Eighty years ago, on January 1, 1935, Mr. and Mrs. J. L. Barber witnessed the annual East-West Shrine football game at San Francisco’s Kezar Stadium. Their son, Jim, was a member of the West team and made the first touchdown of the game when he ran 19 yards after taking a blocked punt. Jim was captain of the University of San Francisco team during the past season and his brother, Ernest, was a member of the same team.

In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:

90 years ago: January 2, 1925 – Although there have been about 20 men out for basketball last week, the regular team has not been chosen yet. There is only one letterman from last year’s Manteca High team, Herbert Whelan, who will be a valuable man this year. Manteca High cannot help making a notable record with such men as: Neil Foley, Lawrence Vest, Ray Williams, Dudley Fry, Lloyd Henry, Clarence Reynolds, Manuel deSimas and Henry Theiler.

60 years ago: January 6, 1955 – Manteca High ushered in the New Year with a 40-23 victory over the ineffective Gustine High quintet, who was able to chalk up only 10 points by the time the fourth quarter began. Buffalo coach Joe Jacobs used his entire bench in the game. Don Gaines topped the scoring with 18 points.

40 years ago: January 1, 1975 – Manteca High’s soccer Buffaloes retained their unblemished record in Mid-Valley League play with a win over Grace Davis High of Modesto. The Buff booters romped to an easy 10-0 win over Davis. The Buffalo soccer club had total control over the Spartans and Jon Steele collected the first four goals. Manteca goalie Kurt Dowhower was able to relax this day as the MHS defense allowed less than a dozen shots on goal and Dowhower picked up but six saves. The Buffs got other goals from Doug West, Steve Holmes, Nino Gatti, Russ Parker and Bruce King.

Only a forfeit by Hilmar High in the heavyweight class gave the East Union High wrestlers a narrow 29-25 win over the surprising Yellowjackets just before the holiday break. Coach Don Laurenti’s Lancers had trailed Hilmar nearly until the final match. Lancer pins were by Jennings Wilson (175) and Dave Rogers (191).

30 years ago: January 3, 1985 – Harold Breckenridge hit a layup with just under a minute remaining in the game and East Union High withstood several Los Banos High scoring attempts, including a free throw with no time left on the clock, as the Lancers edged the Tigers 38-36 Wednesday night in Dalben Center. Mark Waterman’s 18 points paced the winners.

Everybody got into the scoring act Friday night as Manteca High outmatched Livingston High 74-50 at Winter Gym. Anthony Salgado with 16 and Don Winter with 15 led the Buffaloes.

Several missed opportunities resulted in a 1-1 tie after the Manteca High-East Union High soccer match Friday. EU freshman Brian Soiseth nailed a goal with 10 minutes remaining to force the tie. Gerardo Barajas scored the Buffalo goal.

20 years ago: December 31, 1994 – A streak that started four years ago was kept alive Friday night in Tracy as East Union High used a third-quarter spurt to pull away for a convincing 64-43 girls basketball victory over Manteca High. The win earned the Lady Lancers third place in the Tracy Breakfast Lions Holiday tournament. It was the fourth year that EU had beaten MHS in the tourney. East Union’s Linda Hird collected 14 points to pace her team in scoring. Besides Hird, the Lacy Lancers got 12 points from Jessie Hardcastle. The Lady Buffs were paced by Anna Jackson who netted 12 points. Liz Winkelmann scored an additional 11 points in a losing cause.

Pau l Placencia came off the bench to give East Union High a five-point lift in the fourth quarter Friday and the Lancers went on to score a 57-49 win over Fairfield High for the consolation championship of the Rancho Cordova tournament. David Asuncion scored 28 points, half of them from the free throw line, to lead the EU scoring. Asuncion hit 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter alone.

Maria Trevino scored a hat trick before leaving the game early in the second half and Bridgette Madden added two goals and two assists Thursday as the Manteca High soccer team rolled to an 8-0 win at Livingston High. Melissa Kohl scored twice in the second half and Amy Castaneda scored once for MHS, who improved to 5-6 on the season.

East Union High netted a 4-0 VOL soccer triumph over Sonora High on Tuesday. It was the fourth shutout in five games for Coach Lance Morrow’s Lady Lancers. Emily Anderson had two goals, with one each by Meghan Harris and Lyndi Saxton.

Manteca High junior Bryan Lucas nearly had a double-double by the half as the Buffaloes beat Los Banos High 64-47 and opened the VOL schedule in solid form Wednesday night at Winter Gym. Lucas finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. James Ward added 12 points and Mike Prokop netted 11 counters.

Los Banos High was more than the East Union High wrestlers could handle Wednesday night. The Tigers handed the Lancers their fourth VOL loss 59-10 at Dalben Center. Josh York defeated his opponent 12-3 in the 145-pound match to pace the Lancers.

The Manteca High wrestlers saw a 12-6 lead evaporate with a spree of Bear Creek High pins in a 36-30 loss to the Bruins Wednesday night in Stockton. It was the first VOL loss in two years for the Buffaloes. Jason Sutton (130), Pete Espinoza (160) and Jeremy Nuding (119) had pins for the Buffs.   

10 years ago: January 6, 2005 – Heavyweight Manteca High wrestler Spencer Valdez pinned Sierra High’s Ben Cole with 33 seconds remaining in his match to give the Buffaloes a 45-25 win over the Timberwolves at Winter Gym yesterday. Other Buff pins were registered by Josh Lieber (125), Seth Davis (160) and Eric Culpepper (171). The T’wolves got pins from Josh Green (152) and Tim Cardenas.

The East Union High basketball team began its Valley Oak League title defense on Wednesday with an exhausting 56-54 come-from-behind win over host Sonora High. Steffen Spinks led the Lancers with 22 points, 16 of them in the second half.

Paul Camara scored eight of his 10 points in the second quarter to spark Manteca High to a 62-60 win over host Buhach Colony High in basketball action on Wednesday in Atwater. Dustin Lowe paced the Buffaloes with 11 point s and Garrett Tolman added another 10 to the win.

A 14-1 scoring rally in the final quarter gave East Union High a 58-47 win over visiting Sonora High in girls’ basketball in their VOL opener. Offensively, it was the one-two punch of Jazz Herrera and Jaime Kinlaw that dealt the most damage for the Lady Lancers. Herrera finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Kinlaw collected 17 counters and three 3’s. Anjelica Dill-James had 11 points for EU.

Manteca High dropped its VOL girls’ cage opener to visiting Buhach Colony High by a 49-46 score Tuesday at Winter Gym. Crystal Castro finished with 19 points (five three-pointers) for the Lady Buffs.