With Friedli watching, Amphi secures first playoff bid in six years

When Amphitheater broke a six-year football playoff drought, beating Pueblo Friday night, former Panther state championship coach Vern Friedli was back at Friedli Field, a guest of coach Jorge Mendivil. Friedli has rarely returned to his old stadium since retiring. While there, he saw a familiar face: referee Jerry Gastellum. It was the last game of Gastellum’s distinguished 40-year career as a football official, which began in 1977. He later became a Pac-10 football official, a long-time athletic administrator for TUSD, and now works as a television replay official for the Pac-12. Better yet, Gastellum worked the Amphi-Pueblo game with his son, Christopher, part of the new generation of football officials in Tucson; Christopher began working for the AIA in 2010.

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