How Southern Section football became must-see television

Kevin Rooney, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame’s football coach and athletic director, was on vacation in Lake Tahoe in the summer of 1997 when he received a call asking if he would be willing to allow his team to play against Bishop Alemany in a tournament. the first high school sports telecast from Fox Sports West and Prime Ticket.

“I knew the players would be delighted,” he said. “You always worry about distractions, but you feel like it’s worth it.”

Notre Dame agreed to provide portable lights for the broadcast. Alemany was led by future Tennessee quarterback Casey Clausen. Notre Dame was led by future USC and NFL defensive back Justin Fargas and future Florida State and NFL defensive end Travis Johnson. The ball boy was future NFL quarterback Jimmy Clausen.

“They come to see you, but they come to see me,” Johnson remembers telling Fargas. “It was huge. I tell everyone we played in the first televised game on Fox Sports. I think I fired Casey seven or nine times in three years.”

There have been 28 seasons of Southern Section game shows, although the channel names have changed so many times that it might as well be the $400 sports category on “Jeopardy!” As a result of the latest change, Bally Sports is now called FanDuel Sports Network, the rights to the name were bought by an online gambling company, which is the main reason that the contract with the Southern Section, which ends in May, will likely not be renewed and will go to Spectrum .

The games’ televising, despite budget cuts, was taken over by David Otta Productions, who took over as a third party production company in 2023. The Division I final at Veterans Stadium on Friday will feature announcers Cooper Perkins and Tony Moskal. The history of these games is filled not only with memorable moments, but also with debuts for broadcast media personalities and many other behind-the-scenes employees, from camera operators to producers and Emmy Award-winning directors, who went on to become part of the industry. . The announcers, commentators and sideline reporters included Jim Watson, John Jackson, Lindsey Soto, Chris McGee, Chris Ricks and Petros Papadakis, who won a 2020 Emmy Award along with former Mater Dei coach Bruce Rollinson for presenting the 2019 broadcast in which Papadakis played a sports radio talk show host called “Bruce from Santa Ana.” Rollinson asks, “Are you ready for high school football?”

The man who launched the package was John Hefner, now executive producer of FanDuel Sports Network West and SoCal. He was a 30-year-old Loyola High School graduate and production assistant. A regional sports network was looking to attract subscribers by showing high school football. The late Harry Paskwitz and Andy Bark of college sports helped select the games. Everything was done as if it were a professional game broadcast, with multiple cameras, a microwave truck filled with the best equipment, and top-notch workers behind the scenes.

Hefner still remembers Watson’s call from that first game. “Justin Fargas left…”

The biggest game of all came in 2001, when Long Beach Poly faced Concord De La Salle in the game of the century. It was No. 1 versus No. 2 in front of more than 17,000 spectators at Veterans Stadium. This helped change the landscape of high school sports, prompting ESPN and others to begin televising them.

“We allowed the game to be broadcast in all Fox regions that night, so it was a national audience and a true showcase of football in California,” Hefner said. “We had to explain to our bosses how big the game was going to be. They didn’t buy it at first. – Yes, yes, yes. But when they saw the ratings they got that night, they were shocked.”

Hefner and those on and off camera didn’t just play games because it was work. They really enjoyed the experience of showing viewers the best of Southern California high school football.

“I’ve always had a passion for high school football and maybe an exaggerated idea of ​​how important it is,” said Papadakis, who hosts his own local sports talk show and continues to commentate on college broadcasts. “I like mascots, regionalism, cities. I came back and played in the state championship games for many years. The coolest thing was that I saw the same players in college and they went on to play pro ball and remember me for hugging their mom.”

One of the greatest individual performances came from Mater Dei’s Matt Grootegod against Long Beach Poly in 1998. He rushed for 244 yards on 33 carries and scored two touchdowns in Mater Dei’s 33-26 win. The commentators were Watson and Jackson.

The games of the week attracted the attention of previously unknown players. Defensive tackle Mike Patterson picked up several sacks for Los Alamitos in a televised game and was offered by USC the following Monday. Dave Anderson of Thousand Oaks had a great game in defeating Westlake and then got an offer from Colorado State.

In the first game, Notre Dame defeated Alemany 43-15. Fargas rushed for 217 yards and three touchdowns. Rooney said he decided not to wear anything on his face for his television debut.

“They thought I was shiny, so I didn’t have to wear makeup,” he said. “I always expected that I would suddenly become a star. Never happened.”

Assistant coach Jeff Kremer concluded, “He wasn’t detected because he didn’t put on enough makeup.”

Thus began a tradition that was quickly embraced and appreciated by the high school sports community and those announcing the tournament in Southern California.

“When you humble yourself and go to a high school game and talk to people’s kids and try your best to tell their story, those people will never forget you, whether they go on to play in the NFL or never play again,” Papadakis said. .

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.