It is almost baffling to examine the list of Tucsonโs 1979 All-City football team.
Twelve of the All-City players attracted notable college recruiters. Oklahoma signed Sunnyside running back Fred Sims. Arkansas got Sahuaroโs Jay Dobyns and Mark Mistler. BYU signed Santa Ritaโs Ty Mattingly. Notre Dame was successful in recruiting Salpointeโs Rock Roggeman.
Arizona got Sahuaroโs Skip Peete, CDOโs Cliff Thorpe, Chollaโs Vance Johnson and Tucsonโs Danny Hill. And on and on.
Incredibly, the undefeated state champion Amphi Panthers did not produce a FBS college prospect. Starting QB Sam Molina wasnโt all-city. That was Flowing Wellsโ Randy Sorich.
โWe had no one close to being a Division I player,โโ said Amphi coach Vern Friedli, โalthough Idaho did sign (running back) Arlen Bethay. But as a whole, we were the best team in the state.โโ
Friedli operated an option offense. He left the more popular passing offenses to his opponents.
It took a few years to add perspective to Amphiโs 1979 Class 5A state championship. Itโs still the last Tucson school to win Arizonaโs top-classification state football title. Thatโs 43 years and running. By the time Friedli became the winningest high school football coach in state history, retiring in 2011 with 331 victories, it was clear that Friedli made more out of less than almost any coach in Tucson history.
Amphitheater High School defeated Mesa to win the 1979 state football championship on Dec. 6, 1979. No Tucson school has won a state title at the highest level since.
His undersized, numbers-challenged teams of the โ80s and โ90s had records of 13-1, 12-1, 11-1, 11-1-1 and 12-2 in the stateโs largest classification, but could never win the Big One again.
It made his perfect 1979 season even more impressive.
โWe had 19 senior starters on that โ79 team,โโ Friedli told me. โWe had the best offensive line in the state, and none of them were recruited by four-year schools.โโ
Indeed, the โ79 Panthers won with toughness, chemistry and intelligence. The starters on the offensive line โ Neil Hamilton, Tim Jones, Craig Geyer, Jesse Shelton and David Osteen โ were productive and consistent.
In the state championship game, a 27-0 rout over Mesa High School, the Panthers outgained Mesa 386-110 at ASUโs Sun Devil Stadium before a crowd of 11,000, about half of them from Tucson.
Molina, the QB, threw just three passes, completing all three, one of them a 57-yard touchdown to open the game. After that. Friedli kept it simple. Bethey ran 86 yards for a touchdown and gained 148 yards in the game. Backup running back Joey Canizales ran for 106 yards.
Defensive players like Kim Hewson and Kurt Werner kept Mesa to just 11 offensive plays in the second half. This was long before Friedli had the good fortune of sprinkling future NFL players like Michael and Mario Bates and future Pac-10 standouts like Jon Volpe into his Amphi lineups.
With 19 senior starters, Amphi defeated Mesa to win the 1979 state football championship.
โThat team just clicked, it was a joy to coach them,โโ Friedli told me. โIf you had told me theyโd be our last state champion, I wouldnโt have believed it. We came so close so many times, but the Phoenix schools kept growing and growing. When weโd play Mesa Mountain View in the state championship game, or some other Phoenix team like that, weโd be outnumbered 2 to 1 or more.โโ
Until the 2000s, Friedli steadfastly declined chances to drop down a classification or two, suiting Amphiโs enrollment. Even in a period when Sabino, Sahuaro and Mountain View became state powers (and state champs) at what was essentially Division II, Friedli wouldnโt budge.
Friedli, who grew up in a small logging community in Northern California, moved to Tucson in the late 1950s as part of his military service commitment. He earned a degree from Arizona, got married, began a coaching/teacher career at Sunnyside Junior High School and later became the head football and baseball coach in the small towns of Morenci and San Manuel.
In 1976, Amphi hired Friedli to replace 1975 state championship coach Jerry Loper, who had moved to Mesa McClintock High School.
โIโm a wishbone coach,โโ Friedli says. โWe wonโt be flashy, but weโll do what it takes to win.โโ
He was true to his word.
