Seven weeks until the start of the 2024 season
The Rural Years 1935-55
Last week, we looked at the first football team representing Laguna, the 1934 JV squad. The first varsity team was a member of the Orange League, which in 1935 was a 10-school league unofficially split into two groups based on school size. In 1936, the league formally split into major and minor divisions, with the major division becoming the separate Sunset League in 1937.
Laguna went 0-5 in league play in 1935 and 1-10 for the season. The lone victory was a 6-0 win against Santa Ana’s JV. 1936 was a different story. After a 12-0 loss to Garden Grove, Laguna ran off six straight wins, including an 8-0 upset of Tustin, where many of the older Laguna players attended before the high school opened in 1934.
Breakers had to play the winner of the league’s major division for a CIF berth but lost to Orange 18-7 under the lights at the Santa Ana Bowl.
John Chamberlin was MVP of the 1936 squad, Bill Murray, Herman Walker, Dale Mickelwaite, and Rollo Beck earned all-league honors for Laguna’s first league title.
Maurice “Red” Guyer was Laguna’s first coach (1934-41, 1946-56) and remained as the athletic director until 1968. Guyer was from Chillicothe, Ill., near Peoria. After high school, he moved to Santa Ana and lived with his grandmother while attending junior college. He transferred to USC and ran track and was a member of the 1932 440 Relay Team, which set the world record in 1932. He was on the elementary school faculty in 1933 and became the coach and athletic director when the high school opened in 1934.
The Breakers were successful in the first 21 years, capturing six league crowns and one CIF title, all as members of the Orange League. High school enrollment changed in Orange County after Disneyland opened in 1955, and the county quickly urbanized, leaving fewer and fewer small schools to compete with. Laguna’s enrollment passed 500 in 1959 and reached 1,000 for the first time in 1969.
LAGUNA FOOTBALL UPDATES – Squad in Japan
Breaker players and coaches took a break in their summer training schedule to make an unofficial visit to Japan, following a visit made last August by Ritsumeikan Uji High School in Kyoto. Laguna returns on July 14, and summer practices end Aug. 1.
Summer Sports
Laguna Beach High School Athletics summer programs will be starting soon – check out the programs for all sports at lbhs.lbusd.org/athletics/summer-programs.
Indoor Volleyball is having camps beginning July 22 with a session for grades 6-8 and girls indoor sessions for grades 6-9 and 10-12.
Have a note/question on Laguna sports/correction/update? E-mail Frank at Frank@twometer.net. Looking for the 2023-24 high school schedules and scores? Check Laguna Beach High School on the Max Preps website.
