It’s difficult to imagine the muddy slog of a game it must have been that December Sunday afternoon in 1965 at San Jose’s Municipal Stadium, as the two dominant semi-pro football teams battled for the championship. The San Jose Apaches, a team on the rise, had put up a 10-1 record in the Pacific League. On the other side of the gridiron was the 4-time defending league champions, the Redwood City Ramblers. The two teams had already faced each other in league play, splitting two games with one win each.
The first three quarters were spent bogged down in the mud, drives ending in interceptions, missed kicks or punts. The Apaches, led by quarterback Chon Gallegos (San Jose State), fullback Henry Kalama (Hartnell College) and a rogue standout named Mike Roach, found themselves down 6-0 with 40 seconds left in the game.
The Ramblers scored late in the fourth, leaving the Apaches with only 40 seconds to make themselves champions. It was Ramblers quarterback, and 49ers prospect, Steve Anderson who hit Art Haskins on a seven yard touchdown pass. The Ramblers kicker missed the conversion, making it 6-0.
On the kickofff San Jose’s Freddy Santos returned the ball 54 yards to the Ramblers’ 31 yard line. Gallegos’ first two passes were incomplete. On third and ten from the 31, Gallegos hit Mike Roach for the tying score as the clock expired. Apaches’ kicker Frank Ragone kicked the extra point giving the Apaches the championship.
After the game, Gallegos told the San Jose Mercury News it was “A storybook finish.”
“I couldn’t have a written a more amazing and fantastic climax to a brilliant season,” said Apaches first-year Head Coach Tom Valdes.
Gallegos went 10 for 23 for 133 yards with one touchdown.