Marvin Werber Was a Ranger
Written by Drew Mashburn | Photos from Nordhoff High School YearbooksI played one year of football as a Matilija Junior High School "Eagle" and three years as a "Ranger" at Nordhoff High School. I can't say I was all that great of a gridder, but it was one of the highlights of my teenage years. I wouldn't give it up for anything!
I was born in 1951. Not sure why, but I kind of wondered what Nordhoff's football team was like that season. So, I checked out the 1951 issues of the "THE OJAI" (which is now the "Ojai Valley News") when I was doing volunteer work at the Ojai Valley Museum one afternoon, about five years ago.
MARVIN WERBER, FROM NORDHOFF YEARBOOK, 1951
As I checked out the papers for articles about the team, I noticed the name "Marvin Werber" was listed as a teammate. The Visitor Center is in the same building as the museum, and guess who was running the center that day? Yeah, Marvin Werber!!! So, I traipsed on in there with a copy of an old paper that said he had scored a touchdown as left end. Marvin told me he didn't remember scoring a touchdown. He did tell me that the team was pretty darn good that season.
Marvin was right. According to the old newspapers, their training began on September 4 at Sarzotti Park under the direction of coaches Barton Ahlf and George Mataisz. 30 players turned out to play. They must have had some pretty darn good players because they went on to beat Tri-Valley league rivals Santa Clara (score unknown), Simi (49 –0), and Moorpark (37-12) before running into non-league powerhouse Lompoc. But, the Rangers only lost 8-0. Then, they bagged another league win over Santa Barbara Catholic (25-6), which tied the Rangers and Carpenteria in league play with 4 wins and 0 losses.
FROM NORDHOFF YEARBOOK, 1951
FROM NORDHOFF YEARBOOK, 1951
The big game to determine the league's best was played on November 2 at Carpenteria under the lights at 8:00 PM. As we all know, the team with the home field has the advantage. Nordhoff lost 14-7, according to Marvin, who happened to play starting left end in the game. The day after Marvin and I spoke about his team, he gave me a phone call. He told me he had spoken with Ernie Acosta earlier in the day about their team. Ernie was a starting half-back the entire season. He reminded Marvin that he (Ernie) had made a touchdown that got called back due to a clipping penalty. OUCH!!! So, the Rangers wound up in second place.
But the season wasn't over. There was still the annual grid battle to be played against the Villanova Wildcats. This cross-town rivalry game had always been a Big Game. In fact, this would be the 27th contest between the two teams. Make no mistake about it, back in the bucolic Ojai Valley of 1951, this was a HUMONGOUS event! Surely, one of the most looked-forward-to during the month of November.
FROM NORDHOFF YEARBOOK, 1951
The Rangers may not have won the Tri-Valley league title, but they sure had a strong desire to knock off the Wildcats for the treasured trophies: a battered water bucket and a pair of old football shoes. The trophies would be present at the game and awarded to the winning team, which would safe-keep the items until the next season's game. At the time, the Rangers had the bucket and shoes in their school's trophy case. They wound up staying there, too, after the game because it ended in a tie at 6-6.
I asked Marvin how in tarnation that could have happened? He told me he didn't know. I was only 67 when I asked Marvin, yet I could not remember all the events of my four years of football, and now I've got five more years on me. I told you, I was born in 1951.
So, give Marvin a break for not remembering how the Rangers failed to knock off the Wildcats!
Editor’s Note: More businesses were listed but had incomplete addresses. We are particularly interested in Meiners Oaks’ Fern and Fred’s Snack Shack and Fern and Tulley’s, a variety store. If you have any info, please get in touch!
