Trine recalled fondly

DON CANTRELL

The first football championship for Newport Harbor High came in 1936

through the stern leadership of a former college grid coach named Lee

Trine.

Trine was a splendid and most unusual man who had shown his

outstanding leadership on the field at Redding College before

shifting to Harbor High.

Early-day reports indicated that his health could not withstand a

heavy task like varsity football, but he would be open to coaching a

middleweight (Bee) team, which was requested by the school’s first

athletic director, Ralph Reed. Reed was the first varsity grid coach

from 1931 through ’37.

Other coaches were not anxious over Trine as a rival, since he was

merely listed in programs as a math teacher and a part-time physical

education teacher.

Trine came to be highly respected and admired by hundreds of

Harbor High students when he lived on Balboa Island, since he always

welcomed his math students at his home, any time they were having

trouble with their math courses. A rare practice.

The shock of his West Point-type discipline aroused the young Bee

gridders and they soon realized Trine would not tolerate a lag on

effort.

Only once did Trine’s Bees fail to satisfy him. This instance,

which occurred during a Bee game, was recalled by 1934 varsity

captain Judd Sutherland.

“I recall watching this game where the tackling was so lousy that

Trine kept the players on the field at halftime,” Sutherland said.

“He lined them all up in two different lines, then ordered them to

start tackling each other all through halftime. Then, Newport whomped

the other team in the second half.”

In keeping with early tradition, Trine and other staff coaches

were addressed as Mister, not Coach. Reed was to be called Coach. He

tutored all varsity teams for some years.

Trine also dressed the part of Mister. In practice and at games,

he always wore a well-pressed suit with a conservative tie. He rarely

showed any emtion, according to Rollo McClellan, his sterling

quarterback. Football was a business at any level.

The Bee team defeated Anaheim, 13-7, Huntington Beach, 7-0,

Orange, 13-0, Garden Grove, 12-0, Capistrano, 14-0, and Tustin, 46-6.

McClellan said he doubted that any opponent ever scored on the

first team.

“We only had 24 guys, but that was enough,” McClellan said.

The Bees would also flash other high marks over the years.

McClellan once set the school 100-yard dash record in 10.2 seconds

and it held for about 10 years.

Tackle Bob Sheflin drew recognition as a brave sailor in World War

II. His brother, Frank, advanced to become second-team All-Southern

California as an end in 1939. Bob and Frank’s kid brother was the

famed 1942 All-CIF fullback Harold Sheflin.

And the 1936 fullback, Glenn O. Thompson, went on to become a rear

admiral in the Coast Guard.

In fact, the second grid title for Newport came in 1942, with

Harold Sheflin drawing recognition from all directions, even once

from West Point All-American halfback and 1946 Heisman Trophy winner

Glenn Davis. Davis and Sheflin collided when Bonita defeated Newport,

39-6, in the CIF small schools playoff finale.

McClellan remembers ample humor on the 1936 Bee team.

He recalls when a Japanese-American named Giichi Omori “tutored

center George Lumel on how to cuss in Japanese.”

McClellan also praised a number of fine Bee players, including

captain Dick Carlson, a tough running guard; Hunda Mikasa, a swift

end with good hands; a rugged guard named Roy Crowley; and tackle

Grant Fuller, the only senior on the team.

A major highlight came at the end of the season when the

quarterback’s father chose to honor Trine and the team with a special

dinner in Balboa.

It produced warm emotions from all when they observed the entrance

of Trine.

“There were teams on his cheeks,” McClellan said.

The former college grid chief had brought them leadership and

honor.

McClellan and several athletes from the 1930s still socialize over

breakfast every Thursday in Costa Mesa.