PREP FOOTBALL: Two Panthers families share a pair of North County's greatest games

By TERRY MONAHAN - Staff Writer | Thursday, September 4, 2008 9:07 PM PDT ∞

If you want to hear stories about amazing football moments, just drop in on a gathering of the Faraimo or Altieri families.

While those families experienced shining moments in Vista High football history, their glorious accomplishments resonate all around North County.

In North County football history, which is filled with CIF championships, there have been no moments more memorable than two very eye-opening games involving the Panthers.

In 1974, Mike Faraimo and Tony Altieri were star players on the Panthers' first CIF championship team, which sent shockwaves through the county and ignited a town celebration after a stunning victory in the CIF San Diego Section 2A title game.

Not to be outdone, sons Salo Faraimo and Mike Altieri got their moment as juniors in the 2001 CIF San Diego Section Division I semifinals. With Faraimo and Altieri leading the way, the Panthers scored 10 points in the final 19 seconds to beat Carlsbad en route to capturing a Division I crown that left even their dads shaking their heads.

Both of those Vista moments will remain frozen in time. But which one will go down as the greatest game ever?

A rising power

No one could have foreseen Vista's emergence as a football power in the mid-1970s.

San Diego city schools were the kings of the land. Teams from the city claimed CIF crowns nine times in the first 13 years of the section's existence. North County had only four titles.

So when the 1974 Panthers whipped Patrick Henry 32-0 under a thick blanket of fog at San Diego Stadium, it served as a wakeup call that the North County was about to rain on the city parade.

When El Camino knocked off Kearny in '76, there was no stopping the onslaught. In the last 34 seasons, 44 teams from North County have followed in Vista's footsteps.

"My dad would tell us we wouldn't even have a championship if his team hadn't started the whole thing,'' Mike Altieri said.

Added Salo Faraimo: "When my dad thinks we're starting to get too full of ourselves, he'll bring up his championship as the only reason I got one."

Their fathers' Panthers made short work of Henry in their shining moment, recovering a fumble on a botched reverse on the opening kickoff. The Patriots' miscue was all Vista needed.

"That was it,'' said Mike Faraimo, a left guard and defensive tackle. "They had a running back, Artie Whiting, who couldn't do anything. Those guys were huge, and some of them had beards.''

Back then, Faraimo was quoted as saying: "I think they were scared of us. They thought we were a bunch of farmers. I think I'll go home and slop the pigs and feed the chickens now.''

Faraimo still laughs about that comment.

"I'd never even been inside the stadium,'' he said. "Half of the team had never been in there. I think I drove by it once on the way to SeaWorld. I thought I'd seen heaven when I ran onto the field.''

Henry must have thought it was somewhere else. The Patriots had seven first downs, rushed for only 50 yards and compiled just 103 total yards. They also lost four fumbles and threw an interception.

Behind four touchdown runs by bruising fullback Bill Crist and three two-point conversions by quarterback Rob Preston, Vista had 262 total yards.

"We put Vista on the map,'' Faraimo said. "Some of us on the team saw the sun come up the next morning.''

That meant they wouldn't be late for the next day's Vista Christmas Parade that they were riding in.

"No one knew where Vista was back then,'' said Tony Altieri, a halfback. "You had to take a dirt road to get to school. After we had a tough game against Kearny in the semifinals, and with coach (Dick) Haines telling us Henry was the best thing since salt, we expected another tough game.

"We just ran over them all night, three yards at a time. I couldn't feel my feet touch the ground all night long. We were an eye opener for San Diego city.''

The sons also rise

Of the thousands of games played since Vista won the first of its eight CIF football titles, the dads' Panthers moment is overshadowed only by their sons'.

On the frigid night of Nov. 30, 2001 at Escondido High, the Panthers and Carlsbad exchanged the lead four times in their semifinal game before the Avocado League co-champion Lancers took a 28-19 lead on quarterback Bryan Lee-Lauduski's 29-yard scoring pass to Adam West with 1:30 to play.

It looked as if Carlsbad was headed to the final.

"I was congratulating some of the kids on a fine season because I thought it was over,'' said former Panthers player and current Vista coach Dan Williams, then the Panthers' defensive coordinator. "I remember seeing (CIF commissioner) Dennis Ackerman giving Carlsbad their tickets and all the info for the finals at that point.''

"Carlsbad thought it was over,'' Salo Faraimo said. "They weren't celebrating, but their body language changed.''

