Eighty years ago, on February 14, 1935, Jim Barber of Manteca, one of the country‘s outstanding football stars, signed a contract with the Boston Braves, professional eleven, for the coming season. He expects to join the team in August, but before doing so is expected to play one game with the Chicago Tribune team. The Manteca boy was captain of the University of San Francisco eleven during the past season and was mentioned in numerous mythical All-American teams.

In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:

90 years ago: February 13, 1925 – The Manteca High basketball team lost to Turlock High last Saturday evening. Turlock had figured on an easy victory, but our boys played a fast defensive game. The final score was 35 to 21. Ed Forsell made 16 points for Manteca.

80 years ago: February 14, 1935 – The Manteca High basketball team lost their second league game Friday night at Newman when Orestimba High came out on top by a score of 25 to 19. The Buffaloes played their poorest game of the season while the Newman quintet played their best. Milo Candini led Manteca with 10 points.

70 years ago: February 15, 1945 – In a recent practice game, the Manteca High cage team lost to Tracy High 35-14. Playing on the Buffalo team are Bobson, Sinesio, Rieger, Brodie, Hahn, Michaels, Lemos, Bridge and Dowhower.

60 years ago: February 13, 1955 – Manteca High’s basketball ship, which had set its sights on the VOL championship, fell apart at the seams Friday night as third-place Sonora High torpedoed it with a 41-32 loss at the Buffalo gymnasium. Monte Kinsley scored 12 points for the locals.

50 years ago: February 13, 1965 – The Manteca High wrestling team finished fourth in the VOL wrestling tournament in Sonora Friday afternoon. With the top three winners in the various weight divisions qualifying for Wednesday’s Sub-sectional meet, which will be held at Downey High in Modesto, the Buffaloes placed five men. Mike Thurston, Don Johnson and Don Widmer all were undefeated at Sonora to win league titles, while Jim Camper and Brock Elliott took thirds to also qualify.

40 years ago: February 12, 1975 – Unable to hit a single free throw in the final quarter, Manteca High came out on the short end of a 76-74 thriller with Sonora High Friday night. Larry Leonardo led the Buffaloes with 21 points, while teammate Dale Delmanowski added 20 more.

Ed Franco, East Union High’s 115-pound wrestler, was named the outstanding wrestler in Saturday‘s VOL tournament at Ceres High as the Lancer matmen made their best showing ever. Coach Don Laurenti’s grapplers finished a strong fourth in the team standings. Sonora High won the league title. EU’s 194-pound Dave Rogers brought home the other Lancer first.

Although taking nearly four minutes to get untracked, Oakdale High finally got under way and rolled to an easy 78-50 cage victory over East Union High in VOL action Tuesday evening. The Lancers were led by Chris Elliott’s 17 points. Jack Wood added 10 points to the Lancer total.

30 years ago: February 11, 1985 – After an embarrassing first-quarter shooting display, the Manteca High girls’ basketball team slowly regained its composure and edged East Union High 37-35 in VOL play at Dalben Center Tuesday night. The Lady Buffs missed their first 18 field goal attempts. EU’s Regina Jordan led all scorers with 13 points, while Cheri Nepote paced the winners with 10 counters.

Manteca High basketball coach Steve Winter finally got his 100th varsity coaching victory Friday night as his Buffaloes connected on a few crucial free throws in the final minutes to take a 49-46 win over Modesto High. It was his first Buffalo win over a VOL foe this year. Pete Nelson finished with 12 points for the winners.

East Union High scored 30 points in the fourth quarter as the Lancers defeated Los Banos High 73-63 in a VOL contest Wednesday night. EU is now 12-2 in league. Jeff Hammond led the Lancers with another 28-point effort. He also grabbed 21 rebounds. Gary Kron followed with 20 points and Mark Waterman added 10.

