The 1973 Millikan Rams football team. Photo courtesy of Brad Liebeck.
Along with all the supporters of Poly’s perennially powerful football team is a group of gentlemen cheering about something the Jackrabbits haven’t done.
They are the players and coaches of the 1973 Millikan Rams, who have retained bragging rights to a remarkable record for the 39th year—they held the entire Moore League to just six points while going undefeated in league competition and winning Millikan’s first-ever Moore League football championship.
It can be argued that this record is irrelevant since the Moore League had only six teams in 1973 (Cabrillo joined in 1996), or that Poly’s defensive teams of the Jerry Jaso and Raul Lara eras have been superior and filled with blue-chip NFL prospects. But there’s something compelling about this team that was able to dominate the league so thoroughly and make its presence known throughout the C.I.F. (California Interscholastic Federation).
“They just had a great desire to win,” says ’73 Millikan Defensive Coach Carl Halsted of a team that fielded only 34 players yet claimed 11 of the 22 available first-team All-City selections at season’s end.
Brad Liebeck, a Long Beach Fire Department captain who played halfback on the ’73 team, agrees. “When we scrimmaged against the varsity and held our own in my sophomore year,” says Liebeck,” I knew we had potential.”
That potential was evident in the ’73 pre-season, as Moore League Player of the Year Bob Boatright quarterbacked the Rams’ speedy wishbone offense to a near-upset of the Servite Friars, who were ranked second in the C.I.F. Millikan surged into Moore League play with its confidence high and went on to shut out Wilson, Jordan, Lakewood and Poly. They only gave up a fluke Hail-Mary touchdown (but not the extra point) to Compton during a victory over the Tarbabes.
The last time this team’s record was seriously threatened was in 1985. That year, Poly had shut out every team in the league going into the last league game of the season—against Millikan. 1973 Millikan defensive stand-outs Dave Gage, Kevin Leslie and several of their cohorts were at Veterans Stadium that night, cheering loud and long as Millikan scored two late touchdowns to upset Poly and preserve the ’73 team’s record.
Gage, who went on to become a sergeant in the Long Beach Police Department, was the anchor of the ’73 Rams’ stifling defense. He was the Moore League Defensive Player of the Year, and made first team All-C.I.F. The stout defensive end was feared by opponents and teammates alike.
“We’d definitely hit our own guys hard during practice. Some of the country club guys didn’t like it,” chuckles Gage.
Linebacker Kevin Leslie is now a captain with the Long Beach Fire Department, continuing a tradition started by his father and older brother. “It was a blast,” says Leslie of his championship season. “It’s always fun when you’re winning.”
Leslie, Gage and Liebeck say they benefitted greatly from the discipline imposed by a tough coaching staff which included Kirk King, a former Marine Corps drill instructor. “He was intense,” says Gage of Coach King. “He was as much a drill instructor on the practice field as he was a coach.”
The coaches often used creative motivational techniques: Halsted wore Lakewood-red shorts to practice during the week preceding the game with the archrival Lancers. The Rams responded with a victory and on Monday morning those shorts were seen fluttering atop the flagpole in Millikan’s quad.
Injuries finally caught up with the Rams at the end of the season, including a devastating compound leg fracture suffered by All-League and All-City defensive back Bob Jones during the Poly game. Millikan ended up losing to a quick North Torrance team in the first round of the C.I.F. playoffs.
Many members of the ’73 team—including several who’ve since moved away from California—reunited in 1993 to be honored at Millikan before a game. They gave the ’93 Rams a fiery pre-game pep talk and the young players used that old-school inspiration to go out and get a victory.
“The best part of the ’73 team was, we were all friends. It was a neighborhood team,” says defensive star Dave Gage.
In the ’73-’74 Millikan yearbook, Head Coach Dick DeHaven is quoted as saying his defense’s record “will probably stand forever.”
So far, no one has proven him wrong.