The game was far from over, however. The craziness was just beginning.

Vista's next drive began at its own 5-yard line and ended with an interception at its 46. Instead of taking a knee to run the clock, though, Carlsbad ran a sweep play to the right side. Aaron Singh was stripped of the ball, and Vista's Rich Hargis recovered at the Carlsbad 48.

"We still had life,'' said Mission Hills coach Chris Hauser, Vista's coach that year, as he watched a tape of the final minutes. "They have a nine-point lead and the ball. I expected they'd take a knee to run out the clock.''

Carlsbad coach Bob McAllister still insists he wouldn't have done anything differently.

"We'd scored more points than just about anyone did against them,'' he said. "I didn't want to punt the ball after taking a knee three times. I've seen too many blocked punts. Just run the ball and run out the clock.''

It didn't work out that way. Instead, with the help of two pass-interference penalties, Vista reached the Carlsbad 1, where Faraimo leaped over a pile and into the end zone with 19 seconds left. Enrique Leyva's extra point closed the deficit to 28-26.

"You could sense something big was happening now,'' Hauser said. "There was still a calmness on the sidelines.''

But things were about to get even wilder. Vista recovered the ensuing onside kick after Faraimo's hit dislodged the ball, and Hargis again pounced on the fumble with 16 seconds left.

"Hargis was the sideline guy on that play,'' Hauser said. "He was supposed to keep the ball inbounds. I figured as heavy as the air was that night ---- it was the coldest night ever, it looked like Lambeau Field ---- we had to get to the 25 to give Enrique at least a 42-yarder.''

After two Altieri incompletions and another Carlsbad penalty, Altieri's 5-yard out pass from the Carlsbad 25 went to Andre Hunt, who eluded a defender and raced to the Carlsbad 5 before ducking out of bounds with just one second left.

"When Andre deked instead of getting out of bounds, my heart stopped,'' Hauser said. "I was asking everyone, 'What was Andre doing? Andre was doing Andre stuff.' "

After a Vista timeout, Hauser walked to midfield to watch Leyva's kick.

"I looked to the sky and asked my dad, who died in 1996, if he could believe we had a chance to win a game when 90 seconds ago we were in trouble,'' Hauser recalled.

Mike Altieri was also looking skyward for some help.

"I promised God about 10 things I'd do if he let Enrique make that kick,'' he said.

Leyva's kick was good, setting off a celebration that rivaled the postgame atmosphere in 1974. Spectators who had left and were in the parking lot came streaming back into the stadium to join in.

"I've seen a lot of football games in the county as a player, assistant coach and head coach, and that game was one for the ages,'' Hauser said. "The more I think about it, coach Haines must have been upstairs helping the big guy that night. I think he and (late Vista quarterback) Sal Aunese were watching over us.

"That's the best explanation for what happened, because nothing else makes any sense.''

The final verdict

Mike Altieri experienced an eerily similar moment in the Fiesta Bowl after the 2006 season.

Boise State, Altieri's team, rallied to upset Oklahoma 43-42 ---- using a hook-and-lateral play to score the tying touchdown on the final play of regulation, followed by a halfback pass for a TD in overtime, followed by a Statue of Liberty play for the winning two-point conversion.

"The Carlsbad game was the first thing I thought of,'' said Altieri, who was injured and couldn't play in the bowl game. "None of my teammates believed me when I told them about the Carlsbad game until they saw something so wild it was hard to believe.

"I remember the Carlsbad game like it was yesterday. You're not supposed to win games like that. We got penalties, a fumble recovery, recovered an onside kick, scored twice and even the interception turned out to be a good play for us.''

Both dads chuckled when asked about their sons' greatest football moment.

"It was easily one of the best high schools game ever in San Diego County,'' Tony Altieri said. "I thought Vista would get the ball back once more after the interception. That's what I told Mike, to pick up his head. As long as you have a heartbeat, you have a chance, but it's so wild we still talk about how amazing it was.''

Added Mike Faraimo: "I always told people that we opened the door for them in '74, but my head still spins thinking about Salo's game. I remember it and our game in '74 like they were yesterday. Half of my family watched the final three minutes of Salo's game from the parking lot and then ran onto the field to join the fun.

"Carlsbad outplayed us all night, but Vista won a game it shouldn't have won. We outplayed Henry, but you can't explain what happened that night in Salo's game.''

That's why it's the No. 1 game in North County history.