For the first time in Manteca High’s wrestling history, the team brought home the Sac-Joaquin Delta Sub-section champion plaque after outscoring long-time title holders Oakdale and Tracy Highs. The Buffs will carry seven wrestlers into the Sac-Joaquin Section championships Friday and Saturday at Modesto Junior College, including two sub-section champions: Richard Quinonez and Brian Briggs.

20 years ago: February 16, 1995 – East Union High’s basketball team held off a frantic fourth quarter by Sonora High Friday night to score a 55-49 upset at Dalben Center. EU center Duane Aul scored 16 points, while David Asuncion collected 15 and Shane Lewis added 13 to the winning total.

East Union High held off a strong Manteca High run to topple the Lady Buffs 49-46 at Dalben Center Thursday. Maila Baltazar, a 5-8 senior, finished her final basketball game at home with16 points, six assists and two steals.

The East Union High soccer team rallied after West High had tied the score early in the second half to pull away for a 4-2 win Tuesday over the Lady Wolf Pack. Meghan Harris scored both goals in the second half for the Lady Lancers. First-half goals were by Kristi Bear and Melissa Silvestrini. The win was the ninth straight for Coach Lance Morrow’s girls, now 17-4-1.

The Manteca High soccer team scored a 5-3 win Tuesday at Sonora High, improving to 11-2-2 with the win. Jamie Plaisted and Maria Trevino each scored twice for the Lady Buffs and a single goal was tallied by Bridgette Madden.

The Manteca High boys’ basketball team pulled to within two points in the fourth quarter against West High Wednesday, but couldn’t quite make it all the way back and dropped a 75-64 decision. Mike Prokop led the Buffs with 23 points and Bryan Lucas 19, to go with 10 rebounds.

The East Union High and Sierra High golf teams both opened their seasons Wednesday, with the Lancers beating Modesto’s Grace Davis High 201-215 and the Timberwolves falling to Merced’s Golden Valley High 234-272. Two-time VOL MVP Brett Sapp fired a 39 to share medalist honors with teammate Brock Mathews for EU. Bob Kotch and James Gowan both had rounds of 50 to lead the young Timberwolves.

10 years ago: February 17, 2005 – Manteca High, already eliminated from the playoff picture in the final week of the Valley Oak League basketball season, pieced together its finest performance to block visiting Sierra High last night by a 53-47 score. Buffalo junior Garrett Tolman finished with 10 points, while Dustin Lowe led all scorers with 14 counters. Sophomore Rueben Cedano added 11 points to the MHS win. Davey Dutra had a double-double for the Timberwolves, collecting 12 points and 14 rebounds.

East Union High clinched the VOL cage title outright last night with a 66-45 victory over Weston Ranch High. The Lancers had three players scoring in double figures, with Steffen Spinks (19), Jordan McDaniel (11) and Landon Marty (10) doing the damage. Coach Eric Simoni’s boys are now 17-9, 10-1 in league play.

Sierra High’s swim teams kicked off the season with tough losses to Tracy High on Wednesday. The T’wolf boys dropped a close one 88-82, while the girls were hit by a Lady Bulldog tidal wave and finished with a 132-38 loss. Nathan Whipple (100 back) and Paul Hafer (100 breast) took individual gold medals for the T’wolves, while the 200 free relay team also won its race. For the girls, Casey Heupel swam to a second in the 200 free.

Tatiana Dellafosse led a balanced Sierra High attack and point guard Davina Ruiz collected five steals to go with nine points in the Lady T’wolves’ 49-19 VOL win over Manteca High Tuesday night. Sierra’s vaunted full-court press forced 24 turnovers. The Lady Buffs, 4-18 overall, were held to just two points in the second quarter. Brittanie Huffman netted 10 points in a losing cause.

Weston Ranch High, hosting the East Union High girls’ basketball team, was forced to move to EU’s Dalben Center at the half because of a leaky roof. The Lancers (16-5) took advantage of the venue change and topped WRHS 51-34 to stay tied for the VOL lead. Larissa Founts led all scorers with 20 points for the Lady Lancers.