WHEN IT ALL BEGAN; ON NOV. 4, 1977, JOHN ELWAY LED GRANADA HILLS PAST SAN FERNANDO IN ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC COME-FROM-BEHIND VICTORIES IN VALLEY HISTORY.Byline: Chris Branam Daily News Staff Writer It was a moment when the eyes met amid the confusion and frustration around them. ``(Coach Jack) Neumeier and I made eye contact,'' Chris Sutton For other uses, see Chris Sutton (disambiguation). Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973 in Nottingham, England) is an English former footballer. In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham and Aston Villa. said this week, standing on the Granada Hills campus about 100 yards and two decades removed from the spot where he said his life changed. ``I walked in the huddle and said, `OK, John. Let's run it again.' '' Ten seconds later, a legend was born. Sutton, one of Granada Hills High's standout receivers, caught a 24-yard touchdown pass from John Elway John Albert Elway, Jr. (born June 28, 1960) played American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Denver Broncos from 1983 through 1998. Elway holds many college and professional records and was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is the only to lift the Highlanders to a 40-35 win over San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. in one of the most memorable games in the history of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . It took place on Nov. 4, 1977 before a capacity crowd at Granada Hills. Elway, who at 37 leads the Denver Broncos into the Super Bowl for the fourth time of his Hall of Fame career next Sunday, remains a member of a tight-knit group of eight players from that team. While the Broncos kept Elway from reminiscing about the 1977 game this week, his old teammates - all of whom have become successful in their own right - gladly recalled one of the defining moments of their lives. ``That game was so typical of John's career,'' said Scott Marshall, Elway's other top receiver on that 1977 team. ``It was just back and forth between Chris and I and John. Quite a memorable game.'' Even before the winning drive, all the elements for a dramatic finish were in place. It was the Highlanders' homecoming game. They were battling the Tigers for the Mid-Valley League title. And every time time San Fernando seemed to put the game away, Elway brought Granada Hills back. San Fernando, which scored all five of its touchdowns on the ground, took a 35-33 lead with 1:32 left on Robert McLanahan's 2-yard run. After the ensuing kickoff, Elway and the Highlanders began from their own 33-yard line. On the sixth play of the drive, Marshall caught a long pass from Elway that took the ball down to the San Fernando 9. ``Why couldn't have I gotten in?'' Marshall asked this week while he listened to an audiotape au·di·o·tape n. 1. A relatively narrow magnetic tape used to record sound for subsequent playback. 2. A tape recording of sound. tr.v. of the local broadcast of the game in his office at Alemany High, where he is the dean of boys' discipline. After high school, Marshall went on to play at Valley College and Long Beach State. A knee injury in 1981 at Long Beach ended his playing career. Marshall has remained close with Elway through the years. He and Sutton went to Denver last year for Elway's annual charity golf tournament and stayed up one night reminiscing about high school. ``Chris and I are amazed at what John remembers,'' Marshall said. ``He's the same, down-to-earth guy he's always been.'' If his memory is as crisp as Marshall says it is, then Elway must recall what happened next. With just 30 seconds left, Elway found an open Sutton in the corner of the end zone for an apparent 9-yard score. As the fans and players went wild, nobody seemed to notice the yellow flag on the field. Holding, Granada Hills. ``A penalty which was not there,'' Neumeier said. He had the benefit of watching the game film the next day. The Granada Hills players were confused and a bit out of control. ``The huddle kind of got out of hand,'' remembered Larry Palmer, who was an offensive lineman for Granada Hills. ``A couple of the linemen started getting nervous. John said something to effect of, `Hey, let's get it together. `We can do this.' '' Palmer is a stockbroker who maintains offices in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and Denver. He lives about a mile from Elway in a Denver suburb. ``First of all, John was a man among boys out there,'' Palmer said when asked about this particular game. ``He was effusive ef·fu·sive adj. 1. Unrestrained or excessive in emotional expression; gushy: an effusive manner. 