King City Football History Highlights

King City 576
For being even-steven with a first season of 1922, it’s hard to beat the Mustangs. Their on-the-field reported record after more than 800 games shows them at just three games above .500 heading into 2016. They’ve had an 18-game win streak, no winless seasons since 1940 and a dominating record vs. arch-rival Gonzales, but have had to deal with more perennial powers like Palma, Carmel and Pacific Grove over the years.

Up next in this series: Serrano (Phelan). The Diamondbacks and their community have been in the middle of the Blue Cut Fire while the team gets ready for what probably will be another winning season under longtime coach Ray Maholchic. For more on the Cal-Hi Sports football archives project and how we can help your school, CLICK HERE. Note: One doesn’t have to be the football coach or AD to order this work. It can be presented to any school as a gift.

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There’s only been two CIF section titles in the long history of King City High, which started playing football in 1922, but there have been several undefeated seasons in years before the CIF Central Coast Section existed or had playoffs.

The Mustangs won their only section crown in 1982 when they beat North Monterey County of Castroville 26-19 in the CCS Division II championship. This came one year after the team lost in the title game to North Monterey County 26-0.

The auditorium at King City High is a registered national landmark due to the artwork on the front of it. Photo: Wikipedia.com.

The auditorium at King City High is a registered national landmark due to the artwork on the front of it. Photo: Wikipedia.com.


Under head coach Mark McClure, King City repeated as a section champion in 1983, blanking Harbor of Santa Cruz 7-0 in the same divisional bracket. McClure’s first season was the title team after he replaced Ed Barnett, who coached the runner-up team in 1981.

None of those three teams, however, finished unbeaten or even with one loss. The best record for a King City team came in 1961 at 9-0 and at the time the Mustangs also were still regularly playing schools like Paso Robles and San Benito of Hollister, which are now much larger schools.

King City also went unbeaten at 8-0-1 and 8-0 in back-to-back seasons in the 1966 and 1967 under head coach Bill Pitcher. That tie came in the ninth game in 1966, otherwise the Mustangs would have surpassed the school record they set at 18 straight wins earlier in the decade.

With two win streaks like that, King City’s 1960s decade was one of the best in Northern California with a record of 61-22-3.

The Mustangs needed a huge decade, however, to help overcome some of the poor decades that came earlier. Since then, the biggest highlights generally came when McClure was head coach from 1982 to 1992.

Heading into the 2016 season and not counting forfeits/defaults, we came up with a 395-392-33 all-time record for King City. Counting forfeits and defaults, the total arrived at is 400-398-33. Therefore, if the Mustangs were to lose their first two games of the upcoming season, their official record counting forfeits and defaults would stand at 400-400-33.

Here are some other King City football records that the school has been sent courtesy of this archive initiative:
King City Mustangs logo
WIN-LOSS RECORDS FOR EACH DECADE

1920s: 16-31-1 (not including four losses by default)

1930s: 23-41-9

1940s: 30-33-1 (not including three wins by default)

1950s: 32-46-2

1960s: 61-22-3

1970s: 48-45-5

1980s: 53-47-4

1990s: 56-45-5 (not including one win by forfeit)

2000s: 45-54-2 (not including one loss by forfeit)

2010s: 31-28-1

REPORTED ALL-TIME RECORD HEADING INTO 2016 SEASON:

395 WINS, 392 LOSSES, 33 TIES*

*Note: Default wins/losses and forfeit wins/losses not included. Defaults are games not played in which one team defaults to other. Forfeits are games that have been played in which result is reversed. Including those results, 1920s record would be 16-35-1, 1940s would be 33-33-1, 1990s would be 57-46-5, 2000s would be 44-55-2 and all-time would be 400-398-33.

40.1 ALL-TIME WINNING PERCENTAGE
(Based on half-win, half-loss for tie)

Best Records For Single Season
9-0 – 1961
8-0 – 1967
8-0-1 – 1966
7-1 – 1947
6-1 – 1945
4-1 – 1943
10-2 – 1982

Worst Records For Single Season
0-8 – 1940
0-6 – 1932
0-4-2 – 1939
1-9 – 1997
1-8 – 1953

Records Against Notable Opponents
53-28-2 VS. Gonzales
26-14-1 VS. Stevenson (Pebble Beach)
36-37-1 VS. Carmel
43-45-9 VS. Pacific Grove*
22-32-2 VS. San Benito (Hollister)*
11-23-0 VS. Palma (Salinas)
*Notes: Records do not include forfeits/defaults. Two losses to Pacific Grove later reversed to forfeit wins. A tie in which a playoff tie-breaker was held also being counted as a tie and not a win. On win and one loss to San Benito were forfeits/defaults. The last time that King City notched a win vs. Palma was 1984. The two schools haven’t played in recent years.
King City Mustangs logo
Most Points Scored (Single Game)
71 VS. Marina 2010
66 VS. Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 1998
60 VS. Gonzales 2008
56 VS. Monterey JV 1952
55 VS. Alisal (Salinas) 1984
55 VS. St. Francis CCC (Watsonville) 2006
53 VS. Gonzales 2011

Most Lopsided Wins
71-0 VS. Marina 2010
66-6 VS. Stevenson (Pebble Beach) 1998
56-0 VS. Monterey JV 1952
55-0 VS. Alisal (Salinas) 1984
55-0 VS. St. Francis CCC (Watsonville) 2006
60-7 VS. Gonzales 2008
52-0 VS. Atascadero 1925
52-0 VS. Salinas JV 1941

Most Points Allowed (Single Game)
69 VS. Monterey 1930
66 VS. Pacific Grove 2006
63 VS. Soquel 2012
62 VS. Atascadero 2006
62 VS. Seaside 2006
58 VS. Carmel 2009
58 VS. Carmel 2014

Most Lopsided Losses
69-0 VS. Monterey 1930
58-0 VS. Carmel 2009
57-0 VS. Monterey 1927
56-0 VS. Santa Barbara 1948
51-0 VS. Carmel 1948
50-0 VS. Santa Cruz 2003
62-12 VS. Seaside 2006
55-6 VS. Palma (Salinas) 2009

Longest Winning Streaks
18 – 1960-1962 (won last five, then 9-0 season, then won first four before streak ended)
10 – 1946-1947 (won last four, then first six of following season)
10 – 1967-1968 (had 8-0 season, the won first two of next season)
Note: The 10-game win streak in 67-68 was preceded by a tie in final game of 1966 season. Before that tie, King City won eight in a row for an 18-0-1 unbeaten streak.

Longest Losing Streaks
0-14 – 1939-1941 (had two ties to start 1939 season, then four losses, than an 0-8 season, then two losses to start 1940)*
0-8 – 1928-1929 (lost twice on-the-field in 1928, then lost first six)*
*Note: Counting the ties, the winless streak was 0-14-2. Counting four default losses, the losing streak from 1928-29 would be 0-12.

Remember, any school in the state or a fan/supporter of any school in the state can have this research completed in a customized fashion in return for a reasonable fee. For details, CLICK HERE.

Stockton office assistant editor Paul Muyskens also contributed to this post. Mark Tennis is the co-founder and publisher of CalHiSports.com. He can be reached at markjtennis@gmail.com. Don’t forget to follow Mark on the Cal-Hi Sports Twitter handle: @CalHiSports


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One Comment

  1. Charity Nalungwe
    Posted June 21, 2021 at 3:26 pm | Permalink

    Hello.
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    Regards Charity Nalungwe

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