‘Huskers helped Harbor win in 1942

DON CANTRELL

Two Nebraska lads first came to the harbor area in the mid-1930s and,

in good time, began to establish impressive marks in prep and junior

college athletics.

Bill and Roger Neth both played on the 1942 Sunset League football

championship team and shined in other sports as well.

Although Newport lost the small schools CIF championship playoff

to Bonita and halfback Glenn Davis, 39-6, the Neths and Sailor mates

made admirable efforts to overcome the odds.

Davis, who went on to become an All-American and Heisman Trophy

winner at West Point, was often elusive against Newport in the second

half.

The first half, however, was considerably different as long as

Newport’s powerful 215-pound fullback Harold Sheflin was in the game,

offensively and defensively. Sheflin stopped Davis with impact

consistently before Sheflin injured his ankle just before the half

while trying to avoid stepping on Davis on the sideline.

Sheflin and Newport drew first blood in the first half when the

giant fullback plowed over the forward wall. It gave the Sailors a

6-0 lead, although Bonita rallied back before intermission to make it

7-6.

Bill Neth was a regular with second-team All-CIF lineman Manuel

Muniz and played end on defense and tackle on offense. Since he was

faster than Muniz, Coach Wendell Pickens chose to shift him to

defensive end to swiftly break up the wide runs.

“My job was to take down the first guy,” Neth said.

Sheflin was named first-team All-CIF fullback. And when at Army

later, Davis told Time Magazine that “Harold Sheflin of Newport

Harbor High School was the greatest football player I ever faced.”

Bill Neth said his general memory of the game against Bonita “was

how I spent a lot of time chasing Davis on this horrible field at

Bonita.”

Bill Neth also recalled crossing paths with Davis again in the

spring of 1943, when Coach Ralph Reed called on him to anchor the Tar

relay team at the Brea Relays. He was set to face Davis.

“Davis just flew by me,” he said.

It is fair to recall that Davis ran the 100-yard dash in 9.7

seconds and not too many prepsters are that fast. Neth’s time was

more like 10.3 or 10.4, but was close to 10.0 sometimes if the run

was wind-aided.

Coincidentally, both Neths have crossed paths with Davis a few

times over the years.

Roger, a one-time police chief for Costa Mesa and Irvine, has

“bumped into him twice in Newport” at two Amigo Viejos luncheons.

Both Bill Neth and Davis eventually went to work for the Los Angeles

Times. Bill became a noted distributor in the harbor area for years.

Bill Neth drew major West Coast recognition after graduating from

Santa Ana College, where he made first-string guard on the California

JC team. He drew 14 scholarship offers, from schools including USC,

UCLA, Arizona State, San Francisco and Fresno.

Pickens encouraged him to try ASU, where Pickens went to school in

the 1930s. Neth said he gave it a try once when visiting spring

practice. “But it was too hot,” he said.

Muniz, however, chose to enroll at ASU after World War II ended.

Roger Neth, who also played baseball at Harbor High, played

football at Santa Ana and made impressive marks under Coach Bill

Cook. He started on the 1943 Newport football team under Les Miller.

Bill Neth always had admirable things to say about his grid mates

from ’42. Some of the toughest he ever praised were the late Vernon

Fitzpatrick, Muniz, Sheflin, Don Tripp, Don Bingham, Paul Myrehn and

Lauren Langmade.

He said one of the most unsung backs who deserved high recognition

was reserve halfback Keith Englehardt.

“He was a great runner who could run close to 10.2 in the 100. And

I recall one game where he carried four times and scored all four

times on good runs.”

Bill Neth also became a walk-on assistant grid coach for Bill Cook

at Santa Ana College for five years, then spent another two years

with Coach John Ward.