2. Profuse; overflowing: effusive praise. with confidence. Sutton and Neumeier, Granada Hills' coach, had looked at each other as the penalty was being marked off. Sutton said he yelled something about running the same play and Neumeier agreed. ``Our hearts were coming out of our shoulder pads This article is about football protective equipment. For shoulder pads in fashion, see Shoulder pads (fashion). Shoulder pads are a piece of protective equipment used in American and Canadian football. ,'' Palmer said. On the KGIL radio broadcast, Les Josephson told partner Joe Buttitta that he wouldn't be surprised if the Highlanders ran the same play. Sutton ran the same route and he was open again. This time, though, San Fernando defensive back Larry Maldonado sensed what was happening and he closed quickly. Maldonado tipped the ball and Sutton recalled everything seeming to happen in slow motion as he grabbed the pass and cradled it for the touchdown. He had 12 catches for 293 yards. ``I earnestly feel that if I would have dropped that pass, my life would have been different,'' Sutton said. Sutton joined Marshall at Valley for a season after graduating and then played under Jack Elway John Albert "Jack" Elway, Sr. (b.1932, d. April 15, 2001) was a football coach and the father of the Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway. Jack Elway was a native of Hoquiam in southwestern Washington and played quarterback at Washington State in the 1950s in Pullman, where at San Jose San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. State. He graduated with a degree in sociology and then went on to take a six-month bike tour of Europe and Africa. Ten years ago, Sutton founded a Calabasas-based company called Collectech Systems Inc. He lives in a beach house in Malibu and was just recently engaged. ``For 20 years, anyone who I have run into. . . they always say they will never forget that game,'' Sutton said. ``They say `I'll never forget that catch.' '' Elway's life changed, too. He went from a prodigy, a coach's son who could throw ball on a tight spiral 70 yards, to a big-game quarterback. ``Even then, you had a sense that if John had the ball, he could make things happen with it,'' said Paul Bergman, who would become Elway's favorite receiver the next season when both were seniors. ``He just has that aura about him. You love to have him when he's on your side.'' Bergman, who went on to play at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX and in the USFL USFL United States Football League USFL United States Futsal Federation and NFL NFL abbr. National Football League NFL (US) n abbr (= National Football League) → Fußball-Nationalliga , has been involved with Sports World Sports World are a British sports Retailer, formerly called Sports Soccer. Founded in the late 1970's by former county squash coach Mike Ashley, the group Sports World International is now the UK's largest retailer of sports clothing and accessories. Ministries for the past nine years. He recently accepted the position as senior pastor at Ojai Valley Community Church. ``We played way above our heads because of John,'' Bergman said. Buttitta said that in the week following the game, people called KGIL to say that they had listened to it on transistor radios while attending other games around the area. ``They said that they were reacting to the game,'' Buttitta said, ``and other people without radios were wondering what the hell they were listening to. They were listening to John Elway at Granada Hills.'' Sutton has had Elway as his houseguest many times through the years. He said that he, Marshall, Palmer and the rest of the tight-knit group from those Granada Hills teams have always earned Elway's respect. ``None of us have ever wanted anything from John,'' Sutton said. Then he broke into a smile and stated the obvious. ``Except for Super Bowl tickets.'' San Fernando at Granada Hills Nov. 4, 1977 GRANADA HILLS 40 SAN FERNANDO 