The Anaheim High School Colonists scored only a field goal on their opening drive, but their running back's uniform was already filthy. Black skid marks blemished his yellow helmet, and his gold pants were stained with the shade of brown only a well-trampled football field can produce. The Colonists' running back was churning out yardage. Traditionally, this has been a very good sign.
Back in the 1950s, tradition was Mickey Flynn, known as “The Ghost of La Palma Park.” In the late '80s and early '90s, it was the brothers García (Joaquín '88 and Che '92) and Reuben Droughns ('96, now playing for the Denver Broncos).
These days, tradition is Angel Rodríguez, a junior who is only five-feet-eight from his helmet to his cleats—the latest in a line of blue-collar running backs for Anaheim High.
“Anaheim's kids have always had a working-class mentality,” said Dennis Bateman '89, author of Anaheim Colonists Football: A Century of Tradition, the preeminent—probably only—history of Colonists football. “They've always been good—not great—players, but because of their tough background, they get the job done.”
And so it was the night of Nov. 14, when Rodríguez went on to run for 105 yards on 23 carries as the Colonists pummeled the Savannah High Rebels, 31-13.
Despite the reputation for toughness, however, Anaheim High has undergone a metamorphosis since its reign as an Orange County football power from the early 1950s well into the 1980s. The Colonists used to draw upon a large talent pool as the only high school in the city; now, it's one of nine. The school used to be predominantly Anglo; today, it's 90 percent Latino.
“We're getting a lot of first- and second-generation immigrants that don't have any knowledge of football,” admits Colonists head coach Ben Haley, a member of Anaheim's Class of 1974. “I literally have to hold up a football and say, 'This is a football. This is a blast play.' We're just not getting the type of kids who can play college ball like most of our competitors do.”
Once dominant, the Colonists won only five of 49 games during the past five years—and at one point, they lost 24 in a row. It seemed the mediocrity would continue this season, which began with an 0-5 record.
But the little legs of Rodríguez have helped to rev up Anaheim's sputtering tradition. He has averaged 150 yards per game, amassing 1,353 yards in nine games, and the Colonists have surged into contention during Orange League play. The win against Savannah was the Colonists' third in their past four games.
“The key thing Angel has learned is finding the point of attack,” says Haley, who looks like a younger, scruffier John Madden. “At the beginning of the season, Angel would get the ball and immediately start jigging and jagging, leaving himself open to get tackled. Now, he goes up to the line, finds the hole and then makes his moves. Most important, he just wants the football.”
Rodríguez is the son of Mexican immigrants; his brother José was an all-CIF defensive back for the Colonists in 1997. He has been playing football since fourth grade, but he only made the transition to running back two years ago. The unassuming 16-year-old clearly relishes the change. “I love being a running back from Anaheim because of the tradition,” he said immediately after the Savannah game, steam rising from his close-cropped haircut.
“The kid's tough and fearless,” Bateman said. “You can count on him to do anything you want. That's the common thread amongst the backs. The players come and go, but the toughness and selflessness remains. Angel embodies that.”
Rodríguez hopes to get stronger next year but quickly credited Anaheim's smallish but quick linemen for his emergence.
“We're always going to be smaller, but who cares?” Rodríguez shrugged as he entered the ecstatic team bus. “It's our heart that counts.”
Maybe so, but tradition keeps track of victories, too. And with the win over Savannah, Anaheim qualified for the CIF playoffs for the first time since 1997.
THE ANAHEIM HIGH COLONISTS PLAY THE FULLERTON INDIANS AT FULLERTON UNION HIGH SCHOOL, 201 E. CHAPMAN AVE., FULLERTON, (714) 626-3803. FRI., 7 P.M. $5. ALL AGES.
