Sports at Duncan High

I went out for football my sophomore year. I had never played football before. I played left guard and left defensive end. We had the old leather helmets with no face guard. It really hurt when you hit with your head. The junior year I started out playing defensive end and I picked up a ball and run it a long ways for a touchdown. I out ran every one on the other team. My coach, Verle Heap, realized I was the fastest person in the school so he had me play full back and half back on offense and line backer on defense. I played the same positions for 6 games. We had so many injuries on our team that we couldn't finish the season.

My freshman year in El Paso I had made the B squad. My cousin, EL Cardon, was cut and was very unhappy about that. My sophomore year at Duncan I made the 1st varsity team. My junior year I also played on the first team. My senior year we had a very good team. My cousin Donnie Santee and I were the guards. Our coach, Verle Heaps, lost his whole family in a car-train wreck and he couldn't be with us for the first conference game. We lost to a team we had beat twice before.

I lettered in baseball my sophomore and junior year. I played third base and left field. My senior year my coach signed me up to go to a track meet in Marence. He had signed me up for shot put, broad jump, the 100 yard dash, 200 yard dash, and the 400. I had never practiced anything, but the shotput before. He also signed me up for the high hurdles. I won third place in shotput, first place in broadjump (18'6") and first place in the 200 yard dash. I didn't run the 400.

During our junior year we were having a night football practice. My friend, Albert Peraya, tackled me and hurt his shoulder. The doctor examined him and found he had bone cancer. They had to remove his arm and part of his shoulder. Our yearbook was dedicated to Albert. Albert went to college in Flagstaff, Arizona. I had heard that he had another bout with cancer. For years I had often wondered if he had died. In the 1990's I got a call from Albert in Los Angeles. He had been a school principal for years. He was on a commission that sent him to study Disneyland in France. He and his family were doing well. I was so glad to hear from him.