35 San Fernando 14 7 7 7-35 Granada Hills 13 6 8 13-40 San Fernando scoring: TD - Bethea 3 (runs of 40, 4 and 4 yards), McClanahan (2-yard run), Moore (21-yard pass from Jones). PAT - Andrade 5 (kicks). Granada Hills scoring: Marshall 2 (passes of 18 and 10 yards from Elway), Sutton 2 (passes of 24 and 6 yards from Elway), Hardison (4-yard run), Elway (1-yard run). PAT - Guston (2 pass from Elway); Bergmann 2 (kicks). Were You There? Do you have a special memory of the Granada Hills/San Fernando football game played on Nov. 4, 1977? Former spectators, players and other participants, and those who listened to the game on local radio, are invited to share their thoughts. A sample of responses will be printed in next Sunday's Daily News. Write: Daily News Sports Editor Noun 1. sports editor - the newspaper editor responsible for sports news newspaper editor - the editor of a newspaper , 21221 Oxnard St., Woodland Hills, CA, 91367. Fax: (818) 713-3436. ELWAY'S COMEBACKS A 40-35 win over San Fernando in 1977 was just the first time quarterback John Elway led his team to a late come-from-behind victory. These are considered his greatest comeback wins: 1. Jan. 11, 1987: Known as ``The Drive,'' Elway and the Broncos took possession on their own 2-yard-line trailing the Cleveland Browns
He threw a 5-yard pass to Mark Jackson Mark Jackson may refer to:
2. Jan. 4, 1992: The Broncos trailed the Houston Oilers 24-23 in an AFC divisional playoff game Noun 1. playoff game - one game in the series of games constituting a playoff game - a single play of a sport or other contest; "the game lasted two hours" playoff - any final competition to determine a championship at Mile High Stadium when they got the ball on their own 2 with no timeouts left and 2:07 remaining. Elway directed the Broncos on a 12-play, 87-yard drive that was capped by David Treadwell's 26-yard field with 16 seconds left to seal a 26-24 victory. 3. Sept. 17, 1990: In a Monday night game, the Kansas City Chiefs 4. Jan. 7, 1990: The Pittsburgh Steelers
The drive was marked by completions of 18 yards to Jackson and 36 yards to Johnson after the Broncos were penalized pe·nal·ize tr.v. pe·nal·ized, pe·nal·iz·ing, pe·nal·iz·es 1. To subject to a penalty, especially for infringement of a law or official regulation. See Synonyms at punish. 2. 10 yards on the first play. 5. Dec. 24, 1995: Denver trailed the Oakland Raiders This article is about an American football team. For other uses, see Raider. The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in the city of Oakland, California. 28-17 early in the fourth quarter. Elway took over the game, directing three scoring drives that went for a total of 219 yards in a 31-28 Broncos win. A Raiders fumble game gave the ball to the Broncos in a game tied at 28, and Elway guided them on a nine-play, 53-yard drive that set up Jason Elam's 37-yard field goal with 48 seconds left. The win kept the Raiders from making the playoffs. John Elway's Prep Statistics Year PA PC Yds. Int. TDs 1976 135 64 825 4 5 1977 388 229 3039 15 25 1978x 200 129 1837 6 19 Totals 723 422 5701 25 49 x A knee injury limited Elway to six games his senior season. CAPTION(S): 5 Photos, 3 Boxes Photo: (1--2--Color) From top left, coaches Darryl Stroh, Jack Neumeier and ex-receivers Chris Sutton and Scott Marshall pose recently at Granada Hills High, where John Elway (above) was a big hero in 1977. Tom Mendoza Tom Mendoza joined Network Appliance, Inc. in 1994 and has served as its President since 2000. Mr. Mendoza has more than 31 years as a high technology executive and has served in an advisory capacity on the board of directors of Netscreen (acquired by Juniper), Rhapsody (acquired by / Daily News Daily News File Photo (3) Chris Sutton, left, John Elway and Scott Marshall went on to successful careers after prep heroics. Courtesy of Scott Marshall (4) It would become a familiar sight: John Elway running away from opponents. Daily News File Photo (5) Marty Schottenheimer could not find a way to stop Elway's `Drive' in the 1987 AFC championship game when he was coaching the Cleveland Browns. Box: (1) SAN FERNANDO AT GRANADA HILLS - Were You There? (See Text) (2) ELWAY'S COMEBACKS (See Text) (3) John Elway's Prep Statistic (See Text) |
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