yard, then Rolland Van Blaricom sprinted to his left and followed a block by Royce Brooks for the score. Fletcher Pate kicked the PAT. Later, Armijo fumbled on their 22 yard line. Benicia scored in five plays. First Rolland Van Blaricom passed to Bob Coen who deflected the ball into the air where John Galvan took it to the 7 yard line. Royce Brooks then ran for 2 yards, Rolland Van Blaricom gained 3 yards, and Royce Brooks went the final 2 yards for the TD. Benicia gained 276 yards compared to 141 for Armijo. Rolland Van Blaricom gained 159 yards on 18 carries for an average of 7.5 per carry. I think Benicia being penalized for only 5 yards, especially in a game as important as this one, is a reflection of the skill of the coaching and the discipline of the Benicia players. Armijo had an enrollment of over 900 while Benicias enrollment was 350 and was the leagues second smallest school. Benicia only had 26 players. Armijo had almost that many returning lettermen from the previous seasons co-championship team. It was thought by some that Armijo would dominate the league because of the size of their enrollment, so they were leaving the league. Benicia Varsity football season scoring: Rolland Van Blaricom 97 Royce Brooks 30 John Galvan 24 Jesse Castillo 13 Fletcher Pate 12 (PATs) Larry Rich 8 John Smith 6 Jim Stubblefield 6 Benicia rushing statistics: Rolland Van Blaricom 109 carries for 832 yards Royce Brooks 52 carries for 204 yards John Galvan 17 carries for 141 yards Ken Cline 24 carries for 199 yards Larry Rich 28 carries for 104 yards Jesse Castillo 3 carries for 56 yards Lyle Holland 5 carries for 20 yards Benicia passing statistics: Rolland Van Blaricom 40 completions on 86 attempts for 737 yards and 8 TDs Ken Cline 4 completions on 9 attempts for 64 yards and 1 TD John Galvan 5 completions on 8 attempts for 53 yards and 1 TD Benicia pass receiving: John Galvan 24 receptions for 380 yards and 4 TDs Royce Brooks 8 receptions for 139 yards and 3 TDs John Smith 7 receptions for 129 yards and 1 TD Bob Coen 5 receptions for 90 yards and 0 TDs Rolland Van Blaricom 3 receptions for 42 yards and 1 TD Jim Stubblefield 2 receptions for 39 yards and 1 TD Rolland Van Blaricoms total offense, running, passing, and receiving, was 1,611 yards. He was a fine multi-sport high school athlete and had an outstanding senior year in football. John Galvan had a 9 yard per rush average and a pass reception average of 15.8. John Galvan was also a fine mutli-sport high school athlete and had an outstanding senior year in football. Rolland Van Blaricom was named the teams Most Valuable Player and Larry Rich was the Honorary Captain. The S.C.A.L. did not issue an official All-League team. The Vallejo Times Herald, with input from S.C.A.L. coaches, was generally considered to be the equivalent of an official league listing. Selected to the All Star team were: Rolland Van Blaricom, Dick Garrigues, and Fletcher Pate. Being awarded Honorable Mention were: Richard Jensen and Royce Brooks. Royce Brooks had been an All-League selection the previous year at end, but was converted to fullback in mid-season which probably hurt his chances of being named to the All-League team. In the Benicia Herald sports page, dated November 29, 1956, Bob Silva wrote: We would, however, question the omission of Benicias John Galvan from the All League team. Without hesitation, we placed Galvan in our first string backfield, but to our astonishment, the superlative pass catcher and pass defense specialist failed to be recognized for as much as honorable mention on the T.H. team. Were sure the SCAL mentors booted one on passing Galvan. Rolland Van Blaricom was named to the first team of the San Francisco Examiners All Golden Empire team which was polled from coaches and sports writers all over Northern California. He was also named to the third team on the Examiners All Northern California team. Varsity Head Coach, Phil Goettel; Asst. Barney Corrigan; Asst. Frank Dains. Managers: Glen Lippincott, Forrest Weber, and Goldie Washington. Junior Varsity Head Coach, George Drolette, Asst. Bill Grogan. Simply sharing.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 18:53:54 +